Gophers Set to Face Northwestern

GOPHERS SET TO FACE NORTHWESTERN
The University of Minnesota is back on the road when it travels to Evanston, Ill., to take on Northwestern, Wednesday, Oct. 3. The Golden Gophers and Wildcats battle at 7 p.m., at Evanston High School.

FOLLOW THE GOPHERS
The Minnesota match vs. Northwestern will be streamed on BTN Plus. A Game Day Live page will also be located on gophersports.com.

ON THE DOCKET
The Gophers are on the road for the third-straight match when they travel to Nebraska, Saturday, Oct. 6. The match will begin at 7 p.m., and will be streamed on BTN Plus.

GOPHERS' LAST ACTION
Minnesota earned a 3-0 sweep over Indiana, Saturday, in Bloomington, Ind. Minnesota (10-2 overall, 4-0 in Big Ten), defeated the Hoosiers, 25-21, 25-19, 25-14. The Golden Gophers have not dropped a set now in five matches. Four Gophers added double-digit kills. Taylor Morgan hit a career-best .923 when she had 12 kills in 13 attempts and added two blocks. Adanna Rollins also added 12 kills and hit .310 with eight digs. Stephanie Samedy had 11 kills, hit .304 and had a team-best three blocks. Alexis Hart also had 10 kills and hit .318.

DUO RECEIVES B1G WEEKLY AWARDS
Minnesota had two individuals garner Big Ten weekly honors, announced Monday by the Big Ten Conference office. Alexis Hart was named Co-Player of the Week and Samantha Seliger-Swenson was named Setter of the Week after a pair of sweeps over No. 5 Wisconsin and at Indiana last week. It marks Hart's first weekly honor this season and Seliger-Swenson's second straight setter of the week accolades.
   Hart hit .467 last week against Big Ten foes. In the match against No. 5 Wisconsin, Hart hit a career-best .609 when she had 14 kills, did not commit an error, in 23 attempts. On Saturday, against the Indiana Hoosiers, Hart continued her efficiency when she added 10 kills in 22 swings and hit .318. Seliger-Swenson helped the Gophers to a .371 hitting clip on the week. Against the Badgers, Seliger-Swenson had 39 assists and aided the Gophers to hit .386. She also added two aces and eight digs. Against Indiana, she guided Minnesota to a .356 efficiency as she had four hitters earn double-digit kills. She also had a team-best 13 digs as she surpassed the 1,000 career dig mark of her career.

ABOUT NORTHWESTERN
Northwestern is 10-6 overall and 0-4 in the Big Ten. The Wildcats fell to Iowa (3-2) and No. 3 Nebraska (3-0) last week. They have four players that have amassed over 100 kills so far. Nia Robinson has a team high 203 kills and averages 4.23 kills per set, which sits at second in the Big Ten. She is followed by Alana Walker (120), Abryanna Cannon (114) and Ella Grbac (106). Britt Bomber has a team-high 390 assists (8.30 per set) and Kiara McNulty follows with 260 (7.65 per set). Michelle Lee leads the defense with 204 digs (3.46 per set). Not too far behind Lee is Sarah Johnson, who has 142 digs (3.30 per set). Northwestern is sixth among the Big Ten in kills per set, averaging 13.42 with a total of 792. As a team, the Wildcats are hitting .205, averaging 15.58 digs and 2.13 blocks per set.

ALL-TIME SERIES
Minnesota is 59-19 all time against the Northwestern Wildcats, dating back to the two team's first appearance in 1976. The Gophers are on a six-match win streak against the Wildcats, with their last loss coming on Oct. 5, 2014. Minnesota and Northwestern only faced each other once in the 2017 season, where the Gophers won, 3-1, also at Evanston High School.

FRESHMEN IMPACT
Minnesota has two freshmen who are making their mark already this season in outside hitter Adanna Rollins and libero CC McGraw. Both have see action in 39 sets for the Golden Gophers and have started in all 12 matches. Rollins averages 2.31 kills per set, while McGraw averages 3.72 digs per set in their young Gophers careers.

GOPHERS RANKED FIFTH IN AVCA POLL
Minnesota moved up a spot in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA). In all, seven Big Ten Conference teams are ranked in the top 25: Nebraska (3), Minnesota (5), Wisconsin (6), Illinois (7), Penn State (9), Purdue (14), and Michigan (16). Two non-conference opponents are also ranked in No. 2 Stanford and No. 20 Oregon.

WHERE THEY RANK
Minnesota ranks high nationally in a few statistical categories. The Gophers rank fourth in kills per set (14.92), fifth in hitting percentage (.300) and 19th in blocks per set (2.72). Individually, Samantha Seliger-Swenson ranks 18th in assists per set (11.26), while Taylor Morgan ranks 33rd nationally in blocks per set as she averages 1.31 per set.

CAREER MARKS
Samantha Seliger-Swenson ranks first among NCAA Division I setters in career assists and assists per set. In her four-year career, she has established 4,855 assists and averages a nation's best 11.81 assists per set. On Saturday against the Indiana Hoosiers, Seliger-Swenson surpassed the 1,000 dig mark of her career, now sitting at 1,005.

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Players Mentioned

Alexis Hart

CC McGraw

Taylor Morgan

Adanna Rollins

Stephanie Samedy

Samantha Seliger-Swenson