Gophers Ready to Begin Big Ten Play at Home

Sept. 23, 2014

Minnesota (10-1) hosts Ohio State (9-3)
Wednesday, Sept 24	Minnesota vs. Ohio State (7 p.m.)
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MINNESOTA OPENS BIG TEN SEASON AT HOME

The University of Minnesota volleyball team opens the Big Ten Conference season, Wednesday as it hosts Ohio State at 7 p.m. The Golden Gophers enter league action with a 10-1 overall record and are ranked 17th in the nation.

ON THE DOCKET

The Gophers 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

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. Live stats and live blog will be available for both matches this week.

GOPHERS IN BIG TEN OPENERS

In the past decade, Minnesota has had a strong opening to the Big Ten Conference season as it has gone 8-2 in conference opening matches. The last time the Gophers opened the Big Ten season against OSU dates back to 1990.

CLOSING OUT NON-CONFERENCE

Minnesota finished the non-conference season, 10-1, with its only loss to Louisville during the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. Since the start of the season, the Gophers won three tournaments: the Yale Tournament, the Diet Coke Classic and the Rocket Invite. All three of those tournaments featured different MVPs. Adrianna Nora took home MVP honors at Yale, while Daly Santana won the DCC and Sarah Wilhite the Rocket Invite. Breaking down the Gophers' hitting efficiency, Minnesota improved as a team each weekend.â€ˆThe Gophers, who started out the year hitting .205 at the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, hit .247 at Yale, .276 at the DCC and .348 at the Rocket Invite.

WILHITE/TAPP RECEIVE WEEKLY LAURELS

Sophomore outside hitter Sarah Wilhite was named the Big Ten's Player of the Week, while sophomore middle blocker Paige Tapp was named Defensive Player of the week for their performances at the Rocket Invite, last weekend in Toledo, Ohio. It's the first Big Ten weekly honor for each individual.

Wilhite earned the tournament's most valuable player honors and garnered her third-straight All-Tournament accolades this past weekend. In three matches, the outside hitter had 42 kills and averaged 4.67 kills per set. On the weekend, she hit .386 and established eight blocks, two aces and 16 digs. In the Rocket Invite conclusion, Wilhite did not commit an error for the first set or halfway through the second as she paced the Gophers with 16 kills and hit .462 against IPFW.

Paige Tapp was named the defensive player of the week after she posted 18 blocks during the Rocket Invite. The middle blocker added a career-high 10 blocks in the 3-0 win over IPFW and four each against Duquesne and Toledo. During the tournament, Tapp had 14 kills as she committed just one error in 23 attempts to hit .565.

SETTIN' IT UP

Minnesota has had setter Erica Handley play in nine matches this season, including seven starts. As the Gopher setter, Handley has a team-leading 309 assists and nine kills this year. The Syracuse transfer is in her sophomore year and has also record 55 digs and 21 blocks. She also aided the Gophers to a .348 hitting efficiency at the Rocket Invite.

GOLDEN GOPHER BLOCK PARTY

As the Gophers enter Big Ten play, Minnesota leads the league in blocks and blocks per set. As a team, the Gophers have 116.5 blocks to average 2.99 per set. The Tapp and Tapp tandem alone, are tied for second in the Big Ten Conference as the duo each has 54 total blocks. 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 to improve seven spots in just one year.

DID YOU KNOW?

Gophers' own Daly Santana enters conference action with the most kills (158) in the league to average 4.16 per set. She also ranks first in points (4.88 per set) and third in aces (16). Paige Tapp enters league action with the fifth-best hitting percentage (.420), while Wilhite ranks fourth in kills (3.82 per set).

ABOUT THE BUCKEYES

Ohio State enters the Big Ten Conference season with a 9-3 record and a four-match win streak. After dropping opening weekend matches to Oregon (3-0) and Illinois State (3-2), the Buckeyes won the next five before dropping a four-set decision to Ohio. Last weekend, OSU defeated UAB, IUPUI and Miami. Erin Sekinger leads the team with 135 kills. Taylor Sandbothe has 121 and leads the team with a .347 hitting clip and blocks per set (1.62). Taylor Sherwin has a team-high 392 assists, followed Maggie Heim with 148. Valeria Leon has 186 digs.

GOPHERS ALL-TIME VS. BUCKEYES

Minnesota holds a 38-35 all-time lead in the match up, dating back to 1975. Minnesota won both matches against OSU in straight sets last year. The Gophers earned a 3-0 road win, 25-16, 25-17, 25-19 in Columbus, Ohio, Oct. 12, 2013, before the Gophers won, 25-19, 25-19, 25-15, Nov. 15, at the Sports Pavilion.

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Players Mentioned

Tori Dixon

Erica Handley

Adrianna Nora

Daly Santana

Hannah Tapp

Paige Tapp

Sarah Wilhite

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University of Minnesota Athletics