University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
3-0
West Virginia
2-2
Gophers Sweep WVU in Home Opener
9/1/2017 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 1, 2017
The No. 2 University of Minnesota volleyball program earned a 3-0 win over West Virginia in the Golden Gopher home opener. Minnesota earned a 25-17, 25-18, 25-22 win to improve to 3-0 this year.
As a team, Minnesota hit .324 to West Virginia's .160 and had six blocks to WVU's five. Stephanie Samedy had a match-best 15 kills and hit .375, while Molly Lohman hit a team-best .700 when she had eight kills, committed one just error in 10 attempts. Alexis Hart had eight kills, while Regan Pittman and Taylor Morgan each had seven. Samantha Seliger-Swenson had 41 assists, while Dalianliz Rosado had a match-best 13 digs.
Minnesota plays twice tomorrow, starting at 10 a.m. The Golden Gophers face UTSA in the morning and Tennessee at 7 p.m. to close out the Diet Coke Classic tournament.
Set Breakdown:
First Set: The Gophers hit .357 while they limited WVU to .061 for a 25-17 win. Minnesota jumped out to an 8-3 lead and went on to win the set. Morgan pushed the score to 8-3 when she had back-to-back kills. The Gophers pushed the score at 14-9 after a Hart kill. A Samedy kill pushed the Gopher lead to 16-11, while a WVU attack error put the Gophers up, 19-13, and forced the Mountaineers to call a timeout. WVU committed two errors, one service and one attack as the Gophers went up 23-14. Minnesota added a kill from Lohman for set point, while Samedy added the 25th for the 1-0 lead.
Second Set: Minnesota added 16 kills and hit .324 in the second set to win it, 25-18. After a 3-3 tie, Minnesota held the lead for the remainder of the set. After a kill by Samedy and back-to-back attack errors by WVU, the Gophers held an 11-7 lead as the Mountaineers called a timeout. A Pittman kill pushed the Gopher lead to 14-9, while Samedy added a kill at the 19-14 Gopher point. Seliger-Swenson and Pittman provided a block for a 22-16 lead as WVU called its second timeout. A Hart kill added set point for the Gophers, while Samedy put the Gophers up, 2-0 with her ninth kill of the match.
Third Set: Samedy had six kills in the third set to lead the Gophers to a 25-22 set win and a 3-0 sweep. Minnesota built up a 16-8 lead, but West Virginia came back and tied the set at 17-17. As WVU tied the set at 17-17, the Gophers called their first timeout of the match. Minnesota, regrouped and went on a 3-0 run off a Samedy kill for a 20-17 lead. A Hart kill pushed the Gophers to a 23-19 lead, while WVU committed an error for match point. Samedy ended the match with a kill and the sweep.
