Gophers Set for Sunday Matinee vs. Iowa

MINNEAPOLIS -- The No. 7 Minnesota Golden Gophers (6-5, 1-2 Big Ten) will look to bounce back on Sunday against the Iowa Hawkeyes in a Sunday matinee start at Maturi Pavilion. B1G+ will provide streaming coverage.

IOWA BROADCAST INFORMATION
No. 7 Minnesota vs. Iowa | 1 p.m. CT | B1G+
Sunday, Oct. 2
Maturi Pavilion
Minneapolis, Minn.
Broadcasters: Connor O'Neill (Play-By-Play) and Katie Myers (Analyst)
Radio: Tanner Hoops (Gopher Radio Network)

NUMBERS TO KNOW:
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 -- Melani Shaffmaster now ranks 10th all-time in Minnesota history with 2,299 career assists.
8 -- 8 of the Gophers' first 10 matches have come against ranked opponents. Minnesota is 4-4 in those contests.
7 -- Of Minnesota's eight non-conference matches were against teams that made the 2021 NCAA Tournament. TCU is the only team that failed to qualify.
6 -- Of the eight team's Minnesota will have played in non-conference play will be ranked at the time of their matchup.
5 -- Fifth-year senior libero CC McGraw ranks No. 5 all-time at Minnesota with 1,683 career digs. She's just 317 away from becoming the second Gopher and 10th Big Ten player all-time to reach that mark.
4 -- Transfers were added to the mix in 2022. Arica Davis (MB, Ohio State), Elise McGhie (S, Kansas), Miranda Wucherer (S/RS, N. Kentucky) and Naya Gros (MB, Michigan State) are the additions.
3 -- Gophers earned All-Big Ten honors last season. Five-time First Team All-Big Ten honoree Stephanie Samedy departs, but CC McGraw (first team) and Jenna Wenaas (second team) return.
2 -- Conference opponents Minnesota plays twice: Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Purdue, Wisconsin.
1 -- Conference opponents Minnesota plays once: Indiana, Maryland, Nebraska Northwestern, Penn State, Rutgers.

LAST TIME OUT
• The Gophers fell in three sets on the road in their Big Ten opener at No. 11 Purdue. Taylor Landfair led the 'U' with 17 kills while Ellie Husemann paced the defense with seven blocks. PU won 25-18, 25-23, 32-30.
• Minnesota responded with a convincing sweep of defending national champion and No. 6 Wisconsin on Sunday night at the Pav, 25-21, 25-16, 29-27. Landfair tallied 17 kills while Mckenna Wucherer had nine and Carter Booth went for seven blocks.
• The Gophers fell in five sets to Northwestern on Wednesday night, the first time since 2014 they've lost to the Wildcats. After losing the first set, Minnesota took sets two and three, 25-21 and 25-17. NU took sets four and five, 25-20, 15-13, to pull the upset.
• Jenna Wenaas had 12 kills, seven blocks (career-high) and 18 digs to lead the Gophers.

SCOUTING IOWA
• The Iowa Hawkeyes are led by first-year head coach Jim Barnes. Barnes was the head coach at Tulane from 2016-21 before being hired in December to lead Iowa's program.
• UI went 6-5 in non-conference play before dropping their first two three matches. Two losses were to top-10 teams in Ohio State and Purdue last weekend. UI fell to Indiana in a sweep on Wednesday.
• In the backcourt, Mari Hinkle leads the Hawkeyes and the Big Ten with 4.56 digs per set. UI ranks third in the conference with 14.68 dps. Michelle Urquhart paces the offense with 2.8 kills per set.

HISTORY VS. IOWA
• Minnesota is 82-11 all-time against Iowa, including a 15-0 record under Hugh McCutcheon. The Gophers have won 48 straight matches against the Hawkeyes, dating back to 1995.
• Of the 15 matches against Iowa under Hugh, Minnesota took 11 of them in three sets. The two teams played once last year, with the 'U' winning in three in Iowa City.

NEXT STRETCH OF SCHEDULE
• After playing eight of its first 10 matches against ranked opponents, the Gophers aren't scheduled to take on another ranked team until hosting No. 6 Ohio State on Oct. 12 at the Pav.
• Michigan, who they'll play on Oct. 7, is receiving the most votes of any unranked team, however.

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 4.40 per set so far this year. She's also averaging 1.90 digs and 0.57 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 5/6 games in 2022.
• Landfair ranks second in the Big Ten and 10th nationally with 4.40 kills per set. Her 4.88 p/s ranks 16th.

MCGRAW MOVES HER WAY UP RECORD BOOKS
• CC McGraw ranks No. 5 in Gophers history with 1,683 digs. CC is now 317 digs away from becoming just the 10th player in B1G Volleyball history and second Gopher ever to reach 2,000 in her career.
• 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 1,667 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 30 at Minnesota in matches played (113). She is 20 games away from being inside the top 20 all-time.
• Melani Shaffmaster now ranks 10th all-time at Minnesota in assists (2,299).

GOPHERS IN BIG TEN PLAY
• Under Hugh McCutcheon, Minnesota is 147-44 (.777) 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. 6 in the Big Ten and No. 26 nationally with 2.65 blocks per set.
• Carter Booth leads the Gophers and ranks 8th in the B1G with 1.31 blocks per set.

HUGH MCCUTCHEON'S TEAMS AFTER A LOSS
• In his career at Minnesota, coach McCutcheon's teams hold a 44-13 record coming off a loss. The Gophers are 3-1 coming off losses in 2022.

BIG TEN BEST'S
• Taylor Landfair tallied a career-high and a Big Ten-best 28 kills in a four-set win over Oregon on Sept. 9. No other Big Ten player has notched more than 25 kills in a match this year.
• Melani Shaffmaster is one of two Big Ten players to register 50-or-more assists in a four-set match this season when she had 51 vs. Oregon. Only three other Big Ten setters have tallied 50+ assist matches in 2022.
• Carter Booth (.524) and Mckenna Wucherer (.520) both hit over .500 on Sept. 17 vs. Washington State. Both had double digit kills on the night. Only 10 Big Ten players have hit over .500 with double digit kills this season.

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

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Players Mentioned

Carter Booth

Arica Davis

Naya Gros

Ellie Husemann

Taylor Landfair

Elise McGhie

CC McGraw

Katie Myers

Stephanie Samedy

Melani Shaffmaster

Jenna Wenaas

Mckenna Wucherer

Miranda Wucherer