Gophers Set to Host Penn State

Sept. 26, 2014

Minnesota (11-1) hosts Penn State (13-1)
Sat, Sept 24	Minnesota vs. Penn State (7 p.m.)
	ESPN3 (ESPN2 Tape Delay) \| \| Live Blog
Location	Sports Pavilion
Tickets	MyGopherSports.com
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Official Site	Minnesota \| Ohio State
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GOPHERS IN THE MEDIA

MINNESOTA HOSTS PENN STATE SATURDAY

The University of Minnesota volleyball team hosts Penn State, Saturday night at 7 p.m. PSU enters the match with a 42-7 all-time record against Minnesota. The Gophers last defeated Penn State on their home court on November, 27, 2010, in five-set fashion.

ON THE DOCKET

The Gophers hit the road in another split week as Minnesota travels to Illinois (Oct. 1) and Northwestern (Oct. 5). The match against the Illini is televised on BTN. The Gophers return to the Sports Pavilion, Oct. 10-11 to face Maryland and Rutgers. Match times are 7 p.m. starts.

FOLLOWING THE GOPHERS

The match against Penn State 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.

OSU RECAP

Minnesota defeated Ohio State Wednesday night in five sets, 21-25, 25-23, 25-20, 27-29 and 15-12. The Golden Gophers improve to 11-1 on the season and 1-0 in the Big Ten. The Gophers were led by Sarah Wilhite, who had a triple double (10 kills, 10 digs and 10 blocks), while Adrianna Nora hit .400 and had 13 kills in 25 swings. Daly Santana had 17 kills, and Katie Schau had 36 assists and 10 digs. Paige Tapp collected a career-high 11 blocks.

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 135.5 blocks to average 3.08 per set. The Tapp and Tapp tandem alone, rank second and third in the Big Ten Conference as the duo has 65 and 62 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.

DID YOU KNOW?

Sarah Wilhite was the first Golden Gopher to complete a triple double since Taylor Carico in 2009 against Colorado State in the NCAA Tournament. Wilhite was the first non-Gopher setter to accomplish the feat since Lauren Gibbemeyer when she had 12 kills, 10 digs and 10 blocks, also against Ohio State in 2007. In all, Minnesota has had 26 triple doubles in school history.

MAKING THEIR MARK

Daly Santana ranks second in the Big Ten in kills (4.07 per set), first in points (4.77 per set) and third in aces (18). Paige Tapp enters league action with the sixth-best hitting percentage (.414), while Wilhite ranks fifth in kills (3.61 per set).

ABOUT THE NITTANY LIONS

Penn State enters the Minnesota match with a 13-1 overall record and won its Big Ten opener at Wisconsin, 3-0. PSU, the defending national champions, hold the league's best hitting percentage (.385), paced by Nia Grant who individually leads the conference with a .494 efficiency. Micha Hancock ranks first in the Big Ten in aces (51) and third in assists (513). Rookie Ali Frantti has 143 kills, followed by Megan Courtney with 120. Libero Dominique Gonzalez has a team-high 161 digs.

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 then-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.

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Players Mentioned

Tori Dixon

Adrianna Nora

Daly Santana

Katie Schau

Hannah Tapp

Paige Tapp

Sarah Wilhite

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University of Minnesota Athletics