University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
11-2, 1-1Big Ten
Penn State
14-1, 2-0Big Ten
Gophers Fall In Four to Penn State
9/27/2014 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
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Final Stats
Photo Gallery
The No. 17 University of Minnesota volleyball team fell in four sets to No. 3 Penn State, tonight, in the Sports Pavilion, in front of 5,028 fans. The Gophers won the first set, 29-27, but fell 25-13, 25-15 and 25-22 to drop to 11-2 on the season and 1-1 in Big Ten play.
The Golden Gophers were led by Sarah Wilhite, who had 14 kills and 14 digs, while Daly Santana had 12 kills and 10 digs. Katie Schau had 34 assists, while Alyssa Goehner led the Gophers with 15 digs. Hannah Tapp added a team-high six blocks. PSU outhit the Gophers .261 to .090, outblocked Minnesota 15.5 to 9.0 and had seven aces to the Gophers' two.
The Gophers will play at Illinois, Wednesday, Oct. 1 at 6:30 p.m. The match will be broadcast on Big Ten Network. Minnesota then travels to Northwestern, Oct. 5 at 1 p.m.
Set 1: Minnesota took a 1-0 lead when it won the first set, 29-27 after 13 tie scores and eight lead changes. Minnesota went up 14-11 when Paige Tapp added back-to-back kills. PSU would come back and tie the set at 17-17, but Minnesota would go up 20-18 on a kill by Hannah Tapp to force PSU to take a timeout. The Gophers would push the set to 24-21 on a Wilhite kill before the Nittany Lions would come back and earn three-straight points for a 24 tie score. The two teams exchanged points all the way until 27-27 until the Gophers put it away with a kill from Santana and another kill from Wilhite.
Set 2: Penn State took advantage of hitting .371 and used a run 6-0 run to pace a 25-13 second set win and tie the match at 1-1. The Nittany Lions used a run from 11-9 to 16-9 primarily on PSU setter Micha Hancock's serve rotation. PSU cushioned the lead to 22-11 on a block and set point on a Simone Lee kill. The Nittany Lions would close out the set on a kill from Grant to tie it up at 1-1. Minnesota committed seven attack errors in set, while PSU had just three and a 78 percent side out ratio.
Set 3: Penn State took a 2-1 lead on a 25-15 third set win. PSU jumped out a 9-4 lead on a block and later 16-9 on a kill to force Minnesota to take a timeout, it's second of the set. The Gophers would cut the lead to 21-14 on a Santana kill and 21-15 on a PSU attack error before the Nittany Lions called a timeout. PSU, however, would close out the set with a Gopher serving error, a kill, a block and a Gopher attack error.
Set 4: Despite Minnesota's five blocks in the fourth set and tying taking a late 19-17 lead, PSU put away the match with a 25-22 fourth-set win. The Gophers trailed 15-13, but Minnesota would eventually tie the set at 17 on a block from Santana and Hannah Tapp and then took a two-point on a Santana kill and a Schau/Hannah Tapp block. Minnesota would go up 21-19 on another kill from Santana, but PSU would come back and tie the set on a kill and a block. PSU closed out the match with a 4-1 run for the win.
