Gophers Close Non-Conference in Toledo

Sept. 17, 2014

Minnesota (7-1) at Rocket Invite
Friday, Sept. 19	Match #1 Minnesota vs. Duquesne (10 a.m. CT)
	Live Stats \| Live Blog
	Match #2: Minnesota at Toledo (6 p.m. CT)
	Free Video \| Live Stats \| Live Blog
Saturday, Sept. 20	Match #3: Minnesota vs. IPFW (12 p.m. CT)
	Live Stats \| Live Blog
Location	Toledo, Ohio, John F. Savage Arena (7,300)
Social Media	@GopherVball \| Facebook

MINNESOTA CLOSES OUT NON-CONFERENCE ON THE ROAD

The University of Minnesota volleyball team closes out the non-conference portion of the 2014 season as it travels to Toledo, Ohio to compete in the Rocket Invitational, Sept. 19-20. Minnesota plays twice on Friday, 9 a.m. CT vs. Duquesne and 6 p.m. against host Toledo. The Gophers then play IPFW at noon CT Saturday.

ON THE DOCKET

Minnesota opens the Big Ten Conference season next week when it hosts Ohio State, Sept. 24 at 7 p.m. The Gophers will then face No. 3 and defending national champions Penn State, Saturday, Sept. 27, also at 7 p.m. Following the opening week of Big Ten play, Minnesota travels to Illinois, Oct. 1, and Northwestern, Oct. 5.

FOLLOWING THE GOPHERS

Minnesota will offer a live blog for all matches at the Toledo Rocket Invite. The Rockets will have a free video stream of their match against the Gophers. As the Gophers start conference action, the Ohio State match (Sept. 24) will be featured on BTN Plus, while the Penn State match (Sept. 27) will be on ESPN3 with a tape delay ESPN 2 Sunday, Sept. 28.

LAST WEEKEND ACTION

Minnesota won its tournament as the Gophers went 3-0 in the Diet Coke Classic, Sept. 12-13. Minnesota earned a 3-1 win over Tulsa (Sept. 12), Milwaukee (Sept. 13) and Iowa State (Sept. 13) to take home its second-straight tournament honors. Iowa State, who fell to Minnesota, defeated both Milwaukee and Tulsa for second place. Minnesota's Daly Santana was named tournament MVP, while Sarah Wilhite and Alyssa Goehner received all-tourney nods.

M-V-P, M-V-P

As the Gophers had two tournament wins, they also had two different tournament MVPs. Adrianna Nora was the Yale Invitiational MVP when she had 28 kills and hit .377 on the weekend. Daly Santana was named the MVP for the Diet Coke Classic when she had a team-high 51 kills to average 4.25 per set. She also contributed three assists, five aces, 33 digs and eight blocks. It marked the second weekend Santana added all-tourney accolades after a 44 kill performance at Yale. Sarah Wilhite garnered all-tourney honors both weekends. At the DCC, Wilhite had 48 kills during the three-day tournament to average 4.00 kps, 35 digs and 13 blocks. At Yale, she had 28 kills on the weekend, attempted 100 swings and had three aces and 25 digs. Alyssa Goehner stepped in as the Gophers' libero last weekend and had 37 digs to be named all-tournament for the DCC.

SETTIN' IT UP

Minnesota has had setter Erica Handley play in six matches this season, including four starts. While as the Gopher setter, Handley has 200 assists and seven kills this year. The Syracuse transfer is in her sophomore year and has also record 39 digs and 12 blocks.

ABOUT THE ROCKET INVITE FIELD

Duquesne enters the weekend with a 5-4 overall record and are 2-1 in neutral action. Duquesne last played at the Panther Classic in which it fell to host Pittsburgh (3-0), and defeated Niagara (3-0) and Norfolk State (3-0). Pacing the Dukes is Arielle Love, who leads the team in kills (99), kills per set (2.91) and blocks (1.38 bps). Molly Davet has 86 kills and 77 digs, while Mary Henry has 315 assists and 77 digs. Sammy Kline adds a team-high 102 digs.

Toledo is looking for its first win of the year as it plays Valparaiso on Tuesday night prior to hosting this weekend's tournament. The Rockets played in the CSU Invite last weekend and fell to Dayton (3-1), Navy (3-2) and Cleveland State (3-0). Through nine matches of play, Brooke Frazer has 53 kills and a team-best .252 hitting clip and has 20 blocks. Lauren Bakaitis leads the team with 121 digs.

Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne enters the weekend with a 5-5 overall record and 4-3 on neutral courts. The Mastodons played in the Saluki Invite last weekend in Carbondale, Ill. IPFW fell, 3-1, to host Southern Illinois, 3-2, to Marshall and 3-1 to Kansas State. Following the tournament, middle blocker Anna Wrede was named the Summit League's Defensive Player of the Week when she had 14 blocks in back-to-back matches. On the season, Wrede averages 2.62 bps. Emily Spencer leads the offensive drive with 163 kills, followed by Kendall Wienkes with 107.

ALL-TIME AGAINST THE TEAMS

The Rocket Invite marks the first time in school history the Gophers will face any of the opposing team. In fact, Minnesota is the only Big Ten team that will face this week's opponents in non-conference action this season.

GOPHERS RANKED 17TH IN AVCA

The University of Minnesota volleyball program is ranked 17th in the recent American Volleyball Coaches Association, announced Monday. Stanford is the No. 1 team in the nation, followed by Texas and Penn State.

Like every year, Minnesota is in the stacked Big Ten Conference as seven teams are ranked in the top 25. Penn State, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Purdue, Illinois, Minnesota and Michigan State are all ranked. Northwestern is receiving votes, as is Iowa State and Louisville, both of whom the Gophers played this year.

Upcoming Events

Players Mentioned

Alyssa Goehner

Erica Handley

Adrianna Nora

Daly Santana

Sarah Wilhite

Upcoming Events

University of Minnesota Athletics