University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
14-1, 2-0Big Ten
Purdue
9-4, 0-2Big Ten
Gophers Improve to 2-0 in Big Ten
9/29/2013 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
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Sept. 29, 2013
The No. 9 University of Minnesota defeated No. 20 Purdue University, 3-0, today in front of 4,374 fans. With the win, the Golden Gophers improve to 2-0 in Big Ten play and 14-1 this season.
Minnesota was led by seniors Ashley Wittman and Tori Dixon, each of which posted double-digit kills. Wittman recorded her fifth double-double of the season when she had a match-high 15 kills, a match-high 14 digs and also contributed five blocks. Tori Dixon added 12 kills and hit .500, followed by Daly Santana with eight kills and 11 digs. Alexandra Palmer provided a match-high 34 assists, four digs and a block assist. Hannah Tapp and Dixon also had five blocks.
As a team, Minnesota bettered its hitting in each set. The Gophers won the first set hitting .135, followed by .350 in the second and .500 in the third. Minnesota finished the match hitting .318, while only allowing Purdue a .144 match clip. The Gophers also out blocked the Boilermakers, 12.0-3.0.
Minnesota plays at No. 12 Nebraska on Oct. 4 and Iowa, Oct. 5. Both matches will be held at 7 p.m., while the Nebraska match will be televised live on the Big Ten Network.
Notables:
-The double-double was Wittman's fifth of the year and 53rd of her career. It also also marked the 10th time this season she's had double-digit kills.
-Dixon recorded her 12th double-digit kill mark of the season.
-Minnesota had three players produce five blocks. It tied a season-high for Wittman.
-The Gophers have now hit over .300 in 12 matches this season. Minnesota has also held its opponents to less than a .200 hit clip 12 times this year.
-The match was the second ranked opponent Minnesota saw this year and is now, 1-1 against ranked teams.
Set Breakdown:
Set 1: The two teams went through 10 tie scores and four lead changes before the Gophers won, 25-22. As the Boilermakers took a 15-12 lead, Minnesota came back and erased the deficit as Purdue's Sam Epenesa had two attack errors, followed by a Purdue ball-handling error. As the two teams were tied at 17-17, Dixon served Minnesota to a five-point run to put it at a 21-17 Gopher favor. In that span, Minnesota had a block from Tapp and Wittman, followed by a Wittman kill and Purdue's Catherine Rebarchak had two attack errors. Minnesota would later win the set when Wittman closed out the set with her fifth kill of the set.
Set 2: After an early 4-4 tie, Minnesota gained control on a kill from Dixon and held the lead for the remainder of the set. Minnesota went up 12-8 on a block from Santana and Tapp, and up 14-10 on a kill from Adrianna Nora. Purdue closed the gap to one (16-15) with block from Faye Adelaja. Minnesota, however, added three-straight on two Wittman kills, followed by a Dixon kill for a 19-15 lead. After a kill by Nora and a block by Dixon and Nora, Minnesota closed out the set with a Santana kill, while Purdue committed a service error for a 2-0 Gopher lead.
Set 3: Minnesota and Purdue were tied at 14-14 until the Gophers were able to string together back-to-back points as Dixon and Nora added a kill each. Minnesota went up, 18-15 when Santana and Tapp combined for a block. Santana would put the Gophers up 20-17 with a kill, followed by a combined Santana/Dixon block to go up four. The Gophers would finish off the set and match with a kill from Santana and Dixon to improve to 14-1 this season.
