Gophers Close Out Non-Conference Schedule This Weekend

Minnesota (8-1) at Dartmouth Duels
Friday, Sept. 20	vs. Rhode Island (9 a.m.)
	vs. New Hampshire (4:30 p.m.)
Saturday, Sept. 21	vs. Connecticut (11 a.m.)
	at Dartmouth (6 p.m.)
Location	Hanover, N.H.
Live Video	Minnesota vs. Dartmouth
Live Stats	All Matches
Live Blog	Rhode Island \| New Hampshire \| UConn \| Dartmouth
Social Media	@GopherVball \| Facebook

Sept. 18, 2013

GOPHERS CLOSE OUT NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE AT DARTMOUTH DUELS
The No. 9 University of Minnesota volleyball program closes out its non-conference schedule this weekend at the Dartmouth Duels in Hanover, N.H. The Golden Gophers play Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Connecticut and host Dartmouth, Friday and Saturday. It's the final weekend before the Gophers open Big Ten play.

ON THE DOCKET
The Golden Gophers begin Big Ten Conference play next Wednesday when Indiana visits the Sports Pavilion, Sept. 25, at 6:30 p.m. The Gophers then prepare for No. 21 Purdue on Sunday, Sept. 29 at 1 p.m. The Gopher/Indiana match kicks off the conference season and will be shown live on the Big Ten Network. The Gopher/Purdue match will be broadcast on BTN.com.

ABOUT THIS WEEKEND'S FIELD
Minnesota will play four teams in two days in Rhode Island and New Hampshire Friday and Connecticut and host Dartmouth Saturday. Rhode Island enters the tournament with a 5-4 record after winning all three matches at the Art Carmichael Invitational. Minnesota will be the second Big Ten Conference team the Rams face this season as they fell to Iowa in three (25-21, 25-12, 25-22).

New Hampshire enters the Duels with a 5-6 record and looks to break its three-game losing streak. The Wildcats fell in all three games of the Maryland Tournament against host Maryland, Villanova and George Mason. Minnesota is the first ranked opponent UNH will face this season.

Connecticut enters the Duels with a 5-5 record after it won the Courtyard Classic. Devon Maugle was named Tournament MVP, while Brianna Datti was named best libero and Karson Ratliff was on the all-tournament team. Minnesota will be the first ranked opponent the Huskies will see this season.
Host Dartmouth is home for the second straight weekend and hosted its second-straight tournament.

Entering the weekend with a 5-2 record, the Big Green went 3-1 last weekend with wins over Central Connecticut State, Manhattan and Providence, followed by a loss to Grand Canyon. The last time Minnesota and Dartmouth competed against each other was in 1996 and is the first and only Ivy League team the Gophers play in the regular season.

ALL-TIME RECORD VS. UPCOMINGâ€ˆTEAMS
TEAM RECORD 1ST MTG LAST MTG
Connecticut 3-0 1990 2006
Dartmouth 1-0 1996 1996
UNH 1-0 2002 2002
Rhode Island 3-0 1985 2002

BLUEGRASS BATTLE
The University of Minnesota went 1-1 against Louisville and No. 19 Kentucky in the Bluegrass Battle last weekend. The Gophers hit .514 en route to a three-set win over the Cardinals as Tori Dixon had 19 kills. Ashley Wittman had 10 kills and hit .600 in the match, while Alexandra Palmer had 39 assists. Minnesota then faced its first ranked opponent of the season against the host Wildcats. Minnesota dropped its first sets of the season as Kentucky won the first set, 25-18. The Gophers would win the second to tie the match at 1-1, while Kentucky took the third set, 25-19. Minnesota forced a fifth set when it won 25-23 in the fourth, but fell 15-8 in the fifth for its first loss of the season.

WHERE THEY STAND IN NATIONAL RANKINGS
The Golden Gophers rank high in a few national statistic rankings. As a team, Minnesota ranks sixth as it's hitting .326. Tori Dixon currently holds the 12th-best hitting percentage at .466. In 29 sets, Dixon has 126 kills and just 23 errors in 221 attempts. Ashley Wittman ranks 44th in the same category with a .403 clip, just 17 errors in 216 swings. Dixon also ranks 17th in kills per set (4.34), ninth in points per set (5.43) and 24th in blocks per set (1.38). Alexandra Palmer ranks 35th nationally in assists per set (10.97).

MINNESOTA NO. 9 IN AVCA POLL
After going 1-1 in the Bluegrass Battle, the University of Minnesota volleyball program is currently ranked ninth in the American Volleyball Coaches Association poll.
Minnesota, which held the No. 6 spot in the preseason, cracked the top-five the previous two weeks and were ranked No. 4.

Penn State regained the No. 1 spot and hold a 6-1 record. In all, the Big Ten Conference has eight in the latest poll. Along with the Nittany Lions and the Gophers, Michigan is ranked No. 10, followed by Nebraska (12), Ohio State (13), Michigan State (14), Illinois (16), and Purdue (21). Wisconsin was ranked last week and is now receiving votes.

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