University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
26-4, 18-2
Indiana
16-16, 6-14
Gopher Volleyball Wins Big Ten Title
11/28/2015 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 28, 2015
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The No. 4 University of Minnesota volleyball team earned the Big Ten Conference championship with a 3-1 win over Indiana, tonight, in Bloomington, Ind. The Golden Gophers won their first conference championship since 2002 and the second in program history.
Minnesota finished the Big Ten Conference season with an 18-2 league record. The record was the best in Gopher program history, bettering the previous record of 17-3, which happened in 2000, 2002, 2004, and 2006.
Sarah Wilhite provided a season-best 18 kills and hit .417 in the match, while Daly Santana had 14 kills and completed the double-double with 10 digs. Paige Tapp and Molly Lohman had six blocks, while Dalianliz Rosado had a match-best 20 digs. As a team, the Gophers hit .281 to Indiana's .188 and have 13 blocks to the Hoosiers' seven.
With the title, the Gophers receive the automatic bid for the NCAA Tournament, announced tomorrow night, 8 p.m. CT, on ESPNU.
Set Breakdown:
Set 1: Minnesota utilized seven blocks to take the first set, 25-17. Indiana opened the match with a 9-4 lead off back-to-back kills and an ace. The Gophers, however, called a timeout and responded out of the break with four-straight points off a block from Paige Tapp and Wilhite, followed by three-straight kills from Santana, which forced the Hoosiers to call a timeout. As the two teams tied at 11-11, Minnesota went on a 6-0 run. Minnesota took a 20-15 lead off a Paige Tapp solo block and a 23-17 lead off a Wilhite kill. Minnesota completed the set win with back-to-back blocks, first from Seliger-Swenson/P Tapp and again by Santana/Lohman for the 25-17 win.
Set 2: The Gophers went up 2-0 when they hit .571 in the second set 16-0-28) and earned a 25-18 set win. Minnesota opened the second set with a 7-3 lead. Hannah Tapp later put the Gophers up 11-7 off a kill, while Wilhite followed with a kill for a 12-7 lead. After Wilhite provided her fifth kill of the match and a 14-10 Gopher lead, Indiana called a timeout. Santana added kills for Minnesota's 15th and 16th point of the set, while Seliger-Swenson added a kill for the 19-14 lead as Indiana used its second timeout. Molly Lohman put the Gophers up 21-14 on a kill, while Hannah Tapp later put the Gophers up, 2-0 on a kill off the block for the 25-18 set win.
Set 3: The Hoosiers hit .311 in the third to Minnesota's .149 to take a 25-23 set win. Indiana opened the third set with a 5-2 lead, but the Gophers responded with three-straight and tie up the set at 5-5 off a Wilhite kill. As the two teams traded points, through 8-8, Minnesota went on a 4-0 run off an Indiana service error, a kill from both Hannah Tapp and Santana and an ace by Paige Tapp. The run caused Indiana to call a timeout as Minnesota led, 12-8. Indiana later came back and tied the set at 17-17 after back-to-back Gopher attack errors. The two teams tied it again at 18 and 19 before Indiana took a 20-19 lead off a block. Minnesota called a timeout and tied it at 20 off an Indiana service error. The Hoosiers, however, took a 22-20 lead off a kill and a block, which forced Minnesota to use its second timeout. With the Hoosier lead at 23-20, Wilhite provided back-to-back kills, as Indiana called a timeout. The Hoosiers closed out the set with two kills to cut the Gopher lead to 2-1.
Set 4:Minnesota took a 7-3 lead off three Wilhite kills, while she and Paige Tapp combined for a block. The early lead forced Indiana to call a timeout. Santana later pushed the score to 9-5 off a kill, while Seliger-Swenson added the overpass kill for a 10-6 lead. After a Santana/Lohman block it pushed the score to 13-7 Gophers, as Indiana used its second timeout of the set. Lohman pushed the score to 15-9, while she and Hannah Tapp combined for a block at the 16-9 point. An Indiana attack error pushed the Gopher lead to 20-12, while Wilhite added a kill for the 21st set point. Santana finished off the match and the Big Ten season with a kill for Minnesota's 25th point.
