University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
17-2, 6-2Big Ten
Iowa
14-7, 3-5Big Ten
Gophers Earn 11th Sweep of the Season
10/15/2017 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
The No. 6 University of Minnesota completed a 3-0 sweep (25-23, 25-18, 25-15) over Iowa today in front of 5,209 fans at Maturi Pavilion. The Golden Gophers are now 6-2 in the Big Ten and 17-2 overall.
The win marked Minnesota's 11th sweep of the season and now are 11-2 in three-set matches this year. As a team, Minnesota hit .305 and produced 51 kills. The Gophers also put up 14 blocks and had 57 digs and held Iowa to a 13.9 hitting percentage, 37 kills and 48 digs.
Alexis Hart led Minnesota with 16 kills and hit .412 in the game. Regan Pittman added 10 and hit .471, Stephanie Samedy tacked on 11 kills and Molly Lohman had nine kills and nine blocks. Samantha Seliger-Swenson added a double-double when she had 39 assists and 10 digs. Dalianliz Rosado had 14 digs, while Lauren Barnes had 10.
The Gophers are set to travel to Ohio State on October 18th to face the Buckeyes before returning to Maturi Pavilion on October 21st to face Wisconsin at 7:30 p.m. Both matches will be televised on the Big Ten Network.
Set Breakdown:
The Gophers utilized five blocks to come back and win the first set, 25-23. Trailing 6-9, Minnesota tied up the set 10-10 after a scrappy back and forth rally that ended with a Hart kill. Iowa called a timeout as the Gophers held a 12-10, but tied up the set at 13-13. The two teams traded points until Iowa earned back-to-back points at the 16-18 mark as the Gophers called a timeout. Minnesota pulled within two, but called its timeout as the Gophers trailed, 19-22. A Samedy kill put Minnesota within one and Pittman made the game an even 23 with her fourth kill of the set as Iowa called its second timeout. Minnesota took the lead and closed out the first set with a block from Pittman and Jasmyn Martin.
Second Set: Iowa started to pull away from the 2-2 tie and went on a four point run that forced Minnesota to call a timeout at 2-6. Minnesota tied the set at 9-9 and took their first lead of the game after a block from Hart and Lohman. The Gophers rode Seliger-Swenson's 10-point serve rotation run. In that span, the Gophers built an 18-9 lead and forced Iowa to use both of their timeouts. During the serving run, Lohman also had four blocks. Iowa was able to cut Minnesota's lead to five at 20-15, but kills from Martin, Samedy, and Hart put the Gophers at 23-16. An ace from Barnes gave Minnesota set point and a kill from Pittman closed out the set to go up, 2-0.
Third Set: Minnesota and Iowa traded points until Minnesota took the lead for good at 8-6 en route to a 25-15 win. A five point run caused Iowa to call a timeout at 12-7. Minnesota brought the lead to six after an overpass kill from Pittman. During a Barnes serve rotation, the Gophers earned three-straight points and a 21-12 lead. Iowa burned its second timeout of the set at 20-12, but the Gophers built a 22-13 lead. Lohman added her ninth kill of the match at 23-15, while a Samedy block ended the match, her fourth of the game.
