University of Minnesota Athletics
Sunday, November 14
3:30 PM
University of Minnesota
vs
Purdue
Players Mentioned
Libero/DS
/ Volleyball
Setter
/ Volleyball
Outside/Opposite
/ Volleyball
Middle Blocker
/ Volleyball
Opposite
/ Volleyball
Setter
/ Volleyball
Outside
/ Volleyball
No. 8 Gophers Host No. 9 Purdue on Alumni Day
11/12/2021 12:30:00 PM | Volleyball
Minnesota has won 20 straight matches at home vs. Purdue
MINNEAPOLIS -- The No. 8 Minnesota Golden Gophers (17-6, 12-3 Big Ten) have gone 16-3 since starting the season 1-3. Minnesota is on a six match winning streak, including three top-10 wins against No. 6 Nebraska (3-2) and then Ohio State twice (3-1). Minnesota is set to host No. 9 Purdue (18-5, 10-4 Big Ten) on Sunday afternoon at the Pav. This will be the Gophers third straight home matchup against a top-10 ranked team and fourth straight home match versus a top-15 ranked team.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
No. 8 Minnesota vs. No. 9 Purdue | 3:30 p.m. CT | BTN
Maturi Pavilion,
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Broadcasters: Chris Vosters (Play-By-Play) and Audrey Flaugh (Analyst)
Radio: J.W. Cox (Play-By-Play)
LAST TIME OUT
• The No. 8 Minnesota Golden Gophers have won six straight and 16 of their last 19 since starting 1-3. They took down Iowa in three sets, 25-22, 25-14, 25-17 in Iowa City on Thursday night.
• Jenna Wenaas (13), Stephanie Samedy (12) and Airi Miyabe (10) all reached double digits in kills while Minnesota hit a scorching .404 to notch the program's 48th consecutive victory over Iowa.
QUOTABLE
• "I think in our league it's dangerous to get too far ahead of yourself," said head coach Hugh McCutcheon. "You just have to take things one game at a time and keep progressing as you go. We're locked in to playing Purdue."
• "I'm excited to go to battle with this group, said Katie Myers. "The connectedness of our team has never been better. Our relationships off the court are definitely helping us on the court with our win streak."
'U' SET TO HOST ALUMNI DAY ON SUNDAY
• Over 20 former Golden Gophers volleyball players will be honored during Sunday's match against Purdue.
SCOUTING PURDUE
• The No. 9 Purdue Boilermakers (18-5, 10-4 Big Ten) are having an excellent season under legendary head coach Dave Shondell. The Boilers recently took down then No. 2 Wisconsin in four sets. They're currently on a four match win streak.
• Purdue is the No. 2 blocking team in the conference (2.89 b/s) and No. 1 in opponent blocks (1.62). Taylor Trammel (1.40 b/s) leads the team and ranks second in the conference.
• Caitlyn Newton ranks seventh in the Big Ten in points per set (4.36) and sixth in kills (3.82) to pace the offensive attack.
GOPHERS HISTORY AGAINST PURDUE
• Minnesota is 56-31 all-time against Purdue, including a 13-3 record under Hugh McCutcheon. The Gophers have won five straight and nine of the last 10 in the series, with the lone loss coming in 2017. The Gophers won twice in five sets at Purdue in the spring. In the first match, Stephanie Samedy had a career-game, posting 28 kills and a career-best 26 digs.
• At the Pav against Purdue, the 'U' is 7-0 against the Boilermakers under Hugh. PU hasn't won at Minnesota since the 1998 season (Gophers are 20-0 at home vs. Purdue since 1998).
GOPHERS IN BIG TEN PLAY
• Under Hugh McCutcheon, Minnesota is 144-40 (.782) in Big Ten competition. In his 10 seasons prior in charge, the Gophers have had nine seasons above .500 in conference play. In eight of those seasons, the 'U' went 15-5 or better in conference play, with the best being 19-1 in 2018. They need to win three of their final five Big Ten matches to finish at least 15-5 in 2021.
• The Gophers won Big Ten titles in 2016 and 2018 and have finished either first, second or third in eight of the last nine seasons.
MINNESOTA THRIVES AT HOME
• Under coach McCutcheon, Minnesota is 129-15 (.895) at home, including an 84-11 (.884) record during Big Ten home matches
HAPPY HUGHVEMBER
• Now in year 10 under Hugh McCutcheon, Minnesota has been a team that gets better throughout the course of the season. Under Hugh, the Gophers are 56-16 (.778) in the month of November. Since 2015, Minnesota is 37-7 (.841) in November, including a 19-3 (.863) record at home and an 18-4 (.818) record on the road.
SAMEDY TAKES HER GAME TO ANOTHER LEVEL IN 2021
• Stephanie Samedy had a phenomenal 2020-21 spring season, winning Big Ten Player of the Year in addition to being named a First Team AVCA All-American for the third time in her career. She had five 20+ kill performances and averaged 4.15 kills per set and 2.48 digs per set.
• She's taken her game to another level this fall, upping her numbers in almost every statistical category. She's averaging a Big Ten best 4.69 kills per set along with 3.85 digs per set. She's also had nine 20+ kill performances this season in 21 matches. No one else in the Big Ten has more than six 20+ kill matches and no other Power 5 player has more than eight.
SHE IS NUMBER 1
• Stephanie Samedy now has 1,874 career kills at Minnesota, which puts at her at No. 1 in school history in the rally scoring era. She's 22 behind Chris Schaefer (1986-89) for fourth all-time. Samedy has to average 25 kills per match to reach 2,000 career kills in the regular season. Assuming Minnesota plays at least two NCAA tournament matches, she would need to average 18 kills over the next seven to reach 2,000.
TIME TO DIG IT OUT
• The Gophers lead the Big Ten and rank No. 21 nationally in digs per set (17.00). CC McGraw leads the team (4.60) while Samedy (3.78) and Melani Shaffmaster (2.76) are right around four and three per set.
• CC McGraw ranks fourth in the conference in digs (396) and second in digs per set (4.60).
• The Gophers had a season-high 107 digs on Oct. 30 vs. Nebraska, their most digs since they had 108 on Feb. 5, 2021 at Purdue. The 107 digs was a Big Ten match high for the season.
BIG TEN KEEPS STACKING ATTENDANCE NUMBERS
• 11 Big Ten teams among the top 30 in the latest NCAA attendance rankings with the next closest conference having only six in the top 30 (Pac-12). As it has all season, Nebraska leads the nation at 8,190 fans per match, with Wisconsin second (7,540) and Minnesota at No. 3 (5,120).
GOPHERS SIGN FOUR IN CLASS OF 2022
• Another top-15 ranked recruiting class will land in Minneapolis for the 2022 season as The Golden Gophers welcome middle blocker Carter Booth (Denver, Colo.) and outsides Julia Hanson (Savage, Minn.) and Mckenna Wucherer (Brookfield, Wis.) to the program.
• The No. 1 player in Colorado, the 6-foot-7 Booth should immediately help the Gophers in the middle. She's a 2021 Second Team AVCA All-American and finished her high school career with 346 blocks (86 solo).
• Julia Hanson is an outside from Prior Lake, Minn. She's also a Second Team AVCA All-American and comes to the Gophers after winning 2021 Star Tribune Metro Player of the Year.
• Brookfield, Wis., native Mckenna Wucherer is the No. 1 2022 recruit out of Wisconsin. She was a First Team AVCA All-American this fall and competed internationally on the USA U-18 team that finished third at the FIVB World Championships this past summer.
DIFFICULT SCHEDULE AWAITS MINNESOTA TO FINISH 2021
• The No. 8-ranked Gophers have a gauntlet of schedule once again. In addition to playing 20 conference games in the always difficult Big Ten slate, they played eight non-conference matches, including five against AVCA top-25 ranked teams.
• Minnesota is set to take on seven teams ranked in the AVCA preseason top-10 (second most top-10 games in the country). The Gophers have 14 ranked opponents out of 28 games on their schedule.
• In their final 12 matches of this season, the Gophers are set to face eight ranked opponents. In the final 12-match stretch, Minnesota is 6-1 thus far with a 4-1 record against ranked opponents.
WHAT'S NEXT
• Minnesota hosts Rutgers on Friday, Nov. 19 for Senior Night. The match starts at 7 p.m. CT on B1G+. Bayley McMenimen, Airi Miyabe, Katie Myers and Stephanie Samedy will be the seniors honored.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
No. 8 Minnesota vs. No. 9 Purdue | 3:30 p.m. CT | BTN
Maturi Pavilion,
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Broadcasters: Chris Vosters (Play-By-Play) and Audrey Flaugh (Analyst)
Radio: J.W. Cox (Play-By-Play)
LAST TIME OUT
• The No. 8 Minnesota Golden Gophers have won six straight and 16 of their last 19 since starting 1-3. They took down Iowa in three sets, 25-22, 25-14, 25-17 in Iowa City on Thursday night.
• Jenna Wenaas (13), Stephanie Samedy (12) and Airi Miyabe (10) all reached double digits in kills while Minnesota hit a scorching .404 to notch the program's 48th consecutive victory over Iowa.
QUOTABLE
• "I think in our league it's dangerous to get too far ahead of yourself," said head coach Hugh McCutcheon. "You just have to take things one game at a time and keep progressing as you go. We're locked in to playing Purdue."
• "I'm excited to go to battle with this group, said Katie Myers. "The connectedness of our team has never been better. Our relationships off the court are definitely helping us on the court with our win streak."
'U' SET TO HOST ALUMNI DAY ON SUNDAY
• Over 20 former Golden Gophers volleyball players will be honored during Sunday's match against Purdue.
SCOUTING PURDUE
• The No. 9 Purdue Boilermakers (18-5, 10-4 Big Ten) are having an excellent season under legendary head coach Dave Shondell. The Boilers recently took down then No. 2 Wisconsin in four sets. They're currently on a four match win streak.
• Purdue is the No. 2 blocking team in the conference (2.89 b/s) and No. 1 in opponent blocks (1.62). Taylor Trammel (1.40 b/s) leads the team and ranks second in the conference.
• Caitlyn Newton ranks seventh in the Big Ten in points per set (4.36) and sixth in kills (3.82) to pace the offensive attack.
GOPHERS HISTORY AGAINST PURDUE
• Minnesota is 56-31 all-time against Purdue, including a 13-3 record under Hugh McCutcheon. The Gophers have won five straight and nine of the last 10 in the series, with the lone loss coming in 2017. The Gophers won twice in five sets at Purdue in the spring. In the first match, Stephanie Samedy had a career-game, posting 28 kills and a career-best 26 digs.
• At the Pav against Purdue, the 'U' is 7-0 against the Boilermakers under Hugh. PU hasn't won at Minnesota since the 1998 season (Gophers are 20-0 at home vs. Purdue since 1998).
GOPHERS IN BIG TEN PLAY
• Under Hugh McCutcheon, Minnesota is 144-40 (.782) in Big Ten competition. In his 10 seasons prior in charge, the Gophers have had nine seasons above .500 in conference play. In eight of those seasons, the 'U' went 15-5 or better in conference play, with the best being 19-1 in 2018. They need to win three of their final five Big Ten matches to finish at least 15-5 in 2021.
• The Gophers won Big Ten titles in 2016 and 2018 and have finished either first, second or third in eight of the last nine seasons.
MINNESOTA THRIVES AT HOME
• Under coach McCutcheon, Minnesota is 129-15 (.895) at home, including an 84-11 (.884) record during Big Ten home matches
HAPPY HUGHVEMBER
• Now in year 10 under Hugh McCutcheon, Minnesota has been a team that gets better throughout the course of the season. Under Hugh, the Gophers are 56-16 (.778) in the month of November. Since 2015, Minnesota is 37-7 (.841) in November, including a 19-3 (.863) record at home and an 18-4 (.818) record on the road.
SAMEDY TAKES HER GAME TO ANOTHER LEVEL IN 2021
• Stephanie Samedy had a phenomenal 2020-21 spring season, winning Big Ten Player of the Year in addition to being named a First Team AVCA All-American for the third time in her career. She had five 20+ kill performances and averaged 4.15 kills per set and 2.48 digs per set.
• She's taken her game to another level this fall, upping her numbers in almost every statistical category. She's averaging a Big Ten best 4.69 kills per set along with 3.85 digs per set. She's also had nine 20+ kill performances this season in 21 matches. No one else in the Big Ten has more than six 20+ kill matches and no other Power 5 player has more than eight.
SHE IS NUMBER 1
• Stephanie Samedy now has 1,874 career kills at Minnesota, which puts at her at No. 1 in school history in the rally scoring era. She's 22 behind Chris Schaefer (1986-89) for fourth all-time. Samedy has to average 25 kills per match to reach 2,000 career kills in the regular season. Assuming Minnesota plays at least two NCAA tournament matches, she would need to average 18 kills over the next seven to reach 2,000.
TIME TO DIG IT OUT
• The Gophers lead the Big Ten and rank No. 21 nationally in digs per set (17.00). CC McGraw leads the team (4.60) while Samedy (3.78) and Melani Shaffmaster (2.76) are right around four and three per set.
• CC McGraw ranks fourth in the conference in digs (396) and second in digs per set (4.60).
• The Gophers had a season-high 107 digs on Oct. 30 vs. Nebraska, their most digs since they had 108 on Feb. 5, 2021 at Purdue. The 107 digs was a Big Ten match high for the season.
BIG TEN KEEPS STACKING ATTENDANCE NUMBERS
• 11 Big Ten teams among the top 30 in the latest NCAA attendance rankings with the next closest conference having only six in the top 30 (Pac-12). As it has all season, Nebraska leads the nation at 8,190 fans per match, with Wisconsin second (7,540) and Minnesota at No. 3 (5,120).
GOPHERS SIGN FOUR IN CLASS OF 2022
• Another top-15 ranked recruiting class will land in Minneapolis for the 2022 season as The Golden Gophers welcome middle blocker Carter Booth (Denver, Colo.) and outsides Julia Hanson (Savage, Minn.) and Mckenna Wucherer (Brookfield, Wis.) to the program.
• The No. 1 player in Colorado, the 6-foot-7 Booth should immediately help the Gophers in the middle. She's a 2021 Second Team AVCA All-American and finished her high school career with 346 blocks (86 solo).
• Julia Hanson is an outside from Prior Lake, Minn. She's also a Second Team AVCA All-American and comes to the Gophers after winning 2021 Star Tribune Metro Player of the Year.
• Brookfield, Wis., native Mckenna Wucherer is the No. 1 2022 recruit out of Wisconsin. She was a First Team AVCA All-American this fall and competed internationally on the USA U-18 team that finished third at the FIVB World Championships this past summer.
DIFFICULT SCHEDULE AWAITS MINNESOTA TO FINISH 2021
• The No. 8-ranked Gophers have a gauntlet of schedule once again. In addition to playing 20 conference games in the always difficult Big Ten slate, they played eight non-conference matches, including five against AVCA top-25 ranked teams.
• Minnesota is set to take on seven teams ranked in the AVCA preseason top-10 (second most top-10 games in the country). The Gophers have 14 ranked opponents out of 28 games on their schedule.
• In their final 12 matches of this season, the Gophers are set to face eight ranked opponents. In the final 12-match stretch, Minnesota is 6-1 thus far with a 4-1 record against ranked opponents.
WHAT'S NEXT
• Minnesota hosts Rutgers on Friday, Nov. 19 for Senior Night. The match starts at 7 p.m. CT on B1G+. Bayley McMenimen, Airi Miyabe, Katie Myers and Stephanie Samedy will be the seniors honored.
Highlights: Spring Exhibition
Monday, April 27
2025 Season Recap
Tuesday, January 27
Best of Julia Hanson
Monday, December 22
Gophers Preview NCAA Sweet Sixteen
Tuesday, December 09