University of Minnesota Athletics
Friday, November 26
University Park, PA
7:00 PM
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Gophers Conclude Regular Season at Penn State and Maryland
11/24/2021 3:30:00 PM | Volleyball
No. 10 Minnesota sits at 18-8 (13-5 Big Ten)
MINNEAPOLIS -- The No. 10 Minnesota Golden Gophers (18-8, 13-5 Big Ten) conclude their 2021 regular season with road matches at No. 15 Penn State (19-9, 12-6 Big Ten) and Maryland (19-11, 7-11 Big Ten). The Gophers are in a tie for fourth place in the Big Ten standings with two matches to play. Purdue (14-4), Wisconsin (15-3) and Nebraska (15-3) are the teams ahead of Minnesota in the conference.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
No. 10 Minnesota at No. 15 Penn State | 7 p.m. CT | Big Ten Network
Friday, Nov. 26
Rec Hall
State College, Pa.
Broadcasters: Connor Onion (Play-By-Play) and Emily Ehman (Analyst)
BROADCAST INFORMATION
No. 10 Minnesota at Maryland | 6 p.m. CT | B1G+
Saturday, Nov. 27
Xfinity Center Pavilion
College Park, Md.
Broadcasters: TBA
LAST TIME OUT
• 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.Â
• 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.
QUOTABLE
• "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 after Sunday's loss to Wisconsin. "It's a game of inches. To Wisconsin's credit, they served well and played a clean game."
SAMEDY WINS FIFTH BIG TEN PLAYER OF THE WEEK AWARD THIS SEASON
• University of Minnesota redshirt senior opposite Stephanie Samedy was named Big Ten Player of the Week, the conference announced on Monday. It's her sixth weekly honor from the conference this season, including her fifth player of the week award. She earns her 13th career Player of the Week honor, putting her at second most in Big Ten history.
• The Clermont, Fla., native registered 6.20 kills and 4.00 digs per set with her first ever 30/20 match on Sunday against No. 5 Wisconsin. She posted 31 kills, 20 digs and four blocks on the match. It was her third 30+ kill match of the year and fifth 20+ dig match. She's the first Gopher to notch 30 kills and 20 digs in a match since 2000, when Nicole Branagh (33/21) did so. No Gopher in the rally scoring era (since 2001) has accomplished this feat.
STANDINGS UPDATE
• Minnesota (13-5) is tied for fourth in the Big Ten heading into the final weekend of the regular season. The Gophers are two games back of Nebraska and Wisconsin (15-3 Big Ten) for first place in the conference. Purdue (14-4) is in third place in the conference while Ohio State (13-5) is tied for fourth. Penn State (12-6) is a game behind Minnesota heading into Friday's matchup.
SCOUTING PENN STATE
• The No. 15 Nittany Lions (19-9, 12-6 Big Ten) will be looking to bounce back from losses last weekend to Nebraska and Ohio State. PSU currently sits in sixth place in the Big Ten with two matches to go.
• PSU is led by head coach Russ Rose, who is in his 43rd year in charge. He's the Division I all-time wins leader
with over 1,300 career wins. He's led PSU to seven national titles, with the latest coming in 2014.
• The Nittany Lions are led by Jonni Parker (3.81 k/s) and Kaitlyn Hord (1.32 b/s). Both rank in the top five in the
Big Ten in kills per set and blocks per set, respectively. Setter Gabby Blossom (11.03 a/s) ranks third in the league in assists per set. She was named Big Ten Setter of the Week last week, her third honor of the season.
SCOUTING MARYLAND
• Maryland (19-11, 7-11 Big Ten) has battled all season long, going undefeated in non-conference play before opening conference play with a win over then No. 2 Wisconsin. They'll be looking for another signature win this weekend.
• Rainelle Jones leads the Big Ten with 1.64 blocks per set while Milan Gomillion leads the league with 4.74 digs per set from the libero position.
• The program last started 12-0 in 2005 when the team began 14-0 before finishing 28-5. That year's squad eventually made the second round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to Louisville.
• Their 12-0 non-conference record marked the best start for the program under head coach Adam Hughes and also since the program joined the Big Ten in 2014. Maryland is on the NCAA Tournament bubble heading into this final weekend of Big Ten play.
GOPHERS HISTORY AGAINST PENN STATE AND MARYLAND
• Minnesota is 14-49 all-time against Penn State, but they hold a 6-12 mark under Hugh McCutcheon. PSU won the first eight in the series since coach came to Minnesota in 2012. However, since then, the Gophers have won six of the past 10, including four of the last six. The 'U' won both matches at home vs. the Nittany Lions last season, 3-1 and 3-2, but got swept in October at the Pav. The Gophers have won just twice in State College since 2004. They earned a 3-1 win in 2019 at PSU after dropping the first set but winning the next three.
• The Gophers are 13-0 against the Terps under coach McCutcheon, with all the matches coming since 2014 when Maryland joined the Big Ten. In those 13 matches, 11 of them were decided in three sets, including the Sept. 26 matchup at the Pav.
GOPHERS IN BIG TEN PLAY
• Under Hugh McCutcheon, Minnesota is 144-42 (.774) 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 their final two Big Ten matches to finish 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.
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 56-18 (.757) in the month of November. Since 2015, Minnesota is 37-9 (.804) in November, including a 19-5 (.792) 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 4.82 kills per set along with 3.77 digs per set. She's also had 11 20+ kill performances this season and three with 30+ kills in 24 matches. No one else in the Big Ten has more than six 20+ kill matches and no other Power 5 player has more than 10.
SHE IS NUMBER 1
• Stephanie Samedy now has 1,928 career kills at Minnesota, which puts her at No. 1 in school history in the rally scoring era. She passed Hall of Famer Chris Schaefer (1986-89) for fourth all-time last Sunday. Assuming Minnesota plays at least two NCAA tournament games, she would need to average 18 kills over the next four matches to reach 2,000.
TIME TO DIG IT OUT
• The Gophers rank second in Big Ten and rank No. 22 nationally in digs per set (16.87). CC McGraw leads the team (4.61) while Samedy (3.77) and Melani Shaffmaster (2.79) are right around four and three per set.
• CC McGraw ranks sixth in the conference in digs (438) and second in digs per set (4.61).
• 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.
SAMEDY AND WENAAS COMBINING AS LETHAL DUO
• Minnesota opposite Stephanie Samedy and outside Jenna Wenaas have combined for 750 of Minnesota's 1280 kills (.586). They've reached double digit kills a combined 41 times this season while Samedy has hit the 20-kill mark in 11 of her 24 matches. Statistically, they're the top attacking duo in the Big Ten Conference.
DIFFICULT SCHEDULE AWAITS MINNESOTA TO FINISH 2021
• The No. 10-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. So far in the final 12-match stretch, Minnesota is 7-3 with a 4-3 record against ranked opponents.
WHAT'S NEXT
• Minnesota will await its NCAA Tournament seeding. The NCAA Selection Show is Sunday, Nov. 28 at 7:30 p.m. CT on ESPNU. Â
BROADCAST INFORMATION
No. 10 Minnesota at No. 15 Penn State | 7 p.m. CT | Big Ten Network
Friday, Nov. 26
Rec Hall
State College, Pa.
Broadcasters: Connor Onion (Play-By-Play) and Emily Ehman (Analyst)
BROADCAST INFORMATION
No. 10 Minnesota at Maryland | 6 p.m. CT | B1G+
Saturday, Nov. 27
Xfinity Center Pavilion
College Park, Md.
Broadcasters: TBA
LAST TIME OUT
• 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.Â
• 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.
QUOTABLE
• "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 after Sunday's loss to Wisconsin. "It's a game of inches. To Wisconsin's credit, they served well and played a clean game."
SAMEDY WINS FIFTH BIG TEN PLAYER OF THE WEEK AWARD THIS SEASON
• University of Minnesota redshirt senior opposite Stephanie Samedy was named Big Ten Player of the Week, the conference announced on Monday. It's her sixth weekly honor from the conference this season, including her fifth player of the week award. She earns her 13th career Player of the Week honor, putting her at second most in Big Ten history.
• The Clermont, Fla., native registered 6.20 kills and 4.00 digs per set with her first ever 30/20 match on Sunday against No. 5 Wisconsin. She posted 31 kills, 20 digs and four blocks on the match. It was her third 30+ kill match of the year and fifth 20+ dig match. She's the first Gopher to notch 30 kills and 20 digs in a match since 2000, when Nicole Branagh (33/21) did so. No Gopher in the rally scoring era (since 2001) has accomplished this feat.
STANDINGS UPDATE
• Minnesota (13-5) is tied for fourth in the Big Ten heading into the final weekend of the regular season. The Gophers are two games back of Nebraska and Wisconsin (15-3 Big Ten) for first place in the conference. Purdue (14-4) is in third place in the conference while Ohio State (13-5) is tied for fourth. Penn State (12-6) is a game behind Minnesota heading into Friday's matchup.
SCOUTING PENN STATE
• The No. 15 Nittany Lions (19-9, 12-6 Big Ten) will be looking to bounce back from losses last weekend to Nebraska and Ohio State. PSU currently sits in sixth place in the Big Ten with two matches to go.
• PSU is led by head coach Russ Rose, who is in his 43rd year in charge. He's the Division I all-time wins leader
with over 1,300 career wins. He's led PSU to seven national titles, with the latest coming in 2014.
• The Nittany Lions are led by Jonni Parker (3.81 k/s) and Kaitlyn Hord (1.32 b/s). Both rank in the top five in the
Big Ten in kills per set and blocks per set, respectively. Setter Gabby Blossom (11.03 a/s) ranks third in the league in assists per set. She was named Big Ten Setter of the Week last week, her third honor of the season.
SCOUTING MARYLAND
• Maryland (19-11, 7-11 Big Ten) has battled all season long, going undefeated in non-conference play before opening conference play with a win over then No. 2 Wisconsin. They'll be looking for another signature win this weekend.
• Rainelle Jones leads the Big Ten with 1.64 blocks per set while Milan Gomillion leads the league with 4.74 digs per set from the libero position.
• The program last started 12-0 in 2005 when the team began 14-0 before finishing 28-5. That year's squad eventually made the second round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to Louisville.
• Their 12-0 non-conference record marked the best start for the program under head coach Adam Hughes and also since the program joined the Big Ten in 2014. Maryland is on the NCAA Tournament bubble heading into this final weekend of Big Ten play.
GOPHERS HISTORY AGAINST PENN STATE AND MARYLAND
• Minnesota is 14-49 all-time against Penn State, but they hold a 6-12 mark under Hugh McCutcheon. PSU won the first eight in the series since coach came to Minnesota in 2012. However, since then, the Gophers have won six of the past 10, including four of the last six. The 'U' won both matches at home vs. the Nittany Lions last season, 3-1 and 3-2, but got swept in October at the Pav. The Gophers have won just twice in State College since 2004. They earned a 3-1 win in 2019 at PSU after dropping the first set but winning the next three.
• The Gophers are 13-0 against the Terps under coach McCutcheon, with all the matches coming since 2014 when Maryland joined the Big Ten. In those 13 matches, 11 of them were decided in three sets, including the Sept. 26 matchup at the Pav.
GOPHERS IN BIG TEN PLAY
• Under Hugh McCutcheon, Minnesota is 144-42 (.774) 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 their final two Big Ten matches to finish 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.
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 56-18 (.757) in the month of November. Since 2015, Minnesota is 37-9 (.804) in November, including a 19-5 (.792) 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 4.82 kills per set along with 3.77 digs per set. She's also had 11 20+ kill performances this season and three with 30+ kills in 24 matches. No one else in the Big Ten has more than six 20+ kill matches and no other Power 5 player has more than 10.
SHE IS NUMBER 1
• Stephanie Samedy now has 1,928 career kills at Minnesota, which puts her at No. 1 in school history in the rally scoring era. She passed Hall of Famer Chris Schaefer (1986-89) for fourth all-time last Sunday. Assuming Minnesota plays at least two NCAA tournament games, she would need to average 18 kills over the next four matches to reach 2,000.
TIME TO DIG IT OUT
• The Gophers rank second in Big Ten and rank No. 22 nationally in digs per set (16.87). CC McGraw leads the team (4.61) while Samedy (3.77) and Melani Shaffmaster (2.79) are right around four and three per set.
• CC McGraw ranks sixth in the conference in digs (438) and second in digs per set (4.61).
• 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.
SAMEDY AND WENAAS COMBINING AS LETHAL DUO
• Minnesota opposite Stephanie Samedy and outside Jenna Wenaas have combined for 750 of Minnesota's 1280 kills (.586). They've reached double digit kills a combined 41 times this season while Samedy has hit the 20-kill mark in 11 of her 24 matches. Statistically, they're the top attacking duo in the Big Ten Conference.
DIFFICULT SCHEDULE AWAITS MINNESOTA TO FINISH 2021
• The No. 10-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. So far in the final 12-match stretch, Minnesota is 7-3 with a 4-3 record against ranked opponents.
WHAT'S NEXT
• Minnesota will await its NCAA Tournament seeding. The NCAA Selection Show is Sunday, Nov. 28 at 7:30 p.m. CT on ESPNU. Â
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