University of Minnesota Athletics
Friday, November 29
New Brunswick, NJ
6:00 PM
University of Minnesota
at
Rutgers
Players Mentioned
Outside Hitter
/ Volleyball
DS/Libero
/ Volleyball
Setter
/ Volleyball
Setter
/ Volleyball
Middle Blocker
/ Volleyball
Middle Blocker
/ Volleyball
Outside Hitter
/ Volleyball
Opposite
/ Volleyball
Photo by: Eric Miller
Gophers Close out Regular Season This Weekend
11/26/2019 3:45:00 PM | Volleyball
GOPHERS CLOSE OUT REGULAR SEASON
The University of Minnesota closes out the Big Ten Conference season when it travels to Rutgers and Penn State for the final weekend of play. The Gophers face Rutgers on Friday at 6 p.m., CT. The Gophers then play the Nittany Lions on Saturday at 7 p.m., CT.
FOLLOW THE GOPHERS
The Minnesota/Rutgers match will be available via BTN + streaming. The Gophers vs. Penn State match will be carried live on Big Ten Network. Both matches will also have a game day live page through gophersports.com.
ABOUT RUTGERS
Rutgers enters the Minnesota match with an 8-21 overall record. The Knights are 2-16 in the Big Ten, beating Northwestern and Iowa. Tali Marmen leads the team in kills with 197, averages 2.21 kills per set and has 30 aces. She is followed by Anastasiia Maksimova, who has 185 kills. Jasmine Stackhouse and Merle Weidt both have 80 blocks, a team-best. Inna Balyko adds 833 assists, and Karysa Swackenberg has 319 digs. As a team, Rutgers is hitting .163 and averages 10.98 kills per set.
ABOUT PENN STATE
Penn State enters the weekend with a 23-4 overall record, and a 16-2 mark in the Big Ten. PSU's only conference losses came to No. 5 Wisconsin and No. 6 Nebraska. Jonni Parker leads the team in kills, 330, and aces, 35. She is averaging 3.55 kills per set. Serena Gray adds 253 kills for the Nittany Lions. Kaitlyn Hord has a team-best 103 blocks. Gabby Blossom offers up 1,062 assists, and Kendall White has 390 digs. As a team, Penn State is hitting .279 and averages 13.82 kills per set.
ALL-TIME SERIES
The Gophers are 8-2 all time against the Scarlet Knights, dating back to 1983. Since Rutgers joined the Big Ten Conference in 2014, Minnesota has gone 7-0.
Penn State is 48-11 all-time record against the Gophers. This weekend's meeting marks the first and only time the two teams face each other this year. Minnesota will be looking for its first win in Happy Valley since 2004.
NCAA SELECTION SHOW
The NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship bracket will be announced, Sunday, Dec. 1 at 7:30 p.m. CT on ESPNU. The field of 64 will start play on Dec. 6-7 for the NCAA First and Second Rounds, Dec. 13-14 for Regional Semifinals and Finals, and Dec. 19 & 21 for the NCAA Championships in Pittsburgh.
LAST MATCH RECAP
Minnesota defeated the Iowa, 3-0 (25-14, 25-19, 25-22), in their last regular season home match of the season. Regan Pittman led the Gophers with 12 kills, hitting .348. She also had five blocks and one dig. Stephanie Samedy followed with 10 kills, as well as seven blocks and seven digs. Taylor Morgan offered up nine kills, hitting .438, and six blocks for the Gophers. Adanna Rollins had a team best-best 14 digs, along with eight kills and one block. Alexis Hart added seven kills, one dig and one block. Kylie Miller had 38 assists, three digs and two blocks. CC McGraw offered up 11 digs for the Gophers. As a team, Minnesota had 46 kills, 42 digs, 11 blocks and hit .259. Iowa had 28 kills, 36 digs, eight blocks and hit .061.
WELCOME BACK
After missing the last month due to an injury, setter Kylie Miller was back in the Gopher lineup last weekend. Miller played in both the Nebraska and Iowa matches, her first action since Oct. 18-19. In her matches played, Miller established 74 assists and averaged 9.25 assists per set.
20-WIN SEASON
With the win over Michigan last week, Minnesota volleyball earned its 20th win of the season. Minnesota has now won over 20 wins in a single season 37 times in program history. It also marks the fifth year in a row for head coach Hugh McCutcheon and seven in his eight-year tenure.
EARLIER THIS YEAR AGAINST RUTGERS Despite missing two of its starters, Minnesota earned a 3-1 win (25-17, 25-20, 19-25, 25-12) over Rutgers at Maturi Pavilion. Minnesota had four players with double-digit kills, led by Regan Pittman with 14. She hit .583 and added four blocks and three digs. Taylor Morgan had 13 kills and four blocks. Adanna Rollins added 12 kills, 12 digs and four blocks. Stephanie Samedy had 10 kills, seven digs, three aces and one block. Alexis Hart offered up nine kills and two blocks. Bayley McMenimen added a double-double when she had 48 assists, 15 digs and also one ace. Rachel Kilkelly had 13 digs and one ace.
GOPHERS AND THE RPI
The Gophers are ranked 10th in the latest RPI, announced by the NCAA. Baylor, Texas, Stanford and Wisconsin currently round out the top four.
GOPHERS RANKED EIGHTH IN AVCA POLL
Minnesota is ranked No. 8 in this week's poll, announced Monday by the American Volleyball Coaches Association. In all, seven Big Ten Conference teams are ranked in the top 25. Wisconsin holds the league's top ranking (5), followed by Nebraska (6), Penn State (7), Minnesota (8), Purdue (16), Michigan (21) and Illinois (24).
GOPHERS ADD FOUR TO 2020 ROSTER
The University of Minnesota volleyball program has announced four additions to the 2020 roster. The Golden Gophers welcome Cami Appiani (San Diego, Calif.), Taylor Landfair (Plainfield, Ill.), Melani Shaffmaster (New Castle, Ind.) and Jenna Wenaas (Frisco, Texas) to the program. Landfair and Shaffmaster are scheduled to join the Gophers in January of 2020, while Appiani and Wenaas will join the team before the 2020 fall season. Landfair was ranked the No. 1 recruit in the nation by Prep Volleyball, while Wenaas was ranked No. 3 and Shaffmaster at No. 16. Appiani is on the top 110 list as a defensive specialist.
The University of Minnesota closes out the Big Ten Conference season when it travels to Rutgers and Penn State for the final weekend of play. The Gophers face Rutgers on Friday at 6 p.m., CT. The Gophers then play the Nittany Lions on Saturday at 7 p.m., CT.
FOLLOW THE GOPHERS
The Minnesota/Rutgers match will be available via BTN + streaming. The Gophers vs. Penn State match will be carried live on Big Ten Network. Both matches will also have a game day live page through gophersports.com.
ABOUT RUTGERS
Rutgers enters the Minnesota match with an 8-21 overall record. The Knights are 2-16 in the Big Ten, beating Northwestern and Iowa. Tali Marmen leads the team in kills with 197, averages 2.21 kills per set and has 30 aces. She is followed by Anastasiia Maksimova, who has 185 kills. Jasmine Stackhouse and Merle Weidt both have 80 blocks, a team-best. Inna Balyko adds 833 assists, and Karysa Swackenberg has 319 digs. As a team, Rutgers is hitting .163 and averages 10.98 kills per set.
ABOUT PENN STATE
Penn State enters the weekend with a 23-4 overall record, and a 16-2 mark in the Big Ten. PSU's only conference losses came to No. 5 Wisconsin and No. 6 Nebraska. Jonni Parker leads the team in kills, 330, and aces, 35. She is averaging 3.55 kills per set. Serena Gray adds 253 kills for the Nittany Lions. Kaitlyn Hord has a team-best 103 blocks. Gabby Blossom offers up 1,062 assists, and Kendall White has 390 digs. As a team, Penn State is hitting .279 and averages 13.82 kills per set.
ALL-TIME SERIES
The Gophers are 8-2 all time against the Scarlet Knights, dating back to 1983. Since Rutgers joined the Big Ten Conference in 2014, Minnesota has gone 7-0.
Penn State is 48-11 all-time record against the Gophers. This weekend's meeting marks the first and only time the two teams face each other this year. Minnesota will be looking for its first win in Happy Valley since 2004.
NCAA SELECTION SHOW
The NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship bracket will be announced, Sunday, Dec. 1 at 7:30 p.m. CT on ESPNU. The field of 64 will start play on Dec. 6-7 for the NCAA First and Second Rounds, Dec. 13-14 for Regional Semifinals and Finals, and Dec. 19 & 21 for the NCAA Championships in Pittsburgh.
LAST MATCH RECAP
Minnesota defeated the Iowa, 3-0 (25-14, 25-19, 25-22), in their last regular season home match of the season. Regan Pittman led the Gophers with 12 kills, hitting .348. She also had five blocks and one dig. Stephanie Samedy followed with 10 kills, as well as seven blocks and seven digs. Taylor Morgan offered up nine kills, hitting .438, and six blocks for the Gophers. Adanna Rollins had a team best-best 14 digs, along with eight kills and one block. Alexis Hart added seven kills, one dig and one block. Kylie Miller had 38 assists, three digs and two blocks. CC McGraw offered up 11 digs for the Gophers. As a team, Minnesota had 46 kills, 42 digs, 11 blocks and hit .259. Iowa had 28 kills, 36 digs, eight blocks and hit .061.
WELCOME BACK
After missing the last month due to an injury, setter Kylie Miller was back in the Gopher lineup last weekend. Miller played in both the Nebraska and Iowa matches, her first action since Oct. 18-19. In her matches played, Miller established 74 assists and averaged 9.25 assists per set.
20-WIN SEASON
With the win over Michigan last week, Minnesota volleyball earned its 20th win of the season. Minnesota has now won over 20 wins in a single season 37 times in program history. It also marks the fifth year in a row for head coach Hugh McCutcheon and seven in his eight-year tenure.
EARLIER THIS YEAR AGAINST RUTGERS Despite missing two of its starters, Minnesota earned a 3-1 win (25-17, 25-20, 19-25, 25-12) over Rutgers at Maturi Pavilion. Minnesota had four players with double-digit kills, led by Regan Pittman with 14. She hit .583 and added four blocks and three digs. Taylor Morgan had 13 kills and four blocks. Adanna Rollins added 12 kills, 12 digs and four blocks. Stephanie Samedy had 10 kills, seven digs, three aces and one block. Alexis Hart offered up nine kills and two blocks. Bayley McMenimen added a double-double when she had 48 assists, 15 digs and also one ace. Rachel Kilkelly had 13 digs and one ace.
GOPHERS AND THE RPI
The Gophers are ranked 10th in the latest RPI, announced by the NCAA. Baylor, Texas, Stanford and Wisconsin currently round out the top four.
GOPHERS RANKED EIGHTH IN AVCA POLL
Minnesota is ranked No. 8 in this week's poll, announced Monday by the American Volleyball Coaches Association. In all, seven Big Ten Conference teams are ranked in the top 25. Wisconsin holds the league's top ranking (5), followed by Nebraska (6), Penn State (7), Minnesota (8), Purdue (16), Michigan (21) and Illinois (24).
GOPHERS ADD FOUR TO 2020 ROSTER
The University of Minnesota volleyball program has announced four additions to the 2020 roster. The Golden Gophers welcome Cami Appiani (San Diego, Calif.), Taylor Landfair (Plainfield, Ill.), Melani Shaffmaster (New Castle, Ind.) and Jenna Wenaas (Frisco, Texas) to the program. Landfair and Shaffmaster are scheduled to join the Gophers in January of 2020, while Appiani and Wenaas will join the team before the 2020 fall season. Landfair was ranked the No. 1 recruit in the nation by Prep Volleyball, while Wenaas was ranked No. 3 and Shaffmaster at No. 16. Appiani is on the top 110 list as a defensive specialist.
Highlights: Gophers 3, Purdue 1
Wednesday, November 26
Highlights: Gophers 3, Rutgers 0
Sunday, November 23
Highlights: Gophers 3, Maryland 0
Friday, November 21
Highlights: Gophers 3, Iowa 0
Sunday, November 16