University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Wisconsin
Gophers Fall in Four to No. 16 Wisconsin
10/23/2013 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
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Oct. 23, 2013
The No. 7 University of Minnesota volleyball program fell in four sets to No. 16 Wisconsin, tonight in Madison, Wis. With the loss, the Golden Gophers fall to 18-4 this season and 6-3 in the Big Ten. Wisconsin improves to 17-4 overall and 6-3 in the Big Ten.
Minnesota won the first set, 25-18, but fell in the next three, 25-21, 25-20 and 25-20. Despite Minnesota hitting .268 to Wisconsin's .256, the Badgers had 63 kills to Minnesota' 58. Tori Dixon led the Gophers when she had 20 kills, followed by Ashley Wittman with 18 kills and Adrianna Nora with 10. Wittman had a double-double with 18 kills and 16 digs, while Alexandra Palmer had 32 assists and 11 digs. Daly Santana had a team-best 18 digs. Hannah Tapp led the Gophers with six blocks.
Minnesota looks to get into the win column on Sunday when it hosts Northwestern at 1 p.m.
Set Breakdown:
First Set: Minnesota won the first set, 25-18 as it hit .432 in the first set paced by outside hitters Santana and Wittman, who each had five kills. As the two teams were tied at 8-8, Minnesota used a 4-1 run to take a 12-9 lead on a kill from Santana. A kill from Dixon put the Gophers up, 16-12, and later a kill from Nora put the Gopher lead to 19-15. As the Gophers led, 22-17, they closed out the set with a kill from Santana, a Wisconsin attack error and an ace by Santana.
Second Set: Despite Minnesota jumping out to a 6-2 lead, the Badgers would erase the deficit and win, 25-21 to tie the match. After the Badgers tied the set at 12, the two teams would tie the match four more times to 19-19. Wisconsin would use back-to-back points on a kill by Ellen Chapman and a Deme Morales ace to go up, 21-19. The Badgers would get kills from Haleigh Nelson, while the Gophers had a ball-handling error for set point. Chapman finished off the set with a kill and the 25-20 final.
Third Set: After nine tie scores and two lead changes, the Badgers took the set and a 2-1 lead with a 25-20 lead. Tied at 13-13 Wisconsin used back-to-back points for a 15-13 lead. The Badgers used two kills and a Gopher service error to cushion the lead to 19-16 and 22-17 on a Wisconsin kill and block. Dixon put the Gophers with their 20th point, but a Gopher attack error and a kill by Morales ended the set.
Fourth Set: Minnesota was able to erase a 5-2 Wisconsin lead and battled back to tie the set at 16-16 on a kill from Wittman. However, the Badgers would string together three points with a Gopher service error, a Wisconsin block and a Badger kill to go back up, 19-16. Minnesota pulled within one on a block from Hannah Tapp and Nora as Wisconsin had an attack error. However, the Badgers would get a kill from Courtney Thomas and a set point, while Deme Morales ended the match with a kill.
