University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Take to the Road to Face Purdue
10/31/2014 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
| Minnesota (14-8) at Purdue (18-5) | |
| Sat., Nov. 1 | Minnesota at Purdue (7:30 p.m. CT) |
| Big Ten Network (BTN2Go) | | Live Blog | |
| Location | West Lafayette, Ind./Holloway Gym |
| Official Site | Minnesota | Purdue |
| Social Media | @GopherVball | Facebook |
Oct. 31, 2014
GOPHERS HIT THE ROAD FOR SATURDAY TILT
The University of Minnesota plays at Purdue University, Saturday, Nov. 1, at 7:30 p.m. CT. The Golden Gophers (14-8, 4-7 in the Big Ten) plays No. 13 Purdue (18-5, 8-3 Big Ten) in the two team's first meeting of the season.
FOLLOWING THE GOPHERS
Saturday's match will be televised live on the Big Ten Network. The match will also have a live blog as well as live stats available on gophersports.com.
BTN TELEVISION;SCHEDULE UPDATE
The Big Ten Network and the Big Ten Conference has announced that Minnesota's match at Purdue (11/1) will be picked up by the network and televised live. Due to the television lineup, the start time has also been adjusted to begin at 7:30 p.m. CT/8:30 p.m. ET. The wildcard addition will mark the sixth time this season a Gopher match is televised and the second time on the road.
ROAD WARRIORS
Minnesota is in the midst of playing seven of its last 10 matches on the road. The Gophers have four-straight road matches before they host Northwestern on Nov. 12. Following the Indiana/Purdue tilt, Minnesota travels to Michigan State/Michigan, Nov. 7-8. Minnesota is 6-3 away from the Sports Pavilion this season, including a 4-4 mark on opponent's home court.
ON THE DOCKET
The Gophers travel to East Lansing, Mich., and Ann Arbor, Mich., Nov. 7-8, to face Michigan State and Michigan. Both matches are set for 6 p.m. CT starts.
ABOUT THE BOILERMAKERS
Purdue enters the weekend with an 18-5 overall record and an 8-3 mark in Big Ten play. Like Minnesota, the Boilermakers also played Wednesday night, only to fall in straight sets to No. 4 Wisconsin, 28-26, 25-16, 25-19. Purdue's three conference losses have come to ranked Big Ten teans in Penn State, Illinois and Wisconsin. Annie Drews leads the team and the Big Ten with 345 kills, followed by Sam Epenesa. Kierra Jones has 156 kills, hits a team-best .365 and averages 1.06 blocks per set. Val Nichol has 924 assists, while Amanda Neill provides a team-best 322 digs.
LAST YEAR AGAINST THE BOILERMAKERS
Minnesota won both contests against Purdue last year, including a five-set thriller at Holloway Gym. The Gophers earned a 3-0 win against the Boilermakers at the Sports Pavilion in Sept., while they won a 3-2 match at Purdue on Nov. 1, 2013. Tori Dixon had 19 kills as the Gophers won the fifth set, 15-10. Hannah Tapp had four kills and a team-high nine blocks in the win.
ALL-TIME AGAINST PURDUE
The Gophers are 45-33 all-time against the Boilermakers, dating back to 1975. The last loss at Purdue for the Gophers was just in 2011. Since then, the Gophers have won four-straight, including a NCAA regional semifinal in 2012.
DIGGIN' IT
The tandem of Dalianliz Rosado and Alyssa Goehner have split time as the Gopher libero this season. In the past five matches, Rosado has accumulated 10 plus digs. In both matches against Wisconsin, Rosado had 13 digs. Last week against Nebraska, she collected a career-high 21, followed by 10 in the three-set Iowa win. On Wednesday, Rosado added another 10. In all, she has had nine matches with 10 or more digs. Goehner has also seen action as the libero this season and has posted 10 matches with over 10 digs. Both sharing back row responsibilities, the pair of rookies combine for 385 digs.
GOLDEN GOPHER BLOCK PARTY
Minnesota leads the league in blocks and blocks per set. As a team, the Gophers have 227.0 blocks to average 2.91 per set. The Tapp and Tapp tandem alone, rank second and third in the Big Ten Conference as the duo has 106 and 100 blocks, respectively. Minnesota finished the 2013 season as the second-best blocking team as former Gopher Tori Dixon averaged 1.69 bps, while Hannah Tapp had 1.28 bps. The Gophers in 2012 ranked ninth in the league and improved seven spots in just one year.
Players Mentioned
Middle Blocker
/ Volleyball
Outside Hitter
/ Volleyball
Libero/DS
/ Volleyball
Middle Blocker
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