University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
9-1, 1-0Big Ten
Maryland
8-5, 0-1Big Ten
Gophers Earn Sweep in B1G Opener
9/23/2016 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
The No. 2 University of Minnesota volleyball team swept Maryland Friday night 25-13, 25-14, 25-12, in the Big Ten home opener to improve to 9-1 on the season and 1-0 in the Big Ten.
As a team, the Golden Gophers hit .330 with 42 kills in 100 attempts, put up three blocks and established 51 digs. Minnesota held Maryland to just 26 kills as the Terrapins hit .028 for the match.
Sarah Wilhite led the team with 15 kills, Alexis Hart followed with eight, and both Hannah Tapp and Paige Tapp had seven kills, with Hannah hitting .500 and Paige putting up three blocks. Dalianliz Rosado had 11 digs, and Sophie Beckley, Katie Schau and Wilhite each had eight digs. Samantha Seliger-Swenson led the match with 33 assists.
Minnesota will remain at home tomorrow night to take on No. 17 Ohio State at 7 p.m.
Set Breakdown:
Set 1: Minnesota hit .314 in the first set to Maryland's .086 to win 25-13. Gophers opened the match with a 7-1 run before Maryland called a timeout. Minnesota later went up 10-5 on a kill from P Tapp. Maryland pulled within four, but Minnesota later pushed the score to 18-11 before Maryland called its second timeout. The Gophers, however, responded out of the break with a block from P Tapp and Hart. The Gophers added to the later when Seliger-Swenson had a kill to make it a 22-13 advantage. The Gophers finished off the set with a P Tapp kill and back-to-back Maryland attack errors for a 1-0 lead.
Set 2: The Gophers limited Maryland to 10 kills and nine errors to take the set, 25-14. Minnesota went up 11-7 off a Wilhite kill and Lohman later put the Gophers up, 16-10 off a quick set kill in the middle. Wilhite pushed the score to 18-13 on a kill, and 20-13 on a ball handling error from the Terps. The 20-13 lead forced Maryland to call its first timeout of set. The Gophers, however, came out of the break and finished off the set with kills from H Tapp and Wilhite, a Maryland service error and an attack error from Maryland to go up, 25-14.
Set 3: The Gophers hit .414 and added a 16-3 run to win the set and match, 25-12. Minnesota opened the third set with an 11-5 lead before Maryland called a timeout. The Gophers, capped off a 9-0 run on Schau's service rotation, with a P Tapp kill. Minnesota continued to pour on the pressure and went up 21-6 lead after four straight kills by Wilhite. With the Gopher lead at 23-7, Maryland would fight back, but a Taylor Morgan kill put the Gophers at match point, and Hart ended the match with her eighth kill.
