University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Travel to No. 4 Penn State
10/8/2013 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
| Minnesota (15-2, 3-1) at Penn State (12-2, 3-1) | |
| Match | Minnesota at Penn State |
| Date/Time | Friday, October 9 / 6:30 p.m. |
| Location | University Park, Pa. |
| TV | BTN |
| Live Stats | |
| Live Blog | Game Day Live |
| Official Sites | Minnesota | Penn State |
| Social Media | @GopherVball | Facebook |
Oct. 8, 2013
GOPHERS CONTINUE ROAD CHALLENGE
The No. 11 University of Minnesota volleyball team is in the road for the second-straight week as it travels to No. 4 Penn State (Oct. 9) and Ohio State (Oct. 12) this week. Wednesday's match is set for a 6:30 p.m. CT start and will be televised live on the Big Ten Network. Mike Wolf provides the play by play, while Liz Tortorello-Nelson adds the color commentary.
ON THE DOCKET
Minnesota returns home for a day before it travels to Columbus, Ohio to take on No. 14 Ohio State Buckeyes (6 p.m. CT). Saturday. Minnesota returns home to face No. 7 Michigan State (Oct. 17) and No. 17 Michigan (Oct. 19). Thursday's match against the Spartans will be televised on ESPN2.
DIXON ON THE ATTACK
Tori Dixon has hit over .400 in 13 of Minnesota's 17 matches this season. The 6-foot, 3-inch middle blocker has hit over .600 in two matches this season, eight over .500 and three over .400. Having not played in the Dartmouth match, Minnesota is 13-0 when Dixon hits over .400 in a match and 1-2 when she's hit under .400. In the past two seasons, Dixon has hit over .400 in 33 matches.
DID YOU KNOW?
Minnesota enters this weekend as the fifth-best hitting team in the country as it hits .319. In fact, Minnesota has hit over .300 in 12 matches this season, including two over .400 and one over .500. Minnesota's opponents, hold a .155 clip in 17 games this season.
NCAA ACTIVE LEADERS
Ashley Wittman reached her career kill No. 1,500 against Indiana (9/25) and now sits at 1,534 in her career. Her kills currently rank fifth nationally among active leaders. Dixon ranks 20th in the same category at 1,246 and also ranks seventh in career hitting percentage with a .373 mark.
ABOUT THE NITTANY LIONS
Penn State enters the Minnesota match with a No. 4 ranking, a 12-2 overall record and a 3-1 mark within conference play. As a team, Penn State is hitting .329, averages 1.57 aces per set, 13.86 kills per set and 2.71 blocks per set. PSU is led by 2012 Big Ten Player of the Year Ariel Scott, who averages a team-best 3.11 kills per set. Deja McClendon has a team-best 119 kills (2.48 ps), while Megan Courtney follows at 111 kills (2.64 ps). Katie Slay has been hitting .461 and also averages 1.47 blocks per set, while setter Micha Hancock leads the league in aces per set (0.82) and fifth in assists per set (10.53).
ALL-TIME VS. PENN STATE
Minnesota is 8-40 all time against Penn State, dating back to 1983. The Gophers last defeated PSU in 2010 at the Sports Pavilion. Minnesota faced Penn State three times last season, dropping all three to the Nittany Lions. Minnesota fell to PSU in three on Sept. 29, at the Sports Pavilion. The Gophers traveled to Penn State on Nov. 2 and fell in four sets. The two also faced each other in the 2012 NCAA Regional Final when Minnesota won the first, but fell in the next three as the Nittany Lions advanced to the Final Four.
WHERE THEY RANK IN THE BIG TEN
Minnesota ranks high in a few of the conference statistical categories. Minnesota ranks first in blocks (2.76 blocks per set) second in hitting percentage (.319), third in assists (13.09 assists per set) and fifth in kills (13.77). Individually, Dixon leads the Big Ten in hitting percentage (.463), fourth in blocks (1.33) and kills (4.23 kps) and third in points (5.22).
ACES AWAY
The Penn State/Minnesota match will feature two of the league's leaders in aces in Penn State's Micha Hancock and Minnesota's Daly Santana. Hancock has played in 49 sets and has an impressive 40 aces to average 0.82 per set. Santana ranks third in the same category. She has 18 aces in 48 sets to average 0.38. Against Big Ten opponents, Hancock has delivered 11 aces to Santana's nine.
GOPHER BLOCK PARTY
Freshman Hannah Tapp has already made her mark so far as a Gopher middle blocker. Tapp has played in 47 sets and 16 matches this season. In that span, she's led or tied the Gopher blocking in six matches this season. In Big Ten action alone, Tapp has 20 total blocks in four games. She's ranked fourth in blocks against conference opponents as she averages 1.43 per set. On the total season, Tapp averages 1.13 blocks per set (4-49-53).
