Gophers Host Ohio State in Top-10 Battle at the Pav

MINNEAPOLIS -- The No. 10 Minnesota Golden Gophers (9-5, 4-2 Big Ten) head back home for two games after taking down No. 24 Michigan and Michigan State in straight sets this past weekend on the road. The Gophers will host No. 6 Ohio State (9-5, 5-1 Big Ten) on Wednesday, Oct. 12 at 7 p.m. on the Big Ten Network.

OHIO STATE BROADCAST INFORMATION
No. 10 Minnesota vs. No. 6 Ohio State | 7 p.m. CT | BTN
Wednesday, Oct. 12
Maturi Pavilion
Minneapolis, Minn.
Broadcasters: Sloane Martin (Play-By-Play) and Emily Ehman (Analyst)

NUMBERS TO KNOW:
264 -- Minnesota head coach Hugh McCutcheon holds a 264-70 (.800) collegiate coaching record and has led Minnesota to two Big Ten Championships, three Final Fours, nine trips to the Sweet 16 and five to the Elite Eight. He joins Mike Hebert (1996-2011; 381-136 (.737)) and Stephanie Schleuder (1982-1994; 263-173 (.603)) as the third coach in Minnesota history to win 260 matches. Hebert also led the 'U' to three Final Fours.
26 --The 2021 season marked the 26th year the Golden Gophers advanced to the NCAA tournament. Minnesota has also advanced to the tournament in seven-straight seasons and nine of 10 seasons under head coach Hugh McCutcheon.
19 -- Of Minnesota's 28 scheduled games are against 2021 NCAA Tournament teams. 12 of those matches are against teams that advanced to the Sweet 16 or further.
16 -- 16 of the Gophers' 28 games are versus teams that finished in the AVCA Top-25. Seven of those matches are against teams that finished in the top-10.
10 -- Of Minnesota's first 15 matches are versus ranked opponents. The Gophers are 5-4 in those matchups so far.
9 -- Melani Shaffmaster now ranks 9th all-time in Minnesota history with 2,432 career assists.
7 -- Of Minnesota's eight non-conference matches were against teams that made the 2021 NCAA Tournament. Seven of the teams were ranked or receiving votes when Minnesota played.
6 -- Of the eight team's Minnesota played in non-conference competition, six were ranked at the time of their matchup.
5 -- Fifth-year senior libero CC McGraw ranks No. 5 all-time at Minnesota with 1,714 career digs. She's just 24 away from passing Jessica Granquist (2008-11) for No. 4 all-time.
2 -- Hugh McCutcheon became the second winningest coach in Minnesota history with Sunday's win over Michigan State, passing Stephanie Schleuder (1982-94) with his 264th career win.
2 -- Weekly Big Ten awards for the Gophers this year. Melani Shaffmaster won Big Ten Setter of the Week on Aug. 29, Taylor Landfair won Player of the Week on Oct. 10.
1 -- The number of matches Minnesota has played that have gone into five sets this season. The Gophers are 0-1 in five-set matches.

LAST TIME OUT
• Minnesota swept No. 24 Michigan (Oct. 7) and Michigan State (Oct. 9) this past weekend to continue their three-game win streak. Minnesota has won four of five since being swept in the Big Ten opener by Purdue.
• Taylor Landfair led the 'U' with 18 kills at Michigan and 12 at Michigan State, leading to Big Ten Player of the Week honors. Naya Gros hit a perfect 1.000 on seven kills versus her alma mater, Michigan State on Sunday.
• The Gophers hit a scorching .378 on Friday night and followed it up with a season-best .461 on Sunday.

MINNESOTA HOSTING MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS NIGHT ON WEDNESDAY
• The Gophers will be holding Mental Health Awareness night on Wednesday in the match vs. Ohio State. The Gophers staff will wear green ribbons, there will be QR codes with mental health resources throughout the venue and a mental health trivia intermission contest will take place during the match.

SCOUTING OHIO STATE
• The No. 6 Ohio State Buckeyes (9-5, 5-1 Big Ten) are off to a great start to Big Ten play after facing one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the country in September. They played No. 1 Texas twice, now No. 4 San Diego, No. 3 Louisville and No. 9 Georgia Tech. They defeated both Louisville and Ga. Tech.
• OSU is led by third year head coach Jen Flynn Oldenberg, who is 52-15 in her three years in charge.
• Setter Mac Podraza leads the B1G with 10.65 assists per set while Emily Londot ranks fifth with 3.79 kills per set. OSU ranks second in the league in kills (13.69) and assists (12.77) per set, but last in blocks (1.89).

HISTORY VS. OHIO STATE
• Minnesota is 48-36 all-time against Ohio State, including a 15-1 mark under Hugh McCutcheon. The Gophers have won 10 straight in the series and haven't lost to the Buckeyes since 2014. Under Hugh, Minnesota is 8-0 at home and 7-1 on the road against the Buckeyes.

LANDFAIR LEADS GOPHERS IN THIRD YEAR ON CAMPUS
• The No. 1 overall recruit in the class of 2020, Taylor Landfair had an excellent true freshman season in the spring of 2021. She ranked second on the Gophers in kills per set and made First Team All-Big Ten and AVCA All-America honorable mention.Last fall wasn't quite as fun for Landfair as she sat out most of the year (played just nine games) with an abdominal injury.
• She's back and better than ever in 2022, leading the 'U' in kills with 4.62 per set so far this year. She's also averaging 1.77 digs and 0.58 blocks per set, playing all six rotations. Landfair was named MVP of the Big Ten/Big 12 Challenge after leading all players in points and kills. She's led Minnesota in kills 13/14 games in 2022.
• Landfair ranks second in the Big Ten and 10th nationally with 4.62 kills per set. Her 5.11 p/s ranks 11th.
• Landfair is one of just two players in the country to have 12+ kills in every match this season.

MCGRAW MOVES HER WAY UP RECORD BOOKS
• CC McGraw ranks No. 5 in Gophers history with 1,714 digs. CC is now 286 digs away from becoming just the 10th player in B1G Volleyball history and second Gopher ever to reach 2,000 in her career.
• McGraw ranks 22nd among active Division I players in digs and first in the Big Ten.
• In three of her four seasons, McGraw has made Minnesota's top-20 list for most digs in the season. In 2018, she had 428 (18th), 450 (16th) in 2019 and a career-best 510 in 2021 (12th). She's the second Gopher to have three-or-more seasons with 400-or-more digs.

RECORD WATCH
• CC McGraw ranks No. 5 in Minnesota history with 1,714 digs. She's behind only Paula Gentil (2002-05) 2,791, Christine Tan (2006-09) 1,927, Dalianliz Rosado (2014-17) 1,870 and Jessica Granquist (2008-11) 1,737.
• McGraw ranks in the top 25 at Minnesota in matches played (116). She is 17 games away from being inside the top 20 all-time.
• Melani Shaffmaster moved up to ninth all-time at Minnesota in assists (2,432).

GOPHERS IN BIG TEN PLAY
• Under Hugh McCutcheon, Minnesota is 150-44 (.773) in Big Ten competition. In his 10 seasons prior in charge, the Gophers have had nine seasons above .500 in conference play. In nine of those seasons, the 'U' went 15-5 or better in conference play, with the best being 19-1 in 2018.
• 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.

BLOCK PARTY IN MINNESOTA
• In 2021, the Gophers ranked No. 7 in the B1G and No. 40 nationally in blocks with 289.5 and 2.47 per set.
• So far in 2022, Minnesota ranks No. 4 in the Big Ten and No. 8 nationally with 2.82 blocks per set.
• Carter Booth leads the Gophers and ranks 5th in the B1G with 1.42 blocks per set.

HUGH MCCUTCHEON'S TEAMS AFTER A LOSS
• In his career at Minnesota, coach McCutcheon's teams hold a 45-13 record coming off a loss. The Gophers are 4-1 coming off losses in 2022.

LANDFAIR NAMED BIG TEN PLAYER OF THE WEEK
• For the first time in her career, Taylor Landfair was named Big Ten Player of the Week on Oct. 12. Landfair averaged a team-best 5.00 kills per set in sweeps over No. 24 Michigan and Michigan State this past weekend. She also tallied 5.75 points, 1.17 digs and 0.67 blocks per set. Twice she won B1G Freshman of the Week.

Follow along with the Gophers this season on Twitter (@GopherVBall), Instagram and TikTok (@gophervball).

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Players Mentioned

Carter Booth

Naya Gros

Taylor Landfair

CC McGraw

Melani Shaffmaster