Gophers Fall to Purdue in Four Sets

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Oct 26

12:00 PM

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at #11 Purdue

Oct 29

7:00 PM

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vs RV Illinois

Nov 1

8:00 PM

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vs #22 USC

MINNEAPOLIS -- The No. 8 Minnesota Golden Gophers fell to the No. 9 Purdue Boilermakers in four sets, 12-25, 25-14, 16-25, 22-25 on Sunday afternoon at Maturi Pavilion.

"I thought we were in there and battled hard in the fourth set," said head coach Hugh McCutcheon. "At the end of the day, it just didn't go our way. That's the nature of sports sometimes. Purdue is a good team and they're playing well right now."

The Golden Gophers (17-7, 12-4 Big Ten) were led by redshirt senior opposite Stephanie Samedy, who had 23 kills to go along with 13 digs. Jenna Wenaas had 10 kills and seven digs while Katie Myers had four kills and six blocks.

As a team, Minnesota hit .165 with 46 kills, three aces, 61 digs and nine blocks. Purdue (20-5, 12-4 Big Ten) hit .243 with 52 kills, eight aces, 62 digs and 10 blocks. Caitlyn Newton led Purdue with 19 kills.

Set Breakdown:
Set 1: It was the Boilermakers who got off to a hot start on Sunday, starting the match on a 9-3 run before the Gophers called timeout. Samedy did her best to keep her team close in the first set, notching six kills in the team's first 10 points. Purdue would go on to extend the lead out to 18-10 before coach McCutcheon called another timeout. The 'U' would get no closer the rest of the set as PU closed on a 6-0 run to win, 25-12. The Boilermakers hit .429 with 14 kills while Minnesota hit just .029 with nine kills. Samedy led the team with six kills while three others had one.

Set 2: The Gophers flipped the script in the start of the second set, scoring seven of the first nine points to get off to a quick start. Kills from Miyabe, Samedy and Wenaas sparked the scoring spree. After two points from PU, the Gophers went on another quick 3-0 run to go up 10-4 and force a timeout from the visitors. PU would cut the lead to four at 12-8 but a 5-0 Gophers run pushed the lead out to 11 at 17-8 and forced another timeout. CC McGraw tallied first ace of the match while Katie Myers had a solo block in the run. The Boilers would get no closer than nine the rest of the set as Minnesota finished off on a 6-3 run to win, 25-14. The Gophers hit .290 while Purdue hit just .050 in the second frame. Wenaas led the way with five kills while Myers had two with three blocks.

Set 3: Minnesota came out strong in the third set once again, scoring eight of the first 12 points. Purdue would respond, however, going on a mid-set 4-0 run to tie it up at 10. The Boilermakers took their first lead of the set since 4-3 after an attacking error by the home team and an ace from Caitlyn Newton. The 'U' trailed 15-13 at the media timeout. Two more points from PU after the timeout forced coach McCutcheon into burning a timeout to try and gain momentum. Two more aces from Newton in addition to a dual block gave Purdue a 20-13 lead, concluding an 8-0 run and forcing another Gophers timeout. Minnesota would get no closer than nine the rest of the set as the visitors closed out on a 13-3 run to win, 25-16. PU hit .152 in set three while the Gophers hit just .031. Samedy led the way with six kills.

Set 4: The two teams exchanged the first four points before a 5-2 run gave the Boilermakers a 9-6 lead, forcing coach McCutcheon to call his first timeout of the set. The Gophers responded, going on a 6-3 run to tie it up at 11. Samedy had a pair of kills while Myers and Wenaas had one each in the spurt. Minnesota would finally take the lead at 16-15 after two straight Samedy kills to put her up to 20 on the night. PU would score three of the next four to go up 18-17 before a kill from Wenaas and an ace from Samedy put the Gophers up 19-18 and caused Purdue to call a timeout. Minnesota would go up 22-20 after a kill from Samedy and a block from Airi Miyabe and Ellie Husemann. PU would score the next three on a kill and two blocks to go up 23-22, forcing a Minnesota timeout. Following the pause in action, Purdue collected two straight kills to finish the set, 25-22.

Notable:
-Minnesota is 56-32 all-time against Purdue, including a 13-4 record under Hugh McCutcheon. The Gophers had won five straight and nine of the last 10 in the series before today.
-Stephanie Samedy (23 kills) moved up to 1,897 for her career at Minnesota, which is No. 1 all-time in the rally scoring era (since 2001). She passed Chris Schaefer (1,894) for fourth all-time.
-Samedy tallied 20+ kills for the 10th time this season and 24th time in her career.
-Melani Shaffmaster posted a double double with 36 assists and 10 digs to go along with a pair of kills and three blocks.
-Jenna Wenaas tallied 10 kills, her 17th double digit kill match of the season.
-CC McGraw led the Gophers with 19 digs.

Up Next:
Minnesota hosts Rutgers Friday night at 7 p.m. on B1G+. The Gophers will be honoring their four seniors in a post match ceremony.

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Team Stats

Stephanie Samedy

Jenna Wenaas

Airi Miyabe

Katie Myers

Players Mentioned

Ellie Husemann

CC McGraw

Airi Miyabe

Katie Myers

Stephanie Samedy

Melani Shaffmaster

Jenna Wenaas

Players Mentioned

Ellie Husemann

CC McGraw

Airi Miyabe

Katie Myers

Stephanie Samedy

Melani Shaffmaster

Jenna Wenaas

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