University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
27-4
Jackson State
15-22
Minnesota Wins First Game in NCAA Tournament
12/4/2015 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Dec. 4, 2015
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Final Stats
The University of Minnesota volleyball team defeated Jackson State in three sets in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday night. The Gophers are now 27-4 on the season and remain undefeated at the Sports Pavilion this season.
"We're very happy to start the tournament and obviously happy with the result," head coach Hugh McCutcheon said. "I thought our team, for the most part, was pretty clean. I thought we executed at a high level. We're certainly happy with the performance with the win and we're happy to be moving on in the tournament."
As a team, the Gophers hit for .562 on the match, the best since .558 in 1998 against Buffalo. Minnesota out blocked Jackson State 7.5-0. On the match, the Gophers had only four errors. Hannah Tapp lead Minnesota with 12 kills and just two errors, hitting .556. Daly Santana followed close behind with 11 and one error, and Sarah Wilhite had 10 kills and zero errors in 18 attempts. Santana and Dalianliz Rosado contributed eight digs each. Molly Lohman had four blocks, and Paige Tapp had six kills with two blocks. Samantha Seliger-Swenson contributed 43 assists, two kills and five digs.
"I think our first contact was really good and that allowed Sam to connect with each of her hitters and I think that was really good for us tonight," Santana said.
Minnesota drew 5,167 fans for the opening round of the match as the Gophers are averaging over 4,000 per match this year.
"It was great coming out there after the Marquette-UNI match and seeing a packed Pav," Hannah Tapp said. "That energy really fuels us and it was great to see."
The Gophers will face Marquette University in the second round of the tournament Saturday night at 6:30 p.m. The Golden Eagles defeated Northern Iowa, 3-2, in the earlier match (25-17, 22-25, 25-11, 23-25, 15-9).
Set 1:
Minnesota opened their first set of the tournament up 1-0 against the Jackson State Tigers. The Gophers had 13 kills to Jackson State's four. Daly Santana started the match scoring the Gopher's first point off a kill. After being tied 4-4, Minnesota went on a 3-0 run from kills by Sarah Wilhite and Samantha Seliger-Swenson, and an ace by Katie Schau. Back-to-back aces from Paige Tapp forced Jackson State to take their first timeout at 11-6. During P Tapp's serve rotation, the Gophers collected four straight points. Three kills in a row from Hannah Tapp, Wilhite and Molly Lohman forced the Tigers to take their second timeout of the match at 17-9. A kill from H Tapp at 15-9 started the 10-0 run that would take them to the end of the match, beating Jackson State 25-9.
Set 2:
Minnesota hit for .692 to Jackson State's .208 to take the second set and go up 2-0 on the match. The Gophers started the second set with a 5-0 run on Seliger-Swenson's serve rotation. A P Tapp block forced the Tigers to take their first timeout of the set at 12-4. After trailing by ten, Jackson State took their second timeout of the set at 20-10. A kill from H Tapp would take the Gophers to set point, and an error by the Tigers would end the set 25-13.
Set 3:
The Gophers hit .533 to Jackson State's .258 to take the third set and sweep the Tigers 3-0. H Tapp earned the first point for the Gophers with a kill off the block. The Tigers held their longest lead of the match at the start of the set until a P Tapp kill would tie it at 6-6. After a Jackson State error and Wilhite kill, the Gophers would lead until the Tigers tied it up at 11. Minnesota would then go on a 3-0 run from two kills by Lohman and one from Wilhite, to put them up 15-12. After a 4-0 run by Minnesota, Jackson State would take its first timeout of the set at 20-14. The Gophers would end the match with a Wilhite and Lohman block, 25-17.
