Gophers Ready to Battle Wisconsin

GOPHERS BACK ON THE ROAD
For the second time this week, the University of Minnesota is back on the road Sunday when it travels to No. 7 Wisconsin. The Golden Gophers and Badgers face off at 3 p.m., at the Fieldhouse.

FOLLOW THE GOPHERS
The Gophers/Wisconsin match will be televised on Big Ten Network. Fans can watch the BTN broadcast on the linear station as well as through the FOX app on mobile or tablet. A game day central page will also be available on gophersports.com.

ABOUT WISCONSIN
The Badgers enter the Minnesota match with a 9-4 overall record and 5-0 in Big Ten play. Like Minnesota, Wisconsin was on the road Wednesday night when it defeated Northwestern, 3-0, in Evanston, Ill. Dana Rettke leads the team with 176 kills, averages 4.00 kills per set and 1.30 blocks per set. She also has 17 aces. Molly Haggerty and Grace Loberg follow with 151 and 147 kills, respectively. Sydney Hilley has 526 assists on the season, while libero Tiffany Clark holds a team-best 160 digs. Izzy Ashburn leads the team with 23 aces this season. As a team, Wisconsin is hitting .287, averages 14.47 kills per set and 2.24 blocks per set.

ALL-TIME SERIES
Minnesota is 52-30 all-time against the Badgers, dating back to 1975. The Gophers took both matches against Wisconsin last season in 3-0 and 3-1 fashions. Last year in Madison, the Gophers were led by Adanna Rollins, Taylor Morgan and Stephanie Samedy, who had 17, 15 and 12 kills apiece.

ON THE DOCKET
Minnesota is back at home when it hosts Northwestern and Illinois, Oct. 18-19. Both matches are slated for 7 p.m., starts at Maturi Pavilion. Saturday's match against the Illini will be televised on BTN.

LAST MATCH RECAP
Minnesota earned a 3-1 win over No. 17 Illinois, Wednesday in Champaign, Ill. Minnesota won the first two sets, 25-18, 29-27, lost the second 12-25, but rebounded in the fourth for a 25-23 win. Outsides Alexis Hart and Adanna Rollins had 14 and 12 kills, while Stephanie Samedy had 10. Samedy and Rollins also accomplished a double-double with 14 and 11 digs, respectively. Taylor Morgan and Regan Pittman and Samedy all had seven blocks. CC McGraw had 15 digs, while Bayley McMenimen had a double-double 37 assists and 15 digs. As a team, Minnesota held a season-best 16 blocks. Minnesota had 50 kills and 67 digs to Illinois' 61 kills and 75 digs.

SAMEDY REACHES 1,000 CAREER KILLS
Junior opposite hitter Stephanie Samedy reached 1,000 career kills last Saturday, and now sits at 1,011 during her Gopher tenure. The last person to do that was Alexis Hart on Nov. 3, 2018. Prior to her, it was Sarah Wilhite back in 2016. Samedy accomplished this feat in 76 matches played and 260 sets. For her career, Samedy averages 3.83 kills per set.

FIRST RPI OF THE SEASON
The NCAA released its first RPI of the season as the Gophers are ranked 11th nationally. Baylor, Texas and Stanford round out the top three. Wisconsin (6) and Nebraska (7) hold top eight spots, while Rice (9) and Missouri (10) rank ahead of the Gophers.

AROUND THE BIG TEN
Minnesota and Wisconsin are 5-0 in Big Ten play as Michigan enters the weekend at 4-0. Nebraska and Penn State hold a 3-1 record. Among Big Ten players, Stephanie Samedy ranks third in kills per set as she averages 4.05 kills per set. Regan Pittman ranks fourth in blocks (1.30 per set) and seventh in hitting (.379). CC McGraw ranks fourth in digs (4.34 per set). In conference action, Minnesota is third in kills per set (14.83), fourth in hitting percentage (.284) and first in digs per set (16.83).

DID YOU KNOW?
As a team, Minnesota leads the nation in kills per set at 15.14 and second in assists per set at 14.12. The Gophers also rank seventh in digs per set nationally at 17.93 per set.

MCMENIMEN SEEING ACTION
Bayley McMenimen has now seen action in the past four matches as the Gophers' starting setter. Starting in her first collegiate match against Purdue (9/28/19), was named the Big Ten's Setter of the Week after a sweep over the Boilermakers. In the past four matches, McMenimen has now racked up 180 assists and 49 digs and has helped the Gophers to four Big Ten wins this season. She started in place of Kylie Miller, who has been out of the lineup due to medical reasons.

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Players Mentioned

Alexis Hart

CC McGraw

Bayley McMenimen

Kylie Miller

Taylor Morgan

Regan Pittman

Adanna Rollins

Stephanie Samedy