University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
20-4, 12-3B1G
Illinois
14-13, 7-9B1G
Gophers Earn 3-0 Win at Illinois
11/12/2016 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
The No. 2 University of Minnesota volleyball team earned a straight-set win over Illinois (25-19, 25-18, 25-20), tonight, in Champaign, Ill. With the win, the Golden Gophers improve to 20-4 overall and 12-3 in the Big Ten. Illinois drops to 14-13 overall and 7-9 in league action.
Minnesota was led by Sarah Wilhite, who had a double-double 12 kills, 11 digs. Alexis Hart added 10 kills and hit .333, while Hannah Tapp and Paige Tapp each had nine and eight kills respectively. Samantha Seliger-Swenson established 40 assists, two aces and seven digs. Dalianliz Rosado had a team-best 14 digs, an ace and three assists. As a team, Minnesota outhit the Illini .254 to .169, held a 45-40 kill lead and an 8-4 blocks advantage.
The Golden Gophers are on the road tomorrow night when they face Northwestern in Evanston, Ill. Match time is set for 7 p.m., and is streamed on BTN Plus.
Set Breakdown.
Set 1: Minnesota added five blocks to take a 25-19 first-set win. As the Illini started the match with back-to-back points, Minnesota went on a 5-0 run for an early 5-2 lead. Illinois closed the deficit to one at 6-5, but Minnesota pushed the lead back to four off a block from H Tapp and Wilhite at 9-5. Wilhite's second kill of the set later put the Gophers up 12-7, while the Illini called a timeout at 13-7. After an Illinois attack error, the Illini called a timeout. A P Tapp ace gave Minnesota an 18-11 lead. Illinois called its second timeout after a Hart kill put it at 20-12. The Illini strung four together to cut Minnesota's lead to 22-19 as the Gophers called a timeout. Minnesota, however, closed out the set with kills from P Tapp and Wilhite, while Wilhite and Lohman added a block to go up, 1-0.
Set 2: Minnesota hit .326 in the second set to take a 25-18 win. The two teams traded points through the 10-10 mark before Minnesota went on a 3-0 run that forced Illinois to call its first timeout. Illinois cut Minnesota's lead to 14-13, but the Gophers went up 17-13 off a Hart kill. A H Tapp kill off the Illinois block put Minnesota up 19-15. A Lohman kill pushed the Gophers lead to 21-16, which forced the Illini to call their second timeout. Minnesota came out of the break and finished off the set with kills from P Tapp, Wilhite and Hart, while Illinois also had an attack error in that span.
Set 3: The Gophers won the match off a 25-20 third-set win. Illinois opened the set with a 6-3 lead before the Gophers responded with three straight. The two teams held four tie scores at 8-8, 10-10, 11-11, 12-12, before Minnesota went on a 4-1 run and a 16-13 lead that forced Illinois to call a timeout. Minnesota, however, continued its lead with an H Tapp kill and an Illinois attack error. A solo block by H Tapp followed by a bad Illinois set gave Minnesota a 20-14 lead. The Illini used their second timeout of the set and came out of the break with a 3-1 run. Minnesota called a timeout as Illinois inched within four at 21-17. After kills from P Tapp and Wilhite, the Illini came back to cut the lead to three, 23-20, but Minnesota went to set point on an Illinois service error and won the match on a Seliger-Swenson ace for the straight-set win.
