University of Minnesota Athletics

Friday, August 25
Minneapolis, MN
7:00 PM

University of Minnesota

1-0,0-0Big Ten

3
vs
1

TCU

0-1,0-0Big 12

1
2
3
4
F
TCU
25
16
15
23
1
Minnesota
20
25
25
25
3

Team Stats

TCU
MINN
Kills
44
52
Errors
27
16
Attempts
151
134
Hitting %
.113
.269
Points
62.0
65.0
Assists
42
49
Aces
9
4
Blocks
9
9

Game Leaders

Kills
16
Aces
1
Blocks
0
Kills
13
Aces
1
Blocks
2
Kills
11
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
4
Aces
0
Blocks
3

Players Mentioned

Middle Blocker
/ Volleyball
Outside/Opposite
/ Volleyball
Outside
/ Volleyball
Libero
/ Volleyball
Setter
/ Volleyball
Outside
/ Volleyball
Final

Gophers Top TCU in Season Opener

8/25/2023 9:45:00 PM | Volleyball

Mckenna Wucherer led the Gophers with 16 kills

MINNEAPOLIS --Ā The No. 7Ā Minnesota Golden Gophers volleyball team took down TCU on Friday night in the season opener. Minnesota won in four sets, 20-25, 25-16, 25-15, 25-23.

Mckenna Wucherer led the Gophers with 16 kills while Lydia Grote hadĀ 11 kills in her first game as a Gopher. Melani Shaffmaster tallied 36 assists and 12 digs while Kylie Murr paced the backcourt with 27Ā digs.



"The Pav is a special place," head coach Keegan Cook said. "I've heard all about it and now I got to experience it. This crowd shows up for this team in all conditions."

As a team,Ā Minnesota (1-0) hit .269Ā with 52 kills, nine team blocks, 67 digs and four aces. TCU (0-1) hit .113Ā with 44 kills, nine team blocks, 60 digs and nine aces.

Melanie ParraĀ led the Horned Frogs with 13Ā kills, four aces and seven digs.

Set Breakdown:
Set 1: The Horned Frogs picked up set one, 25-20. They hit a blazing .314 with 15 kills and 15 digs. Texas transfer Melanie ParraĀ had seven kills and three aces to lead TCU while Jalyn Gibson had five kills and five digs. Gophers opposite Lydia Grote led the 'U' with six kills on a scorching .857 hitting to keep the offense going. Mckenna Wucherer posted three kills and Kylie Murr anchored the backcourt with eight digs and four assists. Minnesota hit .286 in the first set with 14 kills and 15 digs, but zero blocks.

Set 2: The 'U' responded to take set two, 25-16. The Gophers posted five blocks in the set, led by four from senior middle Phoebe Awoleye. Landfair, Shaffmaster and Wucherer posted two kills each to lead the offense while Kylie Murr had eight more digs in the second set. Minnesota held the Horned Frogs to -.043 hitting in the decisive set two win, knotting the match up at 1-1.

Set 3: Minnesota kept its momentum going in set three, taking down TCU 25-15. Led by four kills each from Wucherer and Landfair, the 'U' hit .367 with 13 kills and two blocks. Grote and Wucherer both reached 10 kills on the night while Murr hit the 20-dig mark to lead all defenders. Minnesota led 10-8 before going on a 15-7 run to finish set three and take a 2-1 match lead.

Set 4: A back and forth final set saw TCU take an early 8-3 lead before a 4-0 Gophers run cut the deficit to one. A kill from Phoebe Awoleye combined with a Horned Frogs attacking error put the set at a 9-9 tie. No team led by more than two points until TCU went up 18-15 on a kill by Parra, leading to a Gophers timeout. A 5-0 run was sparked by two kills from Landfair and a solo block from Awoleye that gave Minnesota a 20-18 lead. The 'U' would not trail the rest of the way and eventually grinded out a 25-23 set four victory to earn a 3-1 match win.

UP NEXT:Ā Minnesota (1-0) takes on No. 15 Baylor (0-1) tomorrow night at 7 p.m. on Big Ten Network.

Notable:
-Keegan Cook earned his 199th career win on Friday night, including his first win as the Golden Gophers head coach. He's 7-2 in opening games of a season in his head coaching career.
-New Gopher head coaches are 6-3 all-time in their first games.
-Kylie Murr posted her 28th career 20+ dig match and first as a Gopher.
-Melani ShaffmasterĀ posted 36 assists and 13 digs for her first double double of the year. She led all Big Ten players with 14 a season ago.
-Mckenna Wucherer earned her 11th career 10+ kill match.
-Phoebe AwoleyeĀ led the defense with six blocks in her first game as a Golden Gopher.
-Taylor Landfair posted her 48th career double digit kill match with 13 kills.
-The Gophers won their ninth straight home match, the longest home streak in the Big Ten.
Highlights: Gophers 1, Oregon 3
Friday, October 17
Gopher Round Table: Gopher Volleyball
Friday, October 17
Coming Home: Alexis Hart
Wednesday, October 15
Cinematic Recap: Buckeye Sweep
Tuesday, October 14