University of Minnesota Athletics
Sunday, September 5
Gainesville, FL
1:00 PM
University of Minnesota
1-3, 0-0BIG TEN
1
at
3
Florida
4-1, 0-0SEC
1
2
3
4
F
Minnesota
20
19
25
23
1
Florida
25
25
22
25
3
Gophers Drop Match to Gators
9/5/2021 11:46:00 AM | Volleyball
Samedy tallied a career-high 31 kills for the Gophers
GAINESVILLE, Florida --Â The No. 10 University of Minnesota volleyball team fell in four sets to the No. 5Â ranked Florida Gators, 20-25, 19-25, 25-22, 23-25 on Sunday afternoon in Gainesville, Fla.
The Golden Gophers (1-3, 0-0 Big Ten) were led by redshirt senior opposite Stephanie Samedy, who put on a performance for the ages in her home state of Florida. She tallied a career-high 31 kills on 71 attempts and hit .380 for the afternoon. Samedy also led the team with 14 digs while Airi Miyabe added six kills and freshman outside Natalie Glenn added five, a career-best for her.
Florida took the first two sets before a strong third set performance from the Gophers helped them get back in the match with a 25-22 victory. Samedy tallied nine kills in the third set alone. She added 11 more in the fourth as Minnesota fought tooth-and-nail to tie it up. They led 23-22 but couldn't quite finish it out as the Gators finished the match with three straight points.
As a team, Minnesota hit .237 with 49 kills, six aces, 59 digs and seven blocks. Florida hit .306 with 69 kills, 69 digs, eight aces and six blocks. Four Gators had double digit kills, led by T'ara Ceaser, who had 19.
Set Breakdown:
Set 1: The Gators started set one off strong, going up 6-1 in the first seven points, forcing a Gophers timeout. Florida led comfortably for most of the set as T'ara Ceaser (six kills) paced the offensive attack. Stephanie Samedy did her best to get Minnesota's offense rolling, tallying eight kills on 16 swings with no errors. The 'U' cut UF's lead to its slimmest margin since the score was 4-1 at 20-17 after an attacking error by Ceaser. The Gators responded affirmatively after that, however, outscoring the Gophers 5-3 the rest of the way to win the set, 25-20. Minnesota hit a solid .237 but UF hit .385 to take set one. Wenaas also tallied three kills for the 'U.'
Set 2: Florida jumped out to a 6-1 lead once again in set two, hitting two aces and receiving the benefit of three attacking errors from Minnesota. After splitting the next six points, the Gophers began to slice the deficit, scoring six of the next nine points by stepping up on defense. Husemann, Myers and Samedy all had one while Wenaas had two, leading to a Gators timeout. A quick 4-0 run from UF after the break gave them a 16-10 lead, before the 'U' notched three in-a-row on a couple kills from Samedy to get back to within 16-13. The 'U' would draw no closer, unfortunately, as UF outscored them 9-6 to end the set. Lauren Forte notched a set-high seven kills on seven swings as the Gators hit .333 to take set two. Minnesota hit .115 on the set and Samedy notched five more kills.
Set 3: The Gophers trailed early in set three, but four kills from Samedy and one from Natalie Glenn helped them tie it up at seven. Neither team led by more than a point for the middle of the set until a 3-0 Gophers run but Minnesota up 17-14. A kill from Miyabe and consecutive aces from Glenn led to a Gators timeout. UF scored seven of the next 11 to tie the set at 21 and coach McCutcheon called a timeout to talk it over with his team. Samedy took over in the red zone, notching three kills in addition to one from Glenn as Minnesota took the set, 25-22. Samedy had nine kills on the set while Miyabe had three as the team hit .325 in the third.
Set 4: UF jumped out to an early 9-4 lead in set four before the Gophers responded with nine of the next 12 points to take a 13-12 lead. The two teams were neck-and-neck the rest of the way, with neither leading by more than two points until the finish. The Gophers took a 23-22 late in the set on Samedy's 30th and final kill. The 'U' needed just two more points to send the match to a fifth set for the first time this year, but the Gators closed it out with three straight points to take the set, 25-23.
Notable:
-Stephanie Samedy remained at No. 8 all-time at Minnesota in kills after notching her 46th career double double and 17th game with 20-or-more kills.
-Airi Miyabe got her first start of the season and took advantage, tallying six kills and a career-best nine digs.
-Freshman outside Natalie Glenn notched a career-best five kills and eight digs, seeing extended action.
-Gophers starting outside Taylor Landfair did not play (undisclosed).
-CC McGraw had 10 digs while Ellie Husemann led Minnesota with five blocks.
-Minnesota now leads the all-time series against Florida, 5-2.
Up Next:
Minnesota travels to Eugene, Ore., for the Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge on Sept. 10 and 11. The Gophers will play No. 20 Stanford on Friday and No. 13 Oregon on Saturday.
The Golden Gophers (1-3, 0-0 Big Ten) were led by redshirt senior opposite Stephanie Samedy, who put on a performance for the ages in her home state of Florida. She tallied a career-high 31 kills on 71 attempts and hit .380 for the afternoon. Samedy also led the team with 14 digs while Airi Miyabe added six kills and freshman outside Natalie Glenn added five, a career-best for her.
Florida took the first two sets before a strong third set performance from the Gophers helped them get back in the match with a 25-22 victory. Samedy tallied nine kills in the third set alone. She added 11 more in the fourth as Minnesota fought tooth-and-nail to tie it up. They led 23-22 but couldn't quite finish it out as the Gators finished the match with three straight points.
As a team, Minnesota hit .237 with 49 kills, six aces, 59 digs and seven blocks. Florida hit .306 with 69 kills, 69 digs, eight aces and six blocks. Four Gators had double digit kills, led by T'ara Ceaser, who had 19.
Set Breakdown:
Set 1: The Gators started set one off strong, going up 6-1 in the first seven points, forcing a Gophers timeout. Florida led comfortably for most of the set as T'ara Ceaser (six kills) paced the offensive attack. Stephanie Samedy did her best to get Minnesota's offense rolling, tallying eight kills on 16 swings with no errors. The 'U' cut UF's lead to its slimmest margin since the score was 4-1 at 20-17 after an attacking error by Ceaser. The Gators responded affirmatively after that, however, outscoring the Gophers 5-3 the rest of the way to win the set, 25-20. Minnesota hit a solid .237 but UF hit .385 to take set one. Wenaas also tallied three kills for the 'U.'
Set 2: Florida jumped out to a 6-1 lead once again in set two, hitting two aces and receiving the benefit of three attacking errors from Minnesota. After splitting the next six points, the Gophers began to slice the deficit, scoring six of the next nine points by stepping up on defense. Husemann, Myers and Samedy all had one while Wenaas had two, leading to a Gators timeout. A quick 4-0 run from UF after the break gave them a 16-10 lead, before the 'U' notched three in-a-row on a couple kills from Samedy to get back to within 16-13. The 'U' would draw no closer, unfortunately, as UF outscored them 9-6 to end the set. Lauren Forte notched a set-high seven kills on seven swings as the Gators hit .333 to take set two. Minnesota hit .115 on the set and Samedy notched five more kills.
Set 3: The Gophers trailed early in set three, but four kills from Samedy and one from Natalie Glenn helped them tie it up at seven. Neither team led by more than a point for the middle of the set until a 3-0 Gophers run but Minnesota up 17-14. A kill from Miyabe and consecutive aces from Glenn led to a Gators timeout. UF scored seven of the next 11 to tie the set at 21 and coach McCutcheon called a timeout to talk it over with his team. Samedy took over in the red zone, notching three kills in addition to one from Glenn as Minnesota took the set, 25-22. Samedy had nine kills on the set while Miyabe had three as the team hit .325 in the third.
Set 4: UF jumped out to an early 9-4 lead in set four before the Gophers responded with nine of the next 12 points to take a 13-12 lead. The two teams were neck-and-neck the rest of the way, with neither leading by more than two points until the finish. The Gophers took a 23-22 late in the set on Samedy's 30th and final kill. The 'U' needed just two more points to send the match to a fifth set for the first time this year, but the Gators closed it out with three straight points to take the set, 25-23.
Notable:
-Stephanie Samedy remained at No. 8 all-time at Minnesota in kills after notching her 46th career double double and 17th game with 20-or-more kills.
-Airi Miyabe got her first start of the season and took advantage, tallying six kills and a career-best nine digs.
-Freshman outside Natalie Glenn notched a career-best five kills and eight digs, seeing extended action.
-Gophers starting outside Taylor Landfair did not play (undisclosed).
-CC McGraw had 10 digs while Ellie Husemann led Minnesota with five blocks.
-Minnesota now leads the all-time series against Florida, 5-2.
Up Next:
Minnesota travels to Eugene, Ore., for the Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge on Sept. 10 and 11. The Gophers will play No. 20 Stanford on Friday and No. 13 Oregon on Saturday.
Team Stats
MINN
UF
Kills
49
69
Errors
16
21
Attempts
148
157
Hitting %
.223
.306
Points
62.0
83.0
Assists
49
65
Aces
6
8
Blocks
7.0
6.0
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
31
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
6
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
5
Aces
2
Blocks
0
Kills
3
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Players Mentioned
Outside
/ Volleyball
Middle Blocker
/ Volleyball
Outside
/ Volleyball
Outside/Opposite
/ VolleyballOpposite
/ VolleyballCinematic Recap: Diet Coke Classic
Wednesday, September 17
Highlights: Gophers 3, SDSU 1
Sunday, September 14
Highlights: Gophers 3, Dayton 0
Saturday, September 13
Highlights: Gophers 3, South Florida 0
Friday, September 12