University of Minnesota Athletics
Sunday, November 21
4:00 PM
University of Minnesota
17-8,12-5Big Ten
2
vs
3
Wisconsin
23-3,15-3Big Ten
1
2
3
4
5
F
Wisconsin
24
25
25
28
15
3
Minnesota
26
19
27
26
12
2
Photo by: Brad Rempel
Gophers Fall in Five Set Battle to Badgers
11/21/2021 7:42:00 PM | Volleyball
Samedy notched 31 kills and 20 digs
MINNEAPOLIS -- The No. 9 Minnesota Golden Gophers fell to the No. 5 Wisconsin Badgers in five sets, 26-24, 19-25, 27-25, 26-28, 12-15 on Sunday evening at Maturi Pavilion.
"I think the difference was just a play or two here in terms of coverage, a dig, or an out of system swing," said head coach Hugh McCutcheon. "It's a game of inches. To Wisconsin's credit, they served well and played a clean game."
The Golden Gophers (18-8, 13-5 Big Ten) were led by redshirt senior opposite Stephanie Samedy, who had 31 kills and 20 digs. Jenna Wenaas tallied 20 kills and 15 digs while Ellie Husemann paced the defense with nine blocks.
As a team, Minnesota hit .215 with 70 kills, four aces, 90 digs and 11 blocks. Wisconsin (23-3, 15-3 Big Ten) hit .277 with 84 kills, three aces, 93 digs and 14 blocks. Dana Rettke led the Badgers with 21 kills.
Set Breakdown:
Set 1: Wisconsin started fast, scoring the first five points of the match, leading to a Gophers timeout. The Badgers would go up 6-0 before Airi Miyabe got Minnesota on the board with a kill. The 'U' scored two of the next three to cut the lead to 7-3. UW would respond, going on a 3-0 run to take a match-high seven point lead at 10-3. The Badgers would extend their lead out to eight at 14-6 before a torrid mid-set run by Minnesota cut the visitors lead to three at 14-11. A block from Husemann and Shaffmaster and two service aces from Katie Myers sparked the 5-0 run and forced a Badgers timeout. A 5-3 UW run put the visitors up 19-14 and led to coach McCutcheon calling his second timeout of the set. A block from Husemann and Wenaas and a kill from Wenaas helped the 'U' on a 3-0 run that cut the lead to 19-17. After a point from the visitors, two more kills from Wenaas and one from Samedy tied the match up at 20 apiece (first tie since 0-0), leading to a timeout from Wisconsin. The two teams would exchange points for the next four before UW scored two straight to go up 24-22. The Gophers would respond, however, closing the set on a 4-0 run to win, 26-24. Samedy finished the set with two straight kills and went over 1,900 for her career. She led the 'U' with five first set kills as the Gophers hit .243 and held UW to .184.
Set 2: Minnesota scored two of the first three points in set two before a 7-0 UW run put the visitors up 8-2 and forced a timeout from coach McCutcheon. The Gophers would battle back, getting the deficit to as a few as three at 15-12 after a kill from Wenaas. UW scored two straight to up its lead to five at 17-12 before a block from Husemann and Shaffmaster and two UW attacking errors helped Minnesota climb to within just two at 17-15. Two straight kills from the Badgers put the visitors up 19-15 and forced the Gophers into calling a timeout. Minnesota would cut the deficit to as few as two at 20-18 and 21-19, but UW closed the set on a 4-0 run to win, 25-19. Samedy led the 'U' with eight kills in the second set to put her at 13 for the match, but the Gophers hit just .125 compared to .282 for UW.
Set 3: UW started fast once again in set three, going up 7-0 before a kill from Samedy ended the run. Two more points from the Badgers forced Minnesota into calling its first timeout of the set. A 4-1 run helped the 'U' cut the lead to 12-7 after a kills from Miyabe and Wenaas and the third ace of the match from Myers. UW would respond, however, going on a 5-3 run to go up 17-10, leading to another coach McCutcheon timeout. The Gophers kept battling, cutting the lead to five at 20-15 after a kill from Miyabe. UW went up 21-15 before three straight points from the 'U' cut the deficit to just three at 21-18 and forced the visitors to call a timeout. A setting error cut the lead to two before two straight Badgers points gave them a four-point cushion at 23-19. The Gophers would respond with a 4-1 run to cut UW's lead to 24-23, forcing another timeout from the visitors. Two straight kills from Miyabe got the Gophers to within one at 24-23 and tied it up at 24. The two teams exchanged points to tie it up at 25-25 before two more kills from Miyabe ended the set with a 27-25 Gophers win. Minnesota and Wisconsin both hit over .300 for the set.
Set 4: It was Minnesota who took seven of the first 10 points to start quickly in set four. UW would cut the lead to three at 8-5 before kills from Miyabe and Samedy put the 'U' up 11-5. The 'U' kept a firm six-to-seven point lead through the middle of the set before four straight UW points cut the Gophers lead to 17-14. A UW attacking error upped Minnesota's lead to four once again before three straight Badgers points cut the lead to one at 18-17 and forced coach McCutcheon into calling a timeout. Wisconsin would tie it at 18 before Samedy's 26th kill of the match put the Gophers up once again. Wenaas tallied her 16th kill of the match right after Samedy and put the home team up 20-18, leading to a UW timeout. A block from Husemann and Samedy put the home team up 21-18 before two straight Badgers points cut the lead to 21-20. The Gophers had chances for match point at 24-23, 25-24 and 26-25 but the Badgers responded each time. A Minnesota error at 26-26 gave UW its first lead of the set at 27-26 and forced a timeout from the 'U'. The Badgers scored the next point to win the set, 28-26, and force a fifth frame.
Set 5: The two teams exchanged the first six points of the set before two straight from UW put the visitors up 5-3. Two straight kills from Miyabe and one from Samedy helped the Gophers tie the set back up at six. Two kills in-a-row from UW gave the visitors an 8-6 heading into the media break. Another Badgers point led to a Gophers timeout, trailing 9-6. UW would continue its run, going up 11-7 before a kill from Samedy and an ace from McGraw cut the deficit to two at 11-9. Two more Badgers points put them up 13-9 and led to Minnesota calling its final timeout. A block from Myers and Wenaas and a kill from Wenaas got the Gophers back to within two at 13-11, forcing a timeout from UW. A kill from Samedy got the Gophers two within one at 13-12 before a block from the visitors put them up 14-12. UW would score the next point to win the set, 15-12, and the match, 3-2.
Notable:
-Minnesota is now 52-35 against Wisconsin all-time, including 11-8 under Hugh McCutcheon.
-The Gophers were 14-0 when winning the first set this season before today.
-Minnesota is 4-2 in five set matches in 2021.
-Stephanie Samedy (31 kills) moved up to 1,928 for her career at Minnesota, which is No. 1 all-time in the rally scoring era (since 2001) and No. 4 all-time.
-Samedy tallied 20+ kills for the 11th time this season and 25th time in her career. She posted 30+ kills for the third time this season (also third time in career).
-Melani Shaffmaster posted a double double with 58 assists and 17 digs to go along with three kills and three blocks.
-Jenna Wenaas tallied 20 kills and 15 digs, her 18th double digit kill match of the season. It was her second 20+ kill match of her career.
-Ellie Husemann earned her first start since Oct. 9 and responded with a team-best nine blocks.
Up Next:
Minnesota travels to the east coast to play at Penn State and Maryland next weekend to close its regular season.
"I think the difference was just a play or two here in terms of coverage, a dig, or an out of system swing," said head coach Hugh McCutcheon. "It's a game of inches. To Wisconsin's credit, they served well and played a clean game."
The Golden Gophers (18-8, 13-5 Big Ten) were led by redshirt senior opposite Stephanie Samedy, who had 31 kills and 20 digs. Jenna Wenaas tallied 20 kills and 15 digs while Ellie Husemann paced the defense with nine blocks.
As a team, Minnesota hit .215 with 70 kills, four aces, 90 digs and 11 blocks. Wisconsin (23-3, 15-3 Big Ten) hit .277 with 84 kills, three aces, 93 digs and 14 blocks. Dana Rettke led the Badgers with 21 kills.
Set Breakdown:
Set 1: Wisconsin started fast, scoring the first five points of the match, leading to a Gophers timeout. The Badgers would go up 6-0 before Airi Miyabe got Minnesota on the board with a kill. The 'U' scored two of the next three to cut the lead to 7-3. UW would respond, going on a 3-0 run to take a match-high seven point lead at 10-3. The Badgers would extend their lead out to eight at 14-6 before a torrid mid-set run by Minnesota cut the visitors lead to three at 14-11. A block from Husemann and Shaffmaster and two service aces from Katie Myers sparked the 5-0 run and forced a Badgers timeout. A 5-3 UW run put the visitors up 19-14 and led to coach McCutcheon calling his second timeout of the set. A block from Husemann and Wenaas and a kill from Wenaas helped the 'U' on a 3-0 run that cut the lead to 19-17. After a point from the visitors, two more kills from Wenaas and one from Samedy tied the match up at 20 apiece (first tie since 0-0), leading to a timeout from Wisconsin. The two teams would exchange points for the next four before UW scored two straight to go up 24-22. The Gophers would respond, however, closing the set on a 4-0 run to win, 26-24. Samedy finished the set with two straight kills and went over 1,900 for her career. She led the 'U' with five first set kills as the Gophers hit .243 and held UW to .184.
Set 2: Minnesota scored two of the first three points in set two before a 7-0 UW run put the visitors up 8-2 and forced a timeout from coach McCutcheon. The Gophers would battle back, getting the deficit to as a few as three at 15-12 after a kill from Wenaas. UW scored two straight to up its lead to five at 17-12 before a block from Husemann and Shaffmaster and two UW attacking errors helped Minnesota climb to within just two at 17-15. Two straight kills from the Badgers put the visitors up 19-15 and forced the Gophers into calling a timeout. Minnesota would cut the deficit to as few as two at 20-18 and 21-19, but UW closed the set on a 4-0 run to win, 25-19. Samedy led the 'U' with eight kills in the second set to put her at 13 for the match, but the Gophers hit just .125 compared to .282 for UW.
Set 3: UW started fast once again in set three, going up 7-0 before a kill from Samedy ended the run. Two more points from the Badgers forced Minnesota into calling its first timeout of the set. A 4-1 run helped the 'U' cut the lead to 12-7 after a kills from Miyabe and Wenaas and the third ace of the match from Myers. UW would respond, however, going on a 5-3 run to go up 17-10, leading to another coach McCutcheon timeout. The Gophers kept battling, cutting the lead to five at 20-15 after a kill from Miyabe. UW went up 21-15 before three straight points from the 'U' cut the deficit to just three at 21-18 and forced the visitors to call a timeout. A setting error cut the lead to two before two straight Badgers points gave them a four-point cushion at 23-19. The Gophers would respond with a 4-1 run to cut UW's lead to 24-23, forcing another timeout from the visitors. Two straight kills from Miyabe got the Gophers to within one at 24-23 and tied it up at 24. The two teams exchanged points to tie it up at 25-25 before two more kills from Miyabe ended the set with a 27-25 Gophers win. Minnesota and Wisconsin both hit over .300 for the set.
Set 4: It was Minnesota who took seven of the first 10 points to start quickly in set four. UW would cut the lead to three at 8-5 before kills from Miyabe and Samedy put the 'U' up 11-5. The 'U' kept a firm six-to-seven point lead through the middle of the set before four straight UW points cut the Gophers lead to 17-14. A UW attacking error upped Minnesota's lead to four once again before three straight Badgers points cut the lead to one at 18-17 and forced coach McCutcheon into calling a timeout. Wisconsin would tie it at 18 before Samedy's 26th kill of the match put the Gophers up once again. Wenaas tallied her 16th kill of the match right after Samedy and put the home team up 20-18, leading to a UW timeout. A block from Husemann and Samedy put the home team up 21-18 before two straight Badgers points cut the lead to 21-20. The Gophers had chances for match point at 24-23, 25-24 and 26-25 but the Badgers responded each time. A Minnesota error at 26-26 gave UW its first lead of the set at 27-26 and forced a timeout from the 'U'. The Badgers scored the next point to win the set, 28-26, and force a fifth frame.
Set 5: The two teams exchanged the first six points of the set before two straight from UW put the visitors up 5-3. Two straight kills from Miyabe and one from Samedy helped the Gophers tie the set back up at six. Two kills in-a-row from UW gave the visitors an 8-6 heading into the media break. Another Badgers point led to a Gophers timeout, trailing 9-6. UW would continue its run, going up 11-7 before a kill from Samedy and an ace from McGraw cut the deficit to two at 11-9. Two more Badgers points put them up 13-9 and led to Minnesota calling its final timeout. A block from Myers and Wenaas and a kill from Wenaas got the Gophers back to within two at 13-11, forcing a timeout from UW. A kill from Samedy got the Gophers two within one at 13-12 before a block from the visitors put them up 14-12. UW would score the next point to win the set, 15-12, and the match, 3-2.
Notable:
-Minnesota is now 52-35 against Wisconsin all-time, including 11-8 under Hugh McCutcheon.
-The Gophers were 14-0 when winning the first set this season before today.
-Minnesota is 4-2 in five set matches in 2021.
-Stephanie Samedy (31 kills) moved up to 1,928 for her career at Minnesota, which is No. 1 all-time in the rally scoring era (since 2001) and No. 4 all-time.
-Samedy tallied 20+ kills for the 11th time this season and 25th time in her career. She posted 30+ kills for the third time this season (also third time in career).
-Melani Shaffmaster posted a double double with 58 assists and 17 digs to go along with three kills and three blocks.
-Jenna Wenaas tallied 20 kills and 15 digs, her 18th double digit kill match of the season. It was her second 20+ kill match of her career.
-Ellie Husemann earned her first start since Oct. 9 and responded with a team-best nine blocks.
Up Next:
Minnesota travels to the east coast to play at Penn State and Maryland next weekend to close its regular season.
Team Stats
Wisc
MINN
Kills
84
70
Errors
25
24
Attempts
213
214
Hitting %
.277
.215
Points
101
85
Assists
75
69
Aces
3
4
Blocks
14
11
Game Leaders
Kills
31
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Kills
20
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Kills
15
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
3
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Players Mentioned
Middle Blocker
/ VolleyballOutside/Opposite
/ Volleyball
Middle Blocker
/ VolleyballOpposite
/ VolleyballSetter
/ VolleyballOutside
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