University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Set to Face Illinois In Sweet 16
12/9/2015 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
| Minnesota (28-4) vs. Illinois (21-12) | |||||||||||
| Friday, Dec. 11 | Minnesota vs. Illinois | 5 p.m. | ||||||||||
| Location | Wells Fargo Arena | Des Moines, Iowa | ||||||||||
| Tickets | Iowa Events Center | ||||||||||
| Watch Online | ESPN3 | ||||||||||
| Live Stats | Gametracker | ||||||||||
| Game Day Live | Live Updates | ||||||||||
| Official Sites | Minnesota | Illinois | ||||||||||
| Social Media | @GopherVball | Facebook | ||||||||||
Dec. 9, 2015
GOPHERS ADVANCE TO SWEET 16
The University of Minnesota volleyball team earned two wins in the First and Second Rounds of the NCAA Tournament and advanced to the NCAA Regional Semifinals, Dec. 11, in Des Moines, Iowa. The Golden Gophers take on Big Ten foe, Illinois, at 5 p.m. at the Wells Fargo Arena. Also in the regional is Penn State and Hawaii. Winners of both matches advance to the Regional Final, Dec. 12, at 5:30 p.m.
FOLLOWING THE GOPHERS
The Minnesota/Illinois match will be streamed on ESPN3 Friday night. Should the Gophers advance, the Regional Final match will be televised live on ESPNU. A game day live page and live statistics will be available on gophersports.com.
ABOUT THE FIELD
Illinois enters the Sweet 16 with a 21-12 overall record. The Illini defeated Southern Illinois in straight sets and won a four-set decision over No. 15 seed Louisville to advance to the Regional Semifinal. Penn State comes to Des Moines with a 28-5 overall record. With a straight-set win over Howard, the Nittany Lions also won a four-set decision over Dayton to garner a Sweet 16 appearance. Hawaii will head into the Sweet 16 with a 28-1 overall record. The 'Bows defeated TCU in five sets in the First Round and Texas A&M in the Second to earn a trip the Regional.
ALL TIME SERIES & LAST TIME
Minnesota is 33-30-1 all time against Illinois, dating back to 1976. The Gophers and Illini met just once in the regular season as Minnesota earned a five-set win at the Sports Pavilion on Oct. 3, 26-24, 22-25, 22-25, 25-10, 15-6. Being down 2-1, Minnesota came back and hit .395 in the final two sets, including .480 in the fourth. For the match, the Gophers hit .323 to the Illiini's .176 and out blocked them, 16-6.
Minnesota is 8-43 all time against Penn State, dating back to 1983. The Gophers and Nittany Lions split action this year as PSU won a five-set decision in September, while the Gophers won, 3-0, in November at the Sports Pavilion.
Minnesota and Hawaii have only faced each other seven times in school history. Minnesota is 0-7 against the `Bows, with the last match played in 2008.
GOPHERS RECEIVE NO. 2 SEED
The Gophers earned a No. 2 overall seed, which marks the highest seed for the Golden Gophers in school history, topping the previous best, No. 4 in 2004 and 2000. USC holds the overall No. 1, followed by the Gophers, No. 3 Texas and No. 4 Nebraska. Minnesota holds the highest seed in the Des Moines Region, while USC is the top seed in San Diego, Texas in the Austin Region and Nebraska in the Kentucky Region. Of the 64 teams to make it to the NCAA Tournament, Minnesota played 12 this season.
MINNESOTA IN THE SWEET 16
The Golden Gophers are making their 20th school appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Minnesota has now advanced to its 13th Sweet 16 mark in school history, dating back to 1993 when Minnesota made it to its first NCAA Regional Semifinal match. Most recently, the Gophers were at the Sweet 16 in 2013-2009, a five-year run.
ABOUT ILLINOIS
Illinois owns a 21-12 overall record and held a 10-10 mark within Big Ten Conference play. As a team, the Illini are hitting .230, average 15.34 digs per set and 2.87 blocks per set. All-Big Ten selection Jocelynn Birks leads the team with 426 kills, averages 3.98 kills per set in 1228 attempts. She also ranks second on the team in digs with 258, trailing only libero Brandi Donnelly with 525. Michelle Strizak has 324 kills, followed by Katie Stadick with 296. Ali Bastianelli averages a team-high 1.39 blocks per set, while Jordyn Poulter holds a team-best 1054 assists.
Paige Tapp NAMED ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICAN
Paige Tapp has been named a Second Team Academic All-American, announced Thursday by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). The award marks the first Academic All-America honor for Tapp and the University's first since Cassie Busse in 2003. A marketing major through Minnesota's Carlson School of Management, Tapp holds a 3.87 cumulative grade point average as a junior. A First Team All-District last season, Tapp garnered her second All-America honor as a Golden Gopher after receiving third team laurels from the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) as a sophomore last year.
GOPHERS ADD SIX AVCA ALL-REGION HONORS
The University of Minnesota had four representatives on the American Volleyball Coaches Association's All-North Region Team, announced today by the AVCA. Daly Santana, Samantha Seliger-Swenson, Hannah Tapp and Paige Tapp were all-region selections. Head Coach Hugh McCutcheon was named the North Region's Coach of the Year, while Seliger-Swenson was named the North Region's Freshman of the Year.
FIRST AND SECOND ROUND RECAPS
Minnesota defeated Jackson State in three sets (25-9, 25-13, 25-17) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, Dec. 4. 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.
Minnesota volleyball then defeated Marquette in the second round of the NCAA Tournament to advance to the Sweet 16. Minnesota out blocked Marquette 13.5-8 and out hit the Golden Eagles .224 to .085.
DID YOU KNOW?
With sweeps over Jackson State and Marquette, the 2015 First and Second Round of the NCAA Tournament marked just the third time in school history the Gophers advanced to the Sweet 16 without dropping a set. The only other times came in 2004 and 2010. With the six-straight set wins against Jackson State and Marquette, Minnesota has also won 27 straight sets against non-conference competition this year.
MCCUTCHEON REACHES NO. 100
With the win over Ohio State on Nov. 25, head coach Hugh McCutcheon reached the 100-win milestone in just four years. In his first year as Gopher head coach, McCutcheon went 27-8 in 2012, 29-7 in his second year and 19-12 last year. With a 28-4 mark this season, McCutcheon now sits at 103-31 at the Gopher helm.
GOPHERS CLAIM POST-SEASON AWARDS
After winning the Big Ten Conference title two weeks ago, the University of Minnesota is highly decorated in the post-season awards, announced last week by the league office. Daly Santana was named the Big Ten Player of the Year, Samantha Seliger-Swenson was named Freshman of the Year and Hugh McCutcheon was named Big Ten Coach of the Year. Santana and Seliger-Swenson join junior opposite/middle blocker Hannah Tapp as All-Big Ten selections, while Paige Tapp was named All-Big Ten honorable mention and received the Minnesota Sportsmanship award.
GOPHERS WIN THE BIG TEN TITLE
Minnesota earned the Big Ten Conference championship with a 3-1 win over Indiana, Nov. 28, 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.
15 MATCH WIN STREAK
Minnesota went on an incredible 15-match win streak against Big Ten opponents, a new school record, previously at 12. The run ended last Saturday (Nov. 21) in a five-set loss to No. 15 Purdue. During that span, Minnesota earned seven wins against ranked opponents. The Gophers also tied an overall school record with 15-straight wins as Minnesota also held that run in 1999.
MINNESOTA AT THE SPORTS PAVILION
Minnesota drew well this year at the Sports Pavilion. In 15 home matches, the Gophers averaged 4,172 fans this year and posted three sellout performances. On the season, the University of Minnesota ranked fourth nationally in average attendance.
Minnesota held perfection on its home court this season. While playing at the Sports Pavilion, the Gophers were 15-0 on their home court. The last home loss dates back to Oct. 22, 2014 when Minnesota fell in a five-set decision to Nebraska. The Gophers are 64-12 in the last five seasons at the Sports Pavilion.
SANTANA AMONG NCAA LEADERS
Daly Santana's 39 kills and 93 attacks against Louisville (9/4/15) still ranks as the most kills and attack attempts by any Division I volleyball player this season. For her career, Santana has 1,580, which ranks 14th among active Division I student-athletes. Santana has already had 12 matches this season in which she has hit over .300. That betters her five she had all last year. Of the 12, six came against Big Ten opponents. She has also hit over .250 in 15 matches this season, also beating her seven she had as a junior. In all, Santana has accomplished double-digit kills in all but two matches this season (Sam Houston State & Northwestern (11/11). A six-rotation athlete, Santana also has 19 double-doubles.
SANTANA IN GOPHER HISTORY
Daly Santana is making her mark on the Gopher record books. she ranks seventh in school history in career kills (1,580), eighth in career aces (181) and 10th in career digs (1,243) in 132 career matches for Minnesota. Her kill mark ranks 14th in NCAA active leaders, while her 181 aces is second overall.
