University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
11-3, 3-1Big Ten
Illinois
11-4, 2-2Big Ten
Minnesota takes down No. 7 Illinois
10/3/2015 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 3, 2015
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Final Stats
Photo Gallery
The No. 16 University of Minnesota volleyball team defeated No. 7 Illinois in five sets Saturday night, 26-24, 22-25, 22-25, 25-10, 15-6. The Golden Gophers improve to 11-3 overall and 3-1 in the Big Ten.
The win marks the first time Minnesota has defeated that high of an opponent since the Golden Gophers defeated then-No. 5 Michigan State, Oct. 2013. Being down 2-1, Minnesota came back and hit .395 in the final two sets, including a .480 clip in the fourth set. For the match, the Gophers hit .323 to the Illiini's .176 and out blocked them, 16-6.
Daly Santana led the Gophers with 26 kills in 62 attempts.Hannah Tapp followed with 14 kills and nine blocks. Sarah Wilhite hit for .476 with 11 kills. Samantha Seliger-Swenson had 58 assists and Dalianliz Rosado had 16 digs.
The Gophers will be on the road the next two weeks, and will return for a border battle against Wisconsin on Oct. 17 at 7pm.
"We focused a lot on controlling what we could control, Hannah Tapp said. "If that's just staying in rhythm in our approach, keeping the set in rhythm, and when it's not them managing it and I think that was really key and we stuck to that and I think we're really disciplined, I think that's really what separated us and the Illini in the fourth and fifth set.
We focused a lot on getting low and over in good spots. Blocking, we had a great plan and I think it really worked. I think we stuck to the plan and it worked in our favor."
"All around, our team was playing really well," Wilhite said. "We were passing well, we were setting well. I just was open, I think that was the big difference, our first contact was great. And so Sam (Seliger-Swenson) was able to put up a great, hittable ball and I was able to work it around the block. There's nothing better than playing at the Pav. It was just fun to compete and be able to execute at a high level."
Set 1: The Gophers took a 1-0 lead off a 26-24 set win when it hit .341 to Illinois' .238. Minnesota opened the first set with a 4-1 run before Illinois responded with a run of its own to tie the set at 5-5. The two teams would trade points until Illinois strung three points together to take a 15-13 lead. Minnesota called a timeout and responded with a Hannah Tapp kill and a Sarah Wilhite ace. Tied again through 16 before the Illini would take a 20-17 lead as Minnesota burned its second timeout. The Gophers responded with a four-point run with a Santana kill, an Illini attack error, a Lohman/Hannah Tapp block and a Rosado dump to take a narrow 21-20 lead. The two teams tied at 22 before the Gophers took a 24-22 lead off a Gopher block and an Illinois attack error. Illinois responded by tying the set at 24 before Minnesota took the set off back-to-back kills from Paige Tapp and a Santana.
Set 2: Illinois tied the match with a 25-22 set win, despite the Gophers outhitting .265 to .250. The Illni jumped out to a 8-4 lead. Minnesota came back and tied the set at 10-10 and would later take a 13-10 lead. Minnesota would hold the lead until the Illini tied up the set at 18-18 on Jocelynn Birks kill. Tied at 20, Minnesota would commit two attack errors as Illinois took a 22-20 lead. Illinois brought it to set point at 24-20. Minnesota attempted to come back with a Santana kill and a Paige and Hannah Tapp block as Illinois took a timeout. The Illini closed out the set with a Birks kill to put the set at a tie.
Set 3: Illinois took the match to 2-1 with a 25-22 set win. Illinois would later go on a 7-2 run to take a 17-8 lead. Minnesota would attempt a comeback when it went on a 6-1 run as the Illinois lead was cut to 23-16. However, the Illini finished off the set with a kill by Stadick for a set win and a 2-1 lead.
Set 4: Minnesota rebounded to tie the match at 2-2 on a commanding 25-10 set as the Gophers hit .480 and held an 89 side out percent. The Gophers opened the set with an 8-3 lead off a Katie Schau service ace. The Gophers would later go up 13-4 off a Santana/Paige Tapp block. The Gophers continued to push the lead to 17-5 off a Hannah Tapp solo block. Seliger-Swenson pushed the lead to 18-6 on a kill. Minnesota led by 20-7 on a Hannah Tapp/Maddie Beal block. After Illinois added its 10th point of the set, Minnesota would close it out with a Paige Tapp kill for set point and won the set off a Illinois attack error to tie up the match.
Set 5: Minnesota finished the upset with a 15-6 fifth set win. The Gophers had eight kills to Illinois' three as the Illini committed six attack errors. The Gophers continued the momentum from the fourth set and opened the fifth with a 6-2 lead. Illinois took a timeout, but the Gophers continued to push the lead to 9-2 with a Rosado ace, a Wilhite kill and a Paige Tapp/Beal block for a 9-2 lead. Minnesota would later push the lead to 11-4 on a Wilhite kill, while Paige Tapp put the score at 13-5. Hannah Tapp added set point, while she and Beal added a block to end the set and the match.
