Gophers Hit the Road to MSU and Michigan

Minnesota (14-9, 4-8 BT) at Michigan State/Michigan
Friday, Nov. 7	Minnesota at Michigan State (13-10, 6-6 BT) (5:30 p.m. CT)
	No Video \| \| Live Blog
Saturday, Nov. 8	Minnesota at Michigan (10-12, 5-7 BT) (5:30 p.m. CT)
	No Video \| \| Live Blog
Locations	East Lansing, Mich., Ann Arbor, Mich.
Official Site	Minnesota \| Michigan State Michigan
Social Media	@GopherVball \| Facebook

Nov. 5, 2014

GOPHERS ON THE ROAD FOR SECOND-STRAIGHT WEEK

The University of Minnesota continues its road stretch as it heads to the state of Michigan to face Michigan State and Michigan, Nov. 7-8. The Golden Gophers face the Spartans at 5:30 p.m. CT on Friday, followed by a 6 p.m. tilt Saturday evening in Ann Arbor. The weekend marks the only time this year the Gophers will face the Spartans and Wolverines in 2014.

FOLLOWING THE GOPHERS

Both matches will feature an in-game blog and live stats through gophersports.com. Saturday's match will be streamed live on BTN Plus against the Wolverines.

ROAD WARRIORS

Minnesota is in the midst of playing seven of 10 matches on the road. The Gophers are on a four-match road match swing before they host Northwestern on Nov. 12. Minnesota is 6-5 away from the Sports Pavilion this season, including a 4-6 mark on opponent's home court. Following the Northwestern match, the Gophers are then at Penn State (Nov. 15), at Maryland (Nov. 19) before returning home against Purdue (Nov. 22).

ON THE DOCKET

Minnesota returns to the Sports Pavilion confines, Nov. 12 at 7 p.m. The match is streamed through BTN Plus.

ABOUT THE SPARTANS

Michigan State is 13-10 overall and 6-6 in Big Ten play. Coming off a win over Northwestern (3-0) and a loss to Illinois (3-1), the Spartans are on a four-match home stretch. Chloe Reinig leads the team with 301 kills and averages a team-high 3.63 kills per set. Allyssah Fitterer is second with 217 kills, followed by Alyssa Garvelink and Taylor Galloway with 149 and 120 kills, respectively. Libero Lori Moster averages 4.54 digs per set (381 total), while setter Rachel Minarick adds 766 assists (9.86 per set). As a team, MSU is hitting .210, averages 2.64 blocks per set and 13.35 kills per set.

ABOUT THE WOLVERINES

Michigan holds a 10-12 overall record and are 5-7 in Big Ten play. The Wolverines look to snap a four-match loss streak, dropping contests against Northwestern (3-1) and Illinois (3-2) last week. Abby Cole leads the offensive and blocking categories for the Wolverines. Cole holds a team-high 295 kills, hits .387 and averages 0.94 blocks per set. Caroline Knop has 214 kills in a team-high 669 attempts. Setter Lexi Dannemiller, who has played in just 45 sets due to injury, still leads the team with 510 assists. Tiffany Morales posts a team-high 325 digs. As a team, the Wolverines are hitting .231, average 13.61 kps, and 14.72 dps.

LAST YEAR AGAINST THE TEAMS

Minnesota earned a 3-0 and 3-1 win over Michigan and Michigan State, Nov. 22-23, in Ann Arbor and East Lansing. The Gophers also earned wins against the two teams at the Sports Pavilion, Oct. 17 and Oct. 19, 2013.

ALL-TIME AGAINST MSU/MICHIGAN

The Gophers are 49-18 all time against Michigan State and 50-15 against Michigan. Minnesota's last loss to MSU came on the road in 2012 in four sets, while the last loss to Michigan was the same weekend, also in 2012 in three sets.

DIGGIN' IT

The tandem of Dalianliz Rosado and Alyssa Goehner have split time as the Gopher libero this season. In the past six matches, Rosado has accumulated 10 plus digs. Two weeks ago against Nebraska, she collected a career-high 21, followed by 10 in the three-set Iowa win. Rosado added another 10 against Indiana and 13 at Purdue. In all, she has had 10 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 405 digs.

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Players Mentioned

Alyssa Goehner

Dalianliz Rosado

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University of Minnesota Athletics