University of Minnesota Athletics
Gopher 2015 Quick Review
12/31/2015 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Check out this quick review of the 2015 Gopher Volleyball Team. From a 15-match unbeaten streak to Big Ten champions, and Final Four participants, the Gophers had a banner year.
2015 Review by Photos
• Golden Gophers advanced to their first Final Four since 2009 this year and fourth time in school history (2003, 2004, 2009 and now 2015).
• Minnesota went 19-12 in 2014 and turned around the very next year to a 30-5 mark, which was the most wins in school history since 2004.
• The Gophers started the 2015 season unranked in the American Volleyball Coaches Association, but receiving votes. Minnesota continued to climb through the rankings throughout the season and moved up to No. 3 by the years end.
• Minnesota also held the No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament, the highest in school history. Minnesota finished the season in a 3-1 loss to Texas at the 2015 Final Four.
• Minnesota garnered four All-America honors in Daly Santana (First Team), Hannah Tapp (First Team), Samantha Seliger-Swenson (Second Team) and Paige Tapp (Third Team), the most in school history. All four also received AVCA All-Region Awards, as
• Head Coach McCutcheon was named the AVCA National Coach of the Year, AVCA North Region Coach of the Year and Big Ten Coach of the Year. He was the first Gopher head coach to receive the AVCA National Coach of the Year Award. It was the second time in four years he received the regional coaching accolade and became the second Gopher coach to claim Big Ten Coach of the Year honors (Mike Hebert, 1999, 2002).
• The Gophers won the Big Ten Championship after an 18-2 conference season. Daly Santana was named Player of the Year and Seliger-Swenson was named Freshman of the Year. Hannah Tapp was also named a unanimous All-Big Ten selection. Santana was first Gopher to earn the award since Cassie Busse (2003), while Seliger-Swenson garnered Minnesota's first Freshman of the Year award since Katrien DeDecker (1993). The last time Minnesota had three All-Big Ten selections dates back to 2008.
• The 2015 season marked the first time since 2002 Minnesota won the Big Ten title and second in school history.
• Minnesota held a perfect 15-0 season at the Sports Pavilion and averaged 4,172 fans, which ranked fourth in the nation.
• The Gophers went on a 15-0 unbeaten run during Big Ten play. That was the longest Big Ten winning streak in school history. It also tied a program best, which was previously held in 1999.
• Paige Tapp was named a Second Team CoSIDA Academic All-American. It was her first honor and Minnesota's first Academic All-American since Cassie Busse in 2003. Paige, Hannah Tapp and Katie Schau were all named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District. The Gophers also had eight receive Academic All-Big Ten honors: Maddie Beal, Alyssa Goehner, Erica Handley, Dalianliz Rosado, Schau, Tapp, Tapp and Sarah Wilhite.
• Minnesota had three future Gophers compete in the 2015 Under Armour All-America match on Friday night in Omaha. Alexis Hart, Regan Pittman and Brittany McLean all competed for the winning Team, East, while Pittman was East's Most Valuable Player.
