University of Minnesota Athletics
Sunday, October 29
Madison, WI
3:50 PM
University of Minnesota
at
Wisconsin
Players Mentioned
Middle Blocker
/ Volleyball
Middle Blocker
/ Volleyball
Middle Blocker
/ Volleyball
Outside/Opposite
/ Volleyball
Outside
/ Volleyball
Libero
/ Volleyball
Setter
/ Volleyball
Outside
/ Volleyball
Minnesota Travels to Wisconsin for First Volleyball Match on FOX
10/28/2023 8:30:00 AM | Volleyball
First serve is set for 3:50 p.m. after Vikings at Packers
MADISON, Wis. -- The RV Minnesota Golden Gophers (10-9, 6-5 Big Ten) travel to Madison, Wis., for Border Battle No. 91 against the No. 2 Wisconsin Badgers (19-1, 10-1 Big Ten) at the UW Fieldhouse. For the first time in NCAA Volleyball history, the match will be televised on FOX national network. First serve is set for 3:50 p.m. following the Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers game.
WISCONSIN GAME INFORMATION
RV Minnesota at No. 2 Wisconsin
Sunday, Oct. 29
3:50 p.m. CT
UW Fieldhouse
Madison, Wis.
TV/Stream: BTN - Michelle McMahon (Play-By-Play) and Emily Ehman (Analyst)
Live Stats
NOTES TO KNOW
208 -- Keegan Cook won his 200th career game as a head coach on Aug. 26 vs. Baylor. He won his 207th and 208th games this past weekend against Rutgers and Michigan State.
130 -- Minnesota had been ranked in 130 straight AVCA polls, dating back to Sept. 7, 2015, before the Oct. 16 poll.
53 -- Minnesota has won 53 of the 90 matchups all-time against Wisconsin (.589). The Gophers broke a six-game losing streak in the series last year with a 3-0 sweep on Sept. 25, 2022 at the Pav. Prior to the six-game slide, the Gophers had won eight straight in the series from 2015-18.
45 -- Middle Phoebe Awoleye ranks No. 45 in the nation and No. 5 in the Big Ten in blocks per set with 1.26.
19 -- Kylie Murr is the only Big Ten player to post double digit digs in every match this season. She's done so 19 times. Dating back to last season, she has 28 straight 10+ dig match games.
15 -- Sophomore outside Mckenna Wucherer has had a breakout campaign in year two, leading the team and ranking 15th in the Big Ten with 3.28 kills per set.
11 -- Melani Shaffmaster leads the Big Ten with 11 double doubles this season. She has tallied 52 in her career.
9 -- Mckenna Wucherer has posted 10+ kill matches in nine out of the last 11 matches. She had 17 (.235), a team-best, Sunday.
8 -- Melani Shaffmaster ranks 8th all-time in Gophers history with 3,626 career assists. She ranks 16th among active DI players. Her 10.04 assists per set put her at No. 21.
7 -- Minnesota's Taylor Landfair has hit over .300 in eight of the team's 11 Big Ten matches in 2023, including seven 10+ kill matches. No other B1G pin has hit over .300 more than six times.
5 -- Fifth year libero Kylie Murr ranks fifth in the Big Ten in digs per set through two months of play with 4.11. She's one of two players in the league to tally two 25+ dig matches in 2023. She had 27 vs. TCU (Aug. 25) and Maryland (Oct. 6).
4 -- Melani Shaffmaster became the fourth Gopher all-time to reach 3,500 career assists and 1,000 digs with her ninth dig of the match last Sunday versus Michigan State.
2 -- Minnesota ranks second in the B1G in league games in service aces per set (1.62). The 'U' has totaled 68 aces in its 11 conference games in 2023, second behind only Wisconsin (71).
2 -- The Gophers are 2-7 against ranked opponents this season, taking wins over then No. 15 Baylor and No. 6 Oregon. The 'U' has lost ranked tilts to now No. 5 Texas, No. 19 Florida, No. 3 Stanford, No. 17 Creighton, No. 1 Nebraska, No. 13 Penn State and No. 16 Purdue.
2 -- Melani Shaffmaster has posted 40+ assists four times in 2023 (3-1 record).
1 -- The Gophers are searching for their first win at UW Fieldhouse since 2018. The Gophers have dropped their last four at Wisconsin. All-time, Minnesota is 18-25 vs. Wisconsin in Madison.
RATINGS RECORD AT RISK
• Minnesota and Wisconsin have a great chance to break the record for most-watched regular season volleyball match on Sunday. Nebraska and Wisconsin had 612,000 viewers for their Oct. 21 matchup on Big Ten Network. With this Sunday's match being aired nationally on FOX, many are expecting that viewership record to be easily surpassed.
LAST TIME OUT
• The 'U' fell to No. 16 Purdue (26-28, 23-25, 16-25) on Thursday night at Holloway Gymnasium. The Gophers led 24-22 in set one and 23-22 in set two, but were unable to close out either frame. Taylor Landfair totaled 16 kills (.343) and Lydia Grote had 13 (.414), but Minnesota struggled on defense with just one block while Purdue hit a scorching .390. Kylie Murr had 12 digs while Melani Shaffmaster went for 38 assists and 10 digs.
GOPHERS UNRANKED IN AVCA POLL
• The Gophers entered the 2023 season with a No. 7 overall ranking in the Preseason AVCA poll. Before last week, the Gophers were ranked in the past 130 AVCA polls (2,965 days), dating back to Sept. 7, 2015. Minnesota was unranked on Oct. 23 for the second week in-a-row despite going 2-0 last week. Minnesota is receiving the most votes of any unranked team with 70. They'll have their chance to re-enter the polls this week with a ranked matchup against No. 2 Wisconsin on the road.
SCOUTING WISCONSIN
• The No. 2 Wisconsin Badgers are led by 11th-year head coach Kelly Sheffield. Wisconsin has won four straight Big Ten titles and have been to three Final Fours in the last four seasons.
• The Badgers are led by Sarah Franklin, who ranks seventh in the Big Ten with 3.82 kills per set. Middles Carter Booth (.441) and Anna Smrek (.399) are Nos. 1 and 2 in the conference in hitting percentage.
• Wisconsin is 6-1 against ranked teams this season, but just 1-0 at home. Their lone loss of the season came last Saturday at now No. 1 Nebraska in five sets. The Badgers had not dropped a set (27 straight) in Big Ten play before the NU match last week.
MINNESOTA'S HISTORY VS. WISCONSIN
• Minnesota is 53-37 all-time versus Wisconsin. The Gophers broke a six-game losing streak in the series last year with a 3-0 sweep on Sept. 25 at the Pav. Prior to the six-game slide, the Gophers had won eight straight in the series from 2015-18. In Madison, the 'U' is 18-25 vs. Wisconsin.
• Wisconsin has won four straight against the Gophers in Madison. Minnesota won four straight there from 2015-18, including their last win there, a four-set victory on Oct. 31, 2018.
MILESTONE WATCH
• Melani ranks 16th among active Division I players with 3,626 career assists. Her 10.04 aps career average is 21st and her 1,019 digs are 176th.
• On Sunday vs. MSU, Mel became the fourth Gopher all-time to record 3,500 assists and 1,000 digs. She joined Sharon Oesterling (1986-89), Samantha Seliger-Swenson (2015-18) and Lindsey Taatjes (2001-04) on the list.
• Taylor Landfair holds 983 career kills and needs just 17 more to reach 1,000 for her career at Minnesota.
DOUBLE DOUBLE QUEEN
• Melani Shaffmaster tied for the Big Ten lead in double doubles (10+ assists and digs) with 14 in 2022. For her career, Shaffmaster has tallied 52 double doubles.
• Mel started this season with double doubles in 12 of 19 games thus far, which is a Big Ten-best. She is one of just nine players in the country (only one in the Power Five) with 12+ double doubles in 2023.
SHAFFMASTER STANDS OUT AMONG SETTERS
• Gophers senior setter Melani Shaffmaster leads all Big Ten setters with 1.00 kills per set, 2.99 digs per set and with 12 double doubles. She ranks third in blocks with 0.62.
WUCHERER TAKING THE NEXT STEP
• A 2021 AVCA and Under Armour First Team All-American and the Wis. Gatorade Player of the Year, the 6-foot-1 outside hitter from Brookfield, Wis., came to Minnesota as one of the most decorated players in Wisconsin prep history. She was the consensus No. 1 overall recruit in the class of 2022.
• In 2022, she missed the first six games with an injury before returning to hit double figures in kills in 11 matches.
• She ended the year averaging 2.79 kills per set, which ranked second on the team. Wucherer made the Big Ten All-Freshman Team in 2022.
• The start of 2023 has been all she can ask for, as Wucherer posted 30 kills on .464 hitting on her way to Big Ten/Big 12 Challenge MVP honors on Aug. 26. Wucherer holds double digit kills in 15 games, a team-best. She tallied her first 20+ kill match (21) with a career-best 10 digs in a win over No. 6 Oregon on Sep. 8.
DAVIS DOMINATING AT THE NET
• In her last seven games, Arica Davis has registered 40 blocks (1.48 bps). She set a new season-high with eight last Sunday in a four set win over Michigan State after going for seven in a sweep over Rutgers on Friday. She's posted 10 3+ block matches in 2023 and has tallied 5+ block matches in each of the past six games.
WE WANT MURR
• 2022 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Kylie Murr came to Dinkytown for her fifth year of college volleyball after spending the first four at Ohio State.
• She led the Big Ten in both total digs (530) and digs per set (4.69) last year and stepped into the Gophers libero position that two-time All-American CC McGraw departed from due to graduation.
• Murr started 2023 off with a bang, winning Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week after posting 40 digs (5.71 dps) and 15 assists on her way to Big Ten/Big 12 Challenge All-Tournament honors on Aug. 26. Murr holds 2,239 career digs, which ranks No. 6 of all active collegiate players in the nation.
• Murr ranks fifth in the B1G with 4.11 digs per set in 2023 and is one of three players in the league to have two 25+ dig matches this season. In conference play only, Murr ranks eighth with 3.93 dps.
• Murr is the only player in the Big Ten to record 10+ digs in every match this season. Dating back to last season she's recorded 28 straight 10+ dig matches.
GOPHERS CLIMB THE LADDER IN BIG TEN CATEGORIES
• Through their first 11 Big Ten games in 2023, the Gophers rank in the top-five of the conference in points per set (16.67, 5th), hitting percentage (.235, 5th), opponent hitting percentage (.183, 4th), opponent kills (11.74, 4th), opponent blocks (2.07, 4th), blocks (2.36, 4th) and service aces (1.62, 2nd).
SERVING STEPS UP FOR THE MAROON AND GOLD
• One of head coach Keegan's Cook's points of emphasis is to be a tough serving team to compete against. In their first six games, Minnesota had five-or-less service aces in each match (21 total).
• In their last 13 matches, however, the 'U' has tallied 91 service aces, an average of 7.00 per match. The Gophers tied a season-best with 12 on Oct. 15 versus Northwestern.
• The Gophers have had four matches with 10+ aces this season, including two in the last four games (12 vs. Northwestern on Oct. 15); (10 vs. MSU on Oct. 22).
LANDFAIR ROUNDING INTO FORM IN BIG TEN PLAY
• 2022 Big Ten Player of the Year and First Team All-American Taylor Landfair had her best showing of the season to kick off Big Ten play on Sept. 21 at Iowa. She led the team with 18 kills (tied her season-high) on a 2023-best .405 hitting. She also totaled season-bests in digs (11), assists (6) and blocks (4).
• In conference play (11 games), Landfair is hitting .297 with 3.19 kills, 2.24 digs and 0.45 blocks per set. She's hit double digits in kills in seven B1G games, hitting over .300 in eight of the 11 matches. She's the only Big Ten pin to hit > .300 in eight league games. In eight preseason games, Landfair hit just .123 with 2.47 kills, 1.66 digs and 0.44 blocks per set.
• Landfair holds 983 career kills and needs just 17 more to reach 1,000 for her career at Minnesota.
UP NEXT
Minnesota stays on the road to play at Ohio State on Friday, Nov. 3 and at Northwestern on Sunday, Nov. 5.
WISCONSIN GAME INFORMATION
RV Minnesota at No. 2 Wisconsin
Sunday, Oct. 29
3:50 p.m. CT
UW Fieldhouse
Madison, Wis.
TV/Stream: BTN - Michelle McMahon (Play-By-Play) and Emily Ehman (Analyst)
Live Stats
NOTES TO KNOW
208 -- Keegan Cook won his 200th career game as a head coach on Aug. 26 vs. Baylor. He won his 207th and 208th games this past weekend against Rutgers and Michigan State.
130 -- Minnesota had been ranked in 130 straight AVCA polls, dating back to Sept. 7, 2015, before the Oct. 16 poll.
53 -- Minnesota has won 53 of the 90 matchups all-time against Wisconsin (.589). The Gophers broke a six-game losing streak in the series last year with a 3-0 sweep on Sept. 25, 2022 at the Pav. Prior to the six-game slide, the Gophers had won eight straight in the series from 2015-18.
45 -- Middle Phoebe Awoleye ranks No. 45 in the nation and No. 5 in the Big Ten in blocks per set with 1.26.
19 -- Kylie Murr is the only Big Ten player to post double digit digs in every match this season. She's done so 19 times. Dating back to last season, she has 28 straight 10+ dig match games.
15 -- Sophomore outside Mckenna Wucherer has had a breakout campaign in year two, leading the team and ranking 15th in the Big Ten with 3.28 kills per set.
11 -- Melani Shaffmaster leads the Big Ten with 11 double doubles this season. She has tallied 52 in her career.
9 -- Mckenna Wucherer has posted 10+ kill matches in nine out of the last 11 matches. She had 17 (.235), a team-best, Sunday.
8 -- Melani Shaffmaster ranks 8th all-time in Gophers history with 3,626 career assists. She ranks 16th among active DI players. Her 10.04 assists per set put her at No. 21.
7 -- Minnesota's Taylor Landfair has hit over .300 in eight of the team's 11 Big Ten matches in 2023, including seven 10+ kill matches. No other B1G pin has hit over .300 more than six times.
5 -- Fifth year libero Kylie Murr ranks fifth in the Big Ten in digs per set through two months of play with 4.11. She's one of two players in the league to tally two 25+ dig matches in 2023. She had 27 vs. TCU (Aug. 25) and Maryland (Oct. 6).
4 -- Melani Shaffmaster became the fourth Gopher all-time to reach 3,500 career assists and 1,000 digs with her ninth dig of the match last Sunday versus Michigan State.
2 -- Minnesota ranks second in the B1G in league games in service aces per set (1.62). The 'U' has totaled 68 aces in its 11 conference games in 2023, second behind only Wisconsin (71).
2 -- The Gophers are 2-7 against ranked opponents this season, taking wins over then No. 15 Baylor and No. 6 Oregon. The 'U' has lost ranked tilts to now No. 5 Texas, No. 19 Florida, No. 3 Stanford, No. 17 Creighton, No. 1 Nebraska, No. 13 Penn State and No. 16 Purdue.
2 -- Melani Shaffmaster has posted 40+ assists four times in 2023 (3-1 record).
1 -- The Gophers are searching for their first win at UW Fieldhouse since 2018. The Gophers have dropped their last four at Wisconsin. All-time, Minnesota is 18-25 vs. Wisconsin in Madison.
RATINGS RECORD AT RISK
• Minnesota and Wisconsin have a great chance to break the record for most-watched regular season volleyball match on Sunday. Nebraska and Wisconsin had 612,000 viewers for their Oct. 21 matchup on Big Ten Network. With this Sunday's match being aired nationally on FOX, many are expecting that viewership record to be easily surpassed.
LAST TIME OUT
• The 'U' fell to No. 16 Purdue (26-28, 23-25, 16-25) on Thursday night at Holloway Gymnasium. The Gophers led 24-22 in set one and 23-22 in set two, but were unable to close out either frame. Taylor Landfair totaled 16 kills (.343) and Lydia Grote had 13 (.414), but Minnesota struggled on defense with just one block while Purdue hit a scorching .390. Kylie Murr had 12 digs while Melani Shaffmaster went for 38 assists and 10 digs.
GOPHERS UNRANKED IN AVCA POLL
• The Gophers entered the 2023 season with a No. 7 overall ranking in the Preseason AVCA poll. Before last week, the Gophers were ranked in the past 130 AVCA polls (2,965 days), dating back to Sept. 7, 2015. Minnesota was unranked on Oct. 23 for the second week in-a-row despite going 2-0 last week. Minnesota is receiving the most votes of any unranked team with 70. They'll have their chance to re-enter the polls this week with a ranked matchup against No. 2 Wisconsin on the road.
SCOUTING WISCONSIN
• The No. 2 Wisconsin Badgers are led by 11th-year head coach Kelly Sheffield. Wisconsin has won four straight Big Ten titles and have been to three Final Fours in the last four seasons.
• The Badgers are led by Sarah Franklin, who ranks seventh in the Big Ten with 3.82 kills per set. Middles Carter Booth (.441) and Anna Smrek (.399) are Nos. 1 and 2 in the conference in hitting percentage.
• Wisconsin is 6-1 against ranked teams this season, but just 1-0 at home. Their lone loss of the season came last Saturday at now No. 1 Nebraska in five sets. The Badgers had not dropped a set (27 straight) in Big Ten play before the NU match last week.
MINNESOTA'S HISTORY VS. WISCONSIN
• Minnesota is 53-37 all-time versus Wisconsin. The Gophers broke a six-game losing streak in the series last year with a 3-0 sweep on Sept. 25 at the Pav. Prior to the six-game slide, the Gophers had won eight straight in the series from 2015-18. In Madison, the 'U' is 18-25 vs. Wisconsin.
• Wisconsin has won four straight against the Gophers in Madison. Minnesota won four straight there from 2015-18, including their last win there, a four-set victory on Oct. 31, 2018.
MILESTONE WATCH
• Melani ranks 16th among active Division I players with 3,626 career assists. Her 10.04 aps career average is 21st and her 1,019 digs are 176th.
• On Sunday vs. MSU, Mel became the fourth Gopher all-time to record 3,500 assists and 1,000 digs. She joined Sharon Oesterling (1986-89), Samantha Seliger-Swenson (2015-18) and Lindsey Taatjes (2001-04) on the list.
• Taylor Landfair holds 983 career kills and needs just 17 more to reach 1,000 for her career at Minnesota.
DOUBLE DOUBLE QUEEN
• Melani Shaffmaster tied for the Big Ten lead in double doubles (10+ assists and digs) with 14 in 2022. For her career, Shaffmaster has tallied 52 double doubles.
• Mel started this season with double doubles in 12 of 19 games thus far, which is a Big Ten-best. She is one of just nine players in the country (only one in the Power Five) with 12+ double doubles in 2023.
SHAFFMASTER STANDS OUT AMONG SETTERS
• Gophers senior setter Melani Shaffmaster leads all Big Ten setters with 1.00 kills per set, 2.99 digs per set and with 12 double doubles. She ranks third in blocks with 0.62.
WUCHERER TAKING THE NEXT STEP
• A 2021 AVCA and Under Armour First Team All-American and the Wis. Gatorade Player of the Year, the 6-foot-1 outside hitter from Brookfield, Wis., came to Minnesota as one of the most decorated players in Wisconsin prep history. She was the consensus No. 1 overall recruit in the class of 2022.
• In 2022, she missed the first six games with an injury before returning to hit double figures in kills in 11 matches.
• She ended the year averaging 2.79 kills per set, which ranked second on the team. Wucherer made the Big Ten All-Freshman Team in 2022.
• The start of 2023 has been all she can ask for, as Wucherer posted 30 kills on .464 hitting on her way to Big Ten/Big 12 Challenge MVP honors on Aug. 26. Wucherer holds double digit kills in 15 games, a team-best. She tallied her first 20+ kill match (21) with a career-best 10 digs in a win over No. 6 Oregon on Sep. 8.
DAVIS DOMINATING AT THE NET
• In her last seven games, Arica Davis has registered 40 blocks (1.48 bps). She set a new season-high with eight last Sunday in a four set win over Michigan State after going for seven in a sweep over Rutgers on Friday. She's posted 10 3+ block matches in 2023 and has tallied 5+ block matches in each of the past six games.
WE WANT MURR
• 2022 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Kylie Murr came to Dinkytown for her fifth year of college volleyball after spending the first four at Ohio State.
• She led the Big Ten in both total digs (530) and digs per set (4.69) last year and stepped into the Gophers libero position that two-time All-American CC McGraw departed from due to graduation.
• Murr started 2023 off with a bang, winning Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week after posting 40 digs (5.71 dps) and 15 assists on her way to Big Ten/Big 12 Challenge All-Tournament honors on Aug. 26. Murr holds 2,239 career digs, which ranks No. 6 of all active collegiate players in the nation.
• Murr ranks fifth in the B1G with 4.11 digs per set in 2023 and is one of three players in the league to have two 25+ dig matches this season. In conference play only, Murr ranks eighth with 3.93 dps.
• Murr is the only player in the Big Ten to record 10+ digs in every match this season. Dating back to last season she's recorded 28 straight 10+ dig matches.
GOPHERS CLIMB THE LADDER IN BIG TEN CATEGORIES
• Through their first 11 Big Ten games in 2023, the Gophers rank in the top-five of the conference in points per set (16.67, 5th), hitting percentage (.235, 5th), opponent hitting percentage (.183, 4th), opponent kills (11.74, 4th), opponent blocks (2.07, 4th), blocks (2.36, 4th) and service aces (1.62, 2nd).
SERVING STEPS UP FOR THE MAROON AND GOLD
• One of head coach Keegan's Cook's points of emphasis is to be a tough serving team to compete against. In their first six games, Minnesota had five-or-less service aces in each match (21 total).
• In their last 13 matches, however, the 'U' has tallied 91 service aces, an average of 7.00 per match. The Gophers tied a season-best with 12 on Oct. 15 versus Northwestern.
• The Gophers have had four matches with 10+ aces this season, including two in the last four games (12 vs. Northwestern on Oct. 15); (10 vs. MSU on Oct. 22).
LANDFAIR ROUNDING INTO FORM IN BIG TEN PLAY
• 2022 Big Ten Player of the Year and First Team All-American Taylor Landfair had her best showing of the season to kick off Big Ten play on Sept. 21 at Iowa. She led the team with 18 kills (tied her season-high) on a 2023-best .405 hitting. She also totaled season-bests in digs (11), assists (6) and blocks (4).
• In conference play (11 games), Landfair is hitting .297 with 3.19 kills, 2.24 digs and 0.45 blocks per set. She's hit double digits in kills in seven B1G games, hitting over .300 in eight of the 11 matches. She's the only Big Ten pin to hit > .300 in eight league games. In eight preseason games, Landfair hit just .123 with 2.47 kills, 1.66 digs and 0.44 blocks per set.
• Landfair holds 983 career kills and needs just 17 more to reach 1,000 for her career at Minnesota.
UP NEXT
Minnesota stays on the road to play at Ohio State on Friday, Nov. 3 and at Northwestern on Sunday, Nov. 5.
Cinematic Recap: Gophers Sweep Illini
Thursday, October 30
Highlights: Gophers 3, Illinois 0
Wednesday, October 29
Highlights: Gophers 2, Purdue 3
Sunday, October 26
Highlights: Gophers 3, Indiana 1
Friday, October 24