Gophers Start Second Season Thursday

MINNESOTA (15-2, 15-2 BT) vs GEORGIA TECH (13-4, 13-4 ACC) OR LIPSCOMB (17-2, 17-2 ASUN)
Thursday, April 15, 2021
6 p.m. | Omaha, Neb. (Chi Center)

SERIES INFORMATION
Seventh All-Time Meeting vs. Georgia Tech
Minnesota leads series 5-1
Last Meeting: 2009
First Meeting: 1996
Last Loss: 1995
Streak: Minnesota, W-5

First Meeting All-Time vs Lipscomb

HEADING INTO THE TOURNAMENT
• The University of Minnesota is the No. 3 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. With the three-seed, Minnesota has a first-round bye and plays the winner of Georgia Tech/Lipscomb on Thursday, April 15 at 6 p.m. Should the Gophers win, they advance to the Regional Semifinal, which takes place on April 18. Time and broadcast information to be determined.
• The 2021 season marks the 25th year the Golden Gophers have advanced to the NCAA tournament. Minnesota has also advanced to the tournament six-straight seasons and eight under ninth-year head coach Hugh McCutcheon. Minnesota has had a top 10 seed the past six seasons. The Gophers were the No. 2 seed in 2015, 2016 and 2018, No. 3 this year, and the No. 7 seed in both 2017 and 2019.
• In all, Minnesota has been to six Final Fours, nine Sweet 16 berths and two Elite 8 appearances. In its 24 previous appearances, Minnesota is 23-1 in the First Round, including a 7-0 mark against head coach Hugh McCutcheon. With the Gophers receiving a first-round bye this year, Minnesota has played in 23 NCAA Second Round matches and have advanced out that round 17 times in school history.
• Minnesota is one of six Big Ten teams to make the NCAA field of 48, all of which are top-16 seeded teams. Wisconsin, holds the overall No. 1 seed, followed by Minnesota as the No. 3, Nebraska as the No. 5, Purdue as No. 7, Ohio State as the No. 9 seed and No. 12 seed Penn State.
• The Golden Gophers punched their ticket to the NCAA tournament with an at-large bid. Minnesota finished the Big Ten season in second place with a 15-2 record, dropping only two contests to ranked opponents in arguably the toughest conference. Overall, Minnesota was 5-2 against ranked Big Ten opponents and 10-0 against unranked.

THE 2021 POST SEASON FORMAT
• All 48 teams participating in the Division I Women's Volleyball Championship gather in Omaha, Nebraska, which had been scheduled to host the NCAA national semifinals and finals.
• All rounds of the tournament are being played at the CHI Health Center Arena and Convention Center April 14-24. First-round matches are on April 14, followed by second-round matches April 15 as the top 16 teams get first-round byes. The regional semifinals is on April 18, followed by the regional finals April 19.
• The two national semifinal matches will be one April 22, and the national championship match is set for April 24.

ABOUT GEORGIA TECH
• Georgia Tech is an at-large bid and finished its regular season with a 13-4 overall and ACC record. The 2021 tournament marks the 10th time in program history and first time since 2009.
• Mariana Brambilla and Julia Bergmann each garnered unanimous First Team All-ACC honors and AVCA East Coast All-Region team selections, while Matti McKissock was named Second Team All-ACC and an ACVA East Coast All-Region Honorable Mention. Brambilla averages 4.26 kills per set, while Bergman holds a team-best 30 aces and 3.98 kills per set.

ABOUT LIPSCOMB
• Lipscomb won its seventh ASUN championship in program history and will make its eighth NCAA tournament appearance. Lipscomb posted a 17-2 record overall and an 11-1 in ASUN action before going 3-0 in the conference tournament.
• Sami Rubal and Megan Kuper were named to the All-ASUN First Team, while Delaney Dilfer was named ASUN Freshman of the Year and Second Team All-SUN. All three were also named AVCA South Region honorees as Dilfer received South Region Freshman of the Year.

AVCA ALL-REGION HONORS
• Just one week after being named Big Ten Player of the Year, senior opposite hitter Stephanie Samedy has been named North Region Player of the Year, announced April 13 by the American Volleyball Coaches Association.
• In addition, Taylor Landfair was named AVCA North Region Freshman of the Year. Samedy and Landfair joined Regan Pittman, Adanna Rollins, CC McGraw and Melani Shaffmaster as All-North Region selections. With the six Gophers receiving all-region honors, they will be in contention for All-America honors. That announcement comes in conjunction with the NCAA Championship, April 22-24.

SAMEDY NAMED BIG TEN PLAYER OF THE YEAR; SIX GARNER B1G HONORS
• After an outstanding 2021 spring season, senior opposite hitter Stephanie Samedy has been named the Big Ten Player of the Year. It marks Samedy's first-ever player of the Year and Minnesota's seventh in school history. Of the seven, four have come under head coach Hugh McCutcheon. Samedy averaged a league-best 4.11 kills per set and 4.63 points per set.
• Samedy, along with Regan Pittman and Taylor Landfair, landed spots on the First Team All-Big Ten team. Adanna Rollins was named Second Team All-Big Ten, while Landfair and Melani Shaffmaster were named to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team. Bayley McMenimen garnered Minnesota's Sportsmanship Award.

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Players Mentioned

Taylor Landfair

CC McGraw

Bayley McMenimen

Regan Pittman

Adanna Rollins

Stephanie Samedy

Melani Shaffmaster