University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
8-0
Louisville
2-5
Gophers Improve to 8-0 In 3-0 Louisville Win
9/13/2013 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
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Sept. 13, 2013
It took the No. 4 University of Minnesota volleyball team approximately an hour and 11 minutes to improve to 8-0 when the Golden Gophers defeated Louisville (receiving votes), 3-0 (25-16, 25-18, 25-15), today at Memorial Coliseum in Lexington, Ky. With the win, the Gophers improve to 8-0 this season.
Minnesota hit a season-best .514 as the Gophers committed just eight errors in 74 attempts. The Gophers held Louisville to 33 kills and .141 hitting percentage. The Gophers out blocked the Cardinals, 9.5 to 3.0, held a 28-18 dig advantage and 46-33 kill lead.
Individually, Minnesota was led by Tori Dixon, who had a season-best 19 kills and hit .577 in the match. Dixon also had an ace, five digs and seven blocks. Ashley Wittman followed with 10 kills in 15 swings and hit .600, while Adrianna Nora established her Gopher best of nine kills (13 attempts, .615). Alexandra Palmer had a match-best 39 assists, while Wittman led the Gophers with six digs.
Minnesota plays No. 19 and host Kentucky tomorrow night at 7 p.m. ET, 6 p.m. CT. It will be the first ranked opponent the Gophers will play this season.
Notables
-The match marked the second-fastest 3-0 win for Minnesota this year. The Samford win (8/31) was the fastest match for the Gophers at 1:08.
-Minnesota hit .514, bettering its .488 it hit against Samford, the previous season best. It also marks the seventh time in eight matches the Gophers have hit over .300 in a match
-The 19 Dixon kills was a season best for the senior after she had 17 against Jacksonville State (8/30). Her career-best is 22 against Southern Cal (five sets) in 2011.
-Daly Santana tied a career-high four blocks in the match.
Turning Points in the Match:
Set 1: Minnesota hit an impressive .737 in the first set en route to a 25-16 win. Minnesota attacked early and often when it accomplished 15 kills in 19 attempts and had just one error. Minnesota went on a 6-1 run to push the Gopher lead to 15-8. Dixon added a kill at the 18-11 mark and another for a 19-13 lead. Nora had her first kill of the match at 23-16, while Louisville had back-to-back attack errors as the Gophers closed out the set.
Set 2: Minnesota used 6.5 blocks in the second set as the Gophers won, 25-18. Hitting .370 in the second, the Gophers added another 14 kills, led primarily from Wittman (4) and Dixon (5). In that set, Daly Santana had three blocks, while Dixon added five. Minnesota jumped out to a 16-7 lead on three-straight Minnesota blocks. Dixon and Nora put the set at 14-7 on a combined block, while Santana and Dixon added another two at the 16-7 mark. Wittman added back-to-back kills for the Gophers' 22nd and 23rd points. As Louisville came back with three-straight, Minnesota took a timeout and had a kill by Dixon and another by Nora to close out the set.
Set 3: Dixon and Nora led the offensive attack in the third with eight and five kills, respectively. Nora hit .571 in the third, while Dixon produced a .583 attack percentage. Nora put the set at 14-11. With a block from Santana and Hannah Tapp the match was held at 17-12. Dixon put the set at 23-15 with her 19th kill, while Wittman added her 10th of the match for set point. Louisville ended the match and set with its 21st attack error for a 25-15 final.
