University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Take on No. 7 Illinois for Dig Pink
10/2/2015 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
| Minnesota (10-3) hosts Illinois (11-3) | |
| Sat., Oct. 3 | Minnesota vs. Illinois (7 p.m.) |
| BTN Plus | | Live Updates | |
| Location | Sports Pavilion |
| Tickets | MyGopherSports.com |
| Travel | Local Weather | Parking | Preferred Hotels |
| Official Site | Minnesota | Illinois |
| Social Media | @GopherVball | Facebook |
GOPHERS READY TO COMPETE AGAINST ILLINOIS
The No. 16 University of Minnesota volleyball team hosts No. 7 Illinois, Saturday at 7 p.m. The match up marks the third conference-ranked opponent the Gophers will face in this young Big Ten season.
FOLLOWING THE GOPHERS
BTN Plus is set to stream the Minnesota/Illinois match Saturday. A game day live page and live statistics will be available on gophersports.com.
DIG PINK
Throughout the month of October, volleyball programs nationwide will be participating in breast cancer awareness. This Saturday, the Gophers will recognize breast cancer awareness as members of the team will wear pink during warmups. Fans are also encouraged to change their maroon to pink for this match. Colleges Against Cancer, in conjunction with the American Cancer Society, will be present at the match. For more information on their organization, or to donate, check out their website.
ON THE DOCKET
Following the Illinois match, Minnesota is back on the road for three-straight as it travels to Maryland and Rutgers Oct. 9 and Oct. 11, while it then travels to Wisconsin, Oct. 14.
ABOUT ILLINOIS
The University of Minnesota welcomes No. 7 Illinois to the Sports Pavilion tonight. Illinois enters the match with an 11-3 overall record and 2-1 mark in Big Ten play. The Illini have played against five ranked opponents this season, including Stanford, Colorado, Kentucky, Arizona State and Wisconsin to go 2-3 against ranked competition. Illinois also played on Wednesday night and fell to Wisconsin in four sets. Michelle Strizak holds a team-best 157 kills, and Katie Stadick hits a team-high .389 clip and averages 1.36 blocks per set. Jordyn Poulter leads the team with 473 assists, while Brandi Donnelly has 217 digs.
ALL TIME SERIES & LAST TIME
Minnesota holds a narrow 32-30-1 all-time mark against Illinois, dating back to 1976. The Illini defeated Minnesota, 3-0, last year in the only meeting between the two teams, held in Champaign, Ill. In a three-set fashion, the Illini won, 25-22, 32-30 and 25-19. The last time Illinois visited Minnesota was in 2012 when the two teams played at Williams Arena (3-0 Minnesota win), while the last time the Illini played in the Sports Pavilion was a five-set win in 2011.
WEDNESDAY RECAP
Minnesota defeated Northwestern, 3-0, Wednesday at the Sports Pavilion. The Golden Gophers won 25-16, 25-23, 25-21, to improve to 10-3 overall and 2-1 in Big Ten play. Hannah Tapp led the Gophers when she hit .333 and had 11 kills. Daly Santana had 12 kills and two aces, and Paige Tapp had six kills and hit .357. Dalianliz Rosado had 16 digs, while Samantha Seliger-Swenson had 36 assists. The Wildcats held a 7-6 block lead, but the Gophers led in kills (41-38), digs (62-58) and aces (7-1).
GOPHERS RANKED NO. 16
After a five set win over then-No. 12 Ohio State last Wednesday, and taking No. 1 Penn State to five sets Saturday, the University of Minnesota volleyball program moved up five spots in the American Volleyball Coaches Association poll, announced by the AVCA today.
Minnesota, who entered last week's Big Ten season as the No. 21 team, moved up five spots after the first weekend of Big Ten play. The Golden Gophers (9-3, 1-1) defeated OSU, 3-2, in Columbus, Ohio, Wednesday night. They followed that performance with a 3-2 loss to the two-time defending national champions, Penn State, Saturday. Minnesota, however, was the first program this season to win a set against the Nittany Lions, which broke a 43-0 PSU set run (dating back to the 2014 NCAA Final Four).
Minnesota is one of eight teams ranked in the latest AVCA poll. Penn State holds the No. 1 spot, followed by Nebraska (4), Illinois (7), Ohio State (13), Minnesota (16), Purdue (18), Wisconsin (19) and Michigan (23). Michigan State and Iowa are receiving votes.
