University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Travel to No. 16 Illinois
9/30/2014 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 30, 2014
| Minnesota (11-2) at Illinois (10-3) | |
| Wed., Oct. 1 | Minnesota at Illinois (6:30 p.m.) |
| Television | Big Ten Network and BTN2Go.com |
| | Live Blog | |
| Location | Huff Hall, Champaign, Illinois |
| Official Site | Minnesota | Illinois |
| Social Media | @GopherVball | Facebook |
MINNESOTA TRAVELS TO ILLINOIS WEDNESDAY
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 set for a 6:30 p.m. start and is televised on BTN. Sunday's match against the Wildcats is scheduled for a 1 p.m. start and will be streamed through BTN Plus on BTN2Go.
ON THE DOCKET
The Gophers return to the Sports Pavilion, Oct. 10-11 to face Maryland and Rutgers. Match times are 7 p.m. starts. It's the first time the Terrapins and Scarlet Knights visit the Sports Pavilion since joining the Big Ten.
FOLLOWING THE GOPHERS
The Gopher/Illini match will be televised live on BTN, while Sunday's will be streamed BTN Plus on BTN2Go. Both matches have a live blog as well as live stats available on gophersports.com.
ALL TIME AGAINST THE ILLINI
For the second-straight year, the Gophers and Illini battle once this season. Minnesota played at Illinois last year and earned a 3-0 win to close out the regular season. The Gophers are 32-38-1 all-time against Illinois.
ABOUT ILLINOIS
Illinois enters the Gopher match with a 10-3 overall record and a 2-0 mark in Big Ten play. The Illini defeated Maryland and Rutgers in the opening weekend of conference action, winning both matches in straight sets. Big Ten Player of the Week Jocelynn Birks leads the team with 174 kills to average 3.87 kills per set, while Liz McMahon ranks second on the team with 143 kills and is hitting .317. The combination of Katie Stadick and Anna Dorn average 1.24 and 1.22 blocks per set and are hitting .358 and .359, respectively. Alexis Viliunas and Allison Palmer share setting duties and have 268 and 254 assists. As a team, the Illini are hitting .290, have 47 aces and 640 kills.
PSU RECAP
Minnesota fell in four sets to No. 3 Penn State, Saturday 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.
OSU RECAP
Minnesota defeated Ohio State Wednesday night in five sets, 21-25, 25-23, 25-20, 27-29 and 15-12. 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.
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.
GOLDEN GOPHER BLOCK PARTY
Through the first week of Big Ten play, Minnesota leads the league in blocks and blocks per set. As a team, the Gophers have 144.5 blocks to average 3.01 per set. The Tapp and Tapp tandem alone, rank second and third in the Big Ten Conference as the duo has 68 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.
Players Mentioned
Middle Blocker
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Outside Hitter
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Middle Blocker/Opposite
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Outside Hitter
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Setter
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Middle Blocker
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Middle Blocker
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Outside Hitter
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