Minnesota Hosts No. 16 Purdue, Goes to Indiana

MINNEAPOLIS -- The RV Minnesota Golden Gophers (12-10, 8-6 Big Ten) are getting set for two more games this weekend. First, they'll host No. 16 Purdue (15-8, 9-5 Big Ten) on Friday at the Pav before going to Indiana (17-10, 7-7 Big Ten) on Sunday. Friday's match will be a 6 p.m. CT start while Sunday's match will be at 1 p.m. ET/noon CT. Both will be streamed on B1G+.

PURDUE GAME INFORMATION
RV Minnesota vs. No. 16 Purdue
Friday, Nov. 10
6 p.m. CT
Maturi Pavilion
Minneapolis, Minn.
TV/Stream: B1G+ - Emma Carpenter (Play-By-Play) and Meredith Nelson-Uram (Analyst)
Live Stats

INDIANA GAME INFORMATION
RV Minnesota at Indiana
Sunday, Nov. 12
1 p.m. ET/Noon CT
Wilkinson Arena
Bloomington, Ind.
TV/Stream: B1G+ - Josh Bode (Play-By-Play) and Nick Rodecap (Analyst)
Live Stats

NOTES TO KNOW
1,000 -- Minnesota's Taylor Landfair reached 1,000 career kills on Friday night at Ohio State, one of 30 players in Minnesota history to reach the mark. She currently holds 1,034.
210 -- Keegan Cook won his 200th career game as a head coach on Aug. 26 vs. Baylor. He won his 209th and 210th games this last weekend against Ohio State and Northwestern.
130 -- Minnesota had been ranked in 130 straight AVCA polls, dating back to Sept. 7, 2015, before the Oct. 16 poll. The Gophers are unranked for the fourth straight week, having received 40 votes on Nov. 6.
22 -- Kylie Murr is the only Big Ten player to post double digit digs in every match this season. She's done so 22 times. Dating back to last season, she has 31 straight 10+ dig match games.
19 -- Since 1999, the 'U' is 19-1 vs. Purdue in Minneapolis. The lone loss came in 2021, a 3-1 defeat.
15 -- Melani Shaffmaster leads the Big Ten with 15 double doubles this season. She has tallied 55 in her career.
14 -- Phoebe Awoleye ranks No. 14 among active DI players with 1.21 blocks per set. She also ranks 36th in total career blocks with 428. She ranks sixth in the B1G in 2023 with 1.24 bps.
14 -- The Gophers have won 12 straight and 14 of the last 15 vs. Indiana in the series, dating back to 2013.
10 -- Taylor Landfair ranks 10th in the Big Ten in kills per set during conference play with 3.49.
8 -- Melani Shaffmaster ranks 8th all-time in Gophers history with 3,721 career assists. She ranks 17th among active DI players. Her 10.00 assists per set put her at No. 24.
8 -- Taylor Landfair has hit over .300 in nine of the team's 14 B1G matches, including 10 10+ kill matches. Only one other B1G pin has hit over .300 nine-or-more times in 2023.
5 -- Arcia Davis ranks fifth in the Big Ten during conference play with 1.24 blocks per set.
5 -- Fifth year libero Kylie Murr ranks fifth in the Big Ten in digs per set through two months of play with 4.05. 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).
5 -- Minnesota is tied for fifth place in the Big Ten with six games to go. They are just one game back of a tie for third with Purdue and Penn State (9-5).
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 on Oct. 22 versus Michigan St.
2 -- Minnesota ranks second in the B1G in league games in service aces per set (1.53). The 'U' has totaled 69 aces in its 12 conference games in 2023, second behind only Wisconsin (75).
2 -- The Gophers are 2-8 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, No. 16 Purdue and No. 2 Wisconsin.
2 -- Melani Shaffmaster has posted 40+ assists five times in 2023 (Minnesota is 4-1 when she has 40+.

PARKING ADVISORY
Due to the overlapping events at Williams Arena and Maturi Pavilion on Friday evening, Lot 58 pass holders will be redirected to the University Avenue Ramp once Lot 58 has reached capacity. Lot 58 passes will be accepted at the University Avenue Ramp on Friday evening. Fans who have not obtained a parking pass are encouraged to purchase their parking in advance here. Fans who arrive on Friday without a parking pass should park in Lot 33, Maroon, Gold, Ski-U-Mah, or Gopher surface lots east of Huntington Bank Stadium or the Oak Street or Fourth Street Parking Ramps south and west of 3M Arena at Mariucci. Limited ADA space is available at University Avenue Ramp for fans with the appropriate state issued handicap designated tag or pass.

GOPHERS PLAY IN MOST-WATCHED COLLEGE VOLLEYBALL MATCH OF ALL-TIME
• On Sunday, Oct. 29, the matchup between Minnesota and Wisconsin on FOX drew 1.659 million viewers, making it the most-watched college volleyball game of all time.

SWENSON TWINS SIGN WITH GOPHERS IN 2024 CLASS
• The University of Minnesota volleyball program has announced two signees to its 2024 recruiting class on Wednesday, Nov. 8. The Golden Gophers welcome twin sisters Olivia and Stella Swenson (Plymouth, Minn./Wayzata H.S.) to the program. Olivia will play outside hitter at Minnesota while Stella is a setter. Olivia is the No. 36 player in the country, while Stella is No. 8, according to Prep Volleyball.
• The sisters will enroll at Minnesota in January and be eligible to compete next season. They play in the state tournament for Wayzata High School this week. Their older sister, Samantha Seliger Swenson, was a four-time All-American at the 'U' from 2015-18 and led the team to two Final Fours (2015-16).

LAST TIME OUT
• The 'U' came off two four-set victories on the road this weekend against Ohio State (25-21, 14-25, 25-22, 25-18) and Northwestern (25-27, 25-23, 25-21, 25-23). On Friday, Minnesota got a combined 30 kills from Landfair and Wucherer while Kylie Murr had 17 digs in her return to Columbus. Landfair went for a season-best 25 kills on .392 on Sunday at Northwestern, leading Minnesota to its sixth win in its last eight matches.

GOPHERS UNRANKED IN AVCA POLL
• The Gophers entered the 2023 season with a No. 7 overall ranking in the Preseason AVCA poll. Before Oct. 16, the Gophers were ranked in the past 130 AVCA polls (2,965 days), dating back to Sept. 7, 2015. Minnesota was unranked on Nov. 6 for the fourth week in-a-row. Minnesota is receiving the second most votes of any unranked team with 40.

SCOUTING PURDUE
• The No. 16 Purdue Boilermakers (15-8, 9-5 Big Ten) are having another strong season under head coach Dave Shondell, who is in year 21 as the man in charge in West Lafayette.
• Purdue holds top-25 wins this season over then No. 23 Kansas, No. 19 Marquette, No. 19 Kentucky, and most recently, No. 11 Penn State. Overall, Purdue is 5-3 against ranked opposition in 2023.
• Sophomore Eva Hudson leads the Boilers with 4.03 kills per set, while freshman (No. 1 overall 2023 recruit) Chloe Chicoine ranks second with 3.88. They rank fifth and sixth in the Big Ten, respectively, in kills. Middle blocker Raven Colvin ranks third in the league in blocks per set (1.40) and is coming off her second Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week honor of the year this week.

SCOUTING INDIANA
• Indiana is led by sixth-year head coach Steve Aird. At 17-10 (7-7 Big Ten), the Hoosiers are looking to make their first NCAA Tournament since 2010. They are 8-1 at home this season, including conference wins over Illinois, Iowa, No. 15 Purdue, Michigan and Ohio State. Their only home loss is to No. 1 Nebraska.
• The Hoosiers rank fifth in the B1G in hitting percentage (.239), third in kills (13.26) and second in aces (1.77).
• Setter Camryn Haworth ranks third in the Big Ten with 9.92 assists per set and leads the league in aces at 0.62 per set. Libero Ramsey Gary paces the league defensively with 4.45 digs per set while middle Kaley Rammelsberg ranks fifth in the Big Ten with a .368 hitting percentage.

MINNESOTA'S HISTORY VS. PURDUE AND INDIANA
• Minnesota is 57-34 all-time against Purdue. The Gophers have won 10 of the last 15 in the series, but Purdue took the first matchup of the season on Oct. 26, a 3-0 sweep in West Lafayette. At the Pav, however, Minnesota is 28-9 against the Boilermakers. Since 1999, the 'U' is 19-1 vs. PU in Minneapolis (loss came in 2021, 3-1).
• Minnesota is 61-16 against Indiana all-time. The Gophers have won 12 straight and 14 of the last 15 in the series dating back to 2013. In Bloomington, however, Minnesota is 26-10, including five in a row there.

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 55 double doubles.
• Mel has tallied double doubles in 15 of 22 games, which is a Big Ten-best. She is one of just nine players in the country (only one in the Power Five) with 15+ double doubles in 2023. In B1G play, she has nine double doubles.

GOPHERS THRIVE IN BIG TEN PLAY
• Since 2012, Minnesota is 169-53 (.761) in B1G play, including 10 seasons over .500 in league games.
• In all of 10 those seasons, the 'U' went 15-5 or better in B1G play, with the best being 19-1 in 2018. The Gophers are the only Big Ten team to have 15+ conference wins in each of the past eight seasons.
• The Gophers won Big Ten titles in 2016 and 2018 and have finished either first, second or third in 10 of the last 11 seasons. The Gophers tied with Ohio State for third place last season. The last time Minnesota won 10-or-less conference games in a season was in 2014 (9-11 Big Ten).

GOPHERS CLIMB THE LADDER IN BIG TEN PLAY
• Through 14 Big Ten games, the Gophers rank in the top-five of the conference in opponent hitting percentage (.188, 3rd), blocks (2.50, 4th), opponent blocks (2.13, 5th) and service aces (1.58, 3rd).

DAVIS DOMINATING AT THE NET
• In her last eight games, Arica Davis has registered 40 blocks (1.47 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 11 3+ block matches in 2023 and has tallied 5+ block matches in six of the past seven games. In conference play, Davis ranks seventh with 1.21 blocks per set.

'U' HOLDING FIRM AT HOME
• Since 2015, Minnesota holds a 111-17 (.867) record at home. This includes a 36-6 (.857) non-conference mark. The only non-conference home losses during that time were in 2018 to Oregon, 2021/2023 to Texas, 2022 to Pepperdine and Stanford and in 2023 to Creighton.

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 16 matches, however, the 'U' has tallied 107 service aces, an average of 6.69 per match. The Gophers tied a season-best with 12 on Oct. 15 versus Northwestern.
• After coming for just two aces at Purdue (Oct. 26) and Wisconsin (Oct. 29), Minnesota combined for 15 in wins at Ohio State (Nov. 3) and Northwestern (Nov. 5).
• The Gophers have had four matches with 10+ aces this season, including two in the last seven 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 (14 games), Landfair is hitting .296 with 3.49 kills, 2.28 digs and 0.51 blocks per set. She's hit double digits in kills in 10 B1G games, hitting over .300 in nine of the 14 matches. She's one of two Big Ten pins to hit > .300 in nine 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 1,034 career kills after reaching 1,000 on Nov. 3 at Ohio State. She's one of 30 players all-time to hit the mark at Minnesota.
• Taylor posted a season-best 25 kills with nine digs on .392 hitting in a four-set win over Northwestern on Nov. 5 in her return to her home state of Illinois.

UP NEXT
Minnesota will play Iowa and Ohio State at home on Friday, Nov. 17 and Saturday, Nov. 18.

Upcoming Events

Players Mentioned

Phoebe Awoleye

Arica Davis

Taylor Landfair

Kylie Murr

Melani Shaffmaster