University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
26-4
North Dakota
26-10
Minnesota Wins First Match of NCAA Tournament
12/2/2016 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
The University of Minnesota volleyball team defeated North Dakota in three sets Friday night, 25-21, 25-12, 25-20, in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Minnesota improves to 26-4 on the season, and remain undefeated at the Sports Pavilion.
As a team, the Gophers had 50 kills hitting .349, and had seven team blocks to UND's four. Sarah Wilhite earned a match-high 17 kills, adding seven digs. Paige and Hannah Tapp both hit .412 in eight kills, with P Tapp contributing four blocks and H Tapp with two. Molly Lohman added seven kills, putting up three blocks, while Alexis Hart had nine kills, hitting .400. Katie Schau and Alyssa Goehner both established seven digs, while Dalianliz Rosado had a match-high 16 digs. Samantha Seliger-Swenson earned a double-double with 39 assists and ten digs.
"Very happy with the win tonight," head coach Hugh McCutcheon said. "In particular, I thought it was to our advantage because North Dakota is a good team, they played hard, and served really well. Their middles had a nice night against us and they made us work and believe it or not I really like that. It's good for us to figure out ways to win. I think it sets up nicely for the battle to come
tomorrow."
"The Sports Pavilion is amazing and the support from our fans shows that they care a lot about Gopher volleyball and that's very rewarding," Wilhite said. "It's a privilege to play in front of them."
Minnesota will face No. 12 Hawaii in the second round of the tournament tomorrow night at 6 p.m. at the Sports Pavilion.
Set Breakdown:
Set 1: The Gophers hit .438 to North Dakota's .273 to take the first set 25-21. Minnesota started the first set with a 4-1 lead and increased it to five, causing a North Dakota timeout at 12-7. UND would rally back on a 6-2 run after the timeout to come within one point of the Gophers, forcing a Minnesota timeout up 14-13. An ace by the Fighting Hawks tied up the set at 14, and UND took over the lead for the first time at 15-14. The teams were tied for the rest of the set, until Minnesota pulled ahead for a 22-20 lead, forcing a second UND timeout. The Gophers would extend the run to four, and Hart would end the set.
Set 2: Minnesota hit .329 to UND's .095 to take the second set 25-12 and go up 2-0 on the match. The Gophers opened set two with a 5-0 run, causing UND to take a timeout. Minnesota continued the run, earning ten points until the Fighting Hawks got on the board. The Gophers held a strong lead throughout the rest of the set, up ten points forcing a second UND timeout at 18-8. Minnesota followed the timeout with a 4-2 run with help from Erica Handley's service rotation. UND slowly decreased the deficit, but Wilhite put the Gophers at set point, and Rosado ended the set with an ace.
Set 3: The Gophers hit .385 to the Fighting Hawks' .238 to take the set 25-20, and win the match. The third set started out evenly matched, with Minnesota leading by three points at three different times until UND tied up the match at 9-9. The Gophers pulled ahead after being tied at 10 and went on a 6-2 run. With Minnesota up by four points, UND called the first timeout of the set at 18-14. The Gophers responded to the timeout with two more points, forcing a second North Dakota timeout at 20-14. UND decreased its deficit, but Hart put the Gophers at match point and ended the match.
