University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
15-2, 9-0Big Ten
Iowa
12-8, 4-5Big Ten
Gophers Earn Eighth Conference Sweep after Defeating Iowa
10/19/2018 9:14:00 PM | Volleyball
The No. 3 Minnesota volleyball team earned its eighth conference sweep when it defeated Iowa 25-23, 25-18, 25-20, tonight at Maturi Pavilion. With the win, the Golden Gophers improve to 15-2 overall and 9-0 in the Big Ten. Iowa, who has only been swept twice this season, drops to 12-8 overall and 4-5 in league action.
Alexis Hart led the team with 13 kills when she hit .312. She was followed by Stephanie Samedy, who added her eighth double-double of the season with 12 kills and 11 digs. Taylor Morgan hit a team-best .385 when she had 11 kills in 26 attempts and just one error. Regan Pittman had a team-high four blocks and CC McGraw put up 11 digs. Samantha Seliger-Swenson had a double-double with 42 assists and 10 digs. She also added two aces and four kills.
As a team, the Gophers hit .304 and had 52 kills, 58 digs and 6.5 blocks. The Hawkeyes hit .242 with 45 kills, 68 digs and three blocks.
The Gophers are back in action tomorrow night as they take on No. 5 Nebraska, at Maturi Pavilion. Match begins at 7 p.m. and will be on Big Ten Network.
Set Breakdown:
First Set: Both teams went on significant runs before Minnesota pulled away for a 25-23 set win. Iowa took an 11-7 lead as Minnesota called a timeout. Iowa later pushed the score to 12-7 before Minnesota got a side out from a Hawkeye attack error. Minnesota had three-straight to pull within two at 10-12, off a Samedy kill. With the Hawkeyes leading 13-10, Minnesota rattled off four-straight for a 14-13 lead. The Gophers then took a 17-14 lead off a Samedy/Pittman block. A pair of Morgan kills later pushed the score to 22-19 and again at 23-20. Iowa took a timeout as Minnesota held a 24-21 set point and cut the Gopher lead to one at 24-23 as Minnesota used its final set timeout. Out of the break, Iowa had a service error to put the Gophers up, 1-0.
Set 2: Seliger-Swenson opened the second set on a 7-0 run during her serve rotation to pace the Gophers to a 25-18 win. Minnesota hit .372 in the set when they had 18 kills, committed just two errors in 43 attempts. A Samedy kill later pushed the lead to 11-3, while a Seliger-Swenson kill put the score to 15-8. A block by Pittman and Seliger-Swenson gave the Gophers up, 20-14. Morgan tipped the ball to the middle of the court for a 23-16 lead. Iowa called a timeout at 24-16, but the Gophers closed set with a 25-18 second set win to go up, 2-0.
Set 3: Minnesota used a 9-2 run in the middle of the set and hit .381 for a 25-20 set win. Iowa opened the third set with a 7-4 lead, but Minnesota rattled off three-straight to tie the set at 7-7. As the Gophers took a 12-9 lead, Iowa called a timeout. A Morgan kill put the Gophers up 15-10, while Rollins added a kill for the 18-13 point. A Seliger-Swenson kill gave Minnesota a 21-15 lead. Hart added a kill at 23-16 as Iowa called a timeout. As the Hawkeyes cut the lead to four at 24-20, but Iowa committed an attack error, while Rollins posted her sixth kill of the night for the 3-0 win.
