University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
27-4
Hawai'i
23-6
Gophers Advance to NCAA Regionals
12/3/2016 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
In front of a crowd of 5,442, the University of Minnesota volleyball team swept Hawaii on Saturday night, 25-17, 25-17, 25-19, to advance to the NCAA Regionals. The Gophers improve to 27-4 on the season, and remain undefeated at home.
As a team, Minnesota had six blocks to the Rainbow Wahine's four. The Gophers added 49 kills hitting .348, and had 55 digs. Sarah Wilhite accomplished a double-double with 13 kills and 11 digs. Paige Tapp and Molly Lohman both had ten kills, with P Tapp hitting .625 and Lohman putting up four blocks. Hannah Tapp had seven kills, and Alexis Hart had six. Dalianliz Rosado had a team-high 17 digs and Alyssa Goehner had eight, while Samantha Seliger-Swenson added 41 assists.
The Gophers are scheduled to host the NCAA Regional next Friday and Saturday. Minnesota will face Missouri after the Tigers defeated Purdue in the second round. North Carolina will face the winner of the Baylor/UCLA match. Times will be announced at a later date.
Set Breakdown:
Set 1: Minnesota hit .242 to the Bows' .079 to win the first set 25-17. The set opened evenly matched, until Minnesota pulled ahead on a five point run, with two aces from P Tapp, forcing a Hawaii timeout at 8-3. The Gophers kept the run going, extending their lead to eight, causing Hawaii to take a second timeout at 14-6. P Tapp went on another serving run to put Minnesota up ten at 21-11. The Bows slowly inched their way up to 17, but a kill by Wilhite but the Gophers at set point and an ace by Rosado ended the set.
Set 2: The Gophers hit a strong .386 to Hawaii's .227 to win the second set 25-17, and go up 2-0 on the match. Minnesota led in the second, holding a significant lead for most of the set. The Gophers started set two up 10-5 over the Bows, with Hawaii taking a timeout at 12-6. The Bows went on a three-point run to shorten the lead at 15-10, but Minnesota increased its lead to six and forced a second Hawaii timeout at 18-12. Both teams would trade points until a Wilhite kill put the Gophers at set point, and a Hawaii error ended the set.
Set 3: The Gophers hit a commanding .395 to Hawaii's .194 to win the third set 25-19, and take the match. Minnesota opened the third set up 4-1, but Hawaii quickly tied it up at 5-5, and again at 9-9. After three consecutive kills from the Gophers, the Bows took a timeout at 12-9. Minnesota would extend that to a 6-0 run, leading by eight when Hawaii called its second timeout at 18-10. Following the timeout, the Bows went on a four-point run, forcing the Gophers to take their first timeout of the match up 19-14. Hawaii would make its way up to 19 to close in on Minnesota, but H Tapp put the Gophers at match point and ended the match.
