'U' Set to Host Texas Tuesday Night

MINNEAPOLIS --The No. 5 Minnesota Golden Gophers (2-0, 0-0 Big Ten) will host the No. 7 ranked Texas Longhorns (1-1, 0-0 Big 12) on Tuesday, Aug. 29 at Maturi Pavilion. The Gophers will be looking to break a three-game losing skid in the series and earn their first win over UT at the Pav since 2011. BTN will provide television coverage once again.

GAME INFORMATION
No. 5 Minnesota vs. No. 7 Texas
Tuesday, Aug. 29
7 p.m.
Maturi Pavilion
Minneapolis, Minn.
TV: BTN - Sloane Martin (Play-By-Play) and Rainelle Jones (Analyst)
Radio: GopherSports.com - 102.5 FM (Tanner Hoops)
Live Stats

ENTRANCE AND PARKING
Guests should enter from the main entrance on 19th Ave SE. Maroon Lot, Lot 37 and Lot 58 won't be operated for parking during the State Fair (Aug. 25-29). Campus parking suggestions: Fourth Street Ramp and University Ave Ramp ($10 event parking). For more information, please check the map link.

FOR THE FANS
Tuesday's match is a 'Maroon Out' so all fans are encouraged to wear maroon to the Pav.

NOTES TO KNOW
200 -- Keegan Cook won his 200th career game as a head coach on Saturday night vs. Baylor.
27 -- The 2022 season was the 27th year the Golden Gophers advanced to the NCAA tournament. The Gophers have been to eight-straight Sweet 16's of the NCAA tournament.
21 -- Times last year Minnesota tallied over 10 blocks in a match. The Gophers were 16-5 in those games. The 'U' is 1-0 in 2023 when posting 10+ team blocks.
10 -- Minnesota's current ten-game home winning streak is the longest active home streak of any Big Ten team.
8 -- Melani Shaffmaster ranks 8th all-time in Minnesota history with 3,091 career assists.
8 -- For the first time in program history, all eight of the Gophers non-conference opponents in 2023 made the NCAA Tournament in the year prior.
7 -- The Gophers rank No. 7 in the country in opponent hitting percentage (.067). The 'U' held Baylor to .000 Saturday night.
6 -- Of the past eight Big Ten Players of the Year have been Minnesota Golden Gophers. Taylor Landfair (2022) joins Stephanie Samedy (2020-21), Sam Seliger-Swenson (2018), Sarah Wilhite (2016) and Daly Santana (2015) as award winners.
6 -- New Gopher head coaches are 6-3 all-time in their first game in charge of the Minnesota program.
4 -- Minnesota ranked 4th nationally in 2022 with 2.92 blocks per set. They rank 27th in 2023, averaging 3.00 through two matches.
1 -- The 2023 season is Keegan Cook's first in charge at Minnesota. He was named as the eighth full-time head coach of the Minnesota volleyball program in Dec. 2022. He replaced Hugh McCutcheon, who went 277-74 as head coach, making three Final Four's, five Elite Eight's and 10 Sweet 16's.
1 -- Taylor Landfair was the first sophomore to be named Big Ten Player of the Year since Wisconsin's Lauren Carlini in 2014.
1 -- Middle Phoebe Awoleye ranks No. 1 in the nation in blocks per set after the first weekend (2.29).

LAST TIME OUT
• The 'U' started the season with a 3-1 win over TCU and a sweep over No. 15 Baylor to win a share of the Big Ten/Big 12 Challenge. Mckenna Wucherer won tournament MVP after hitting .464 with 30 kills in two games. Phoebe Awoleye (2.29 bps) won best blocker while Kylie Murr (5.71 dps) and Melani Shaffmaster (8.14 aps, 3.71 dps) earned best libero and top setter, respectively. All four were named to the all-tournament team.

SCOUTING TEXAS
• The Longhorns are led by 23rd-year head coach Jerritt Elliott, who ranks No. 1 in school history with 562 wins at Texas. He led UT to the 2022 national championship and has had the program in the national title game six times during his career. UT went 28-1 (17-1 Big 12) in 2022, losing only to Iowa State.
• Texas will be looking to reload after last season. They lost AVCA National Player of the Year Logan Eggleston and fellow First Team All-American libero Zoe Fleck. They return All-Americans Asjia O'Neal (First Team), Madisen Skinner (Third Team) and Molly Phillips (HM). The Longhorns added Minnesota transfer Jenna Wenaas in the off-season, who was a 2021 Second Team All-Big Ten selection.
The Longhorns were picked first in the Big 12 Preseason Poll for the 13th consecutive season and the 16th time in program history. UT has won 11 of the last 12 Big 12 championships.
• The Longhorns were upset by LBSU, 3-1, to open their season Friday. They swept LMU on Saturday night

MINNESOTA'S HISTORY VS. TEXAS
• Minnesota is 5-7 all-time against the Longhorns. UT won the battle last year in Austin, 3-1 (21-25, 18-25, 25-23, 22-25). Taylor Landfair led the 'U' with 16 kills and 7 digs. The Gophers had an unusual 19 service errors.
• Last Meeting: 2022; First Meeting: 1981
• They last played in Minneapolis in 2021, with UT taking a four set win (24-26, 21-25, 25-21, 22-25).
• Minnesota's last win in the series was a four set win in Austin on Sept. 8, 2017. Minnesota last beat Texas at home in 2011 in back-to-back games at the Diet Coke Classic.
• Perhaps the biggest matchup between the two teams came in the 2015 Final Four as Texas won in four sets.

GOPHERS RANKED FIFTH IN LATEST AVCA POLL
• The Gophers enterered the 2023 season with a No. 7 overall ranking in the Preseason AVCA poll. They come in at No. 5 this week. The 'U' finished 10th last year in the final poll, their eighth consecutive top-10 finish nationally. 14 of Minnesota's 28 games are versus opponents ranked in the AVCA Preseason top-25.

NEW COACHING STAFF READY TO ROLL IN 2023
• First year head coach Keegan Cook comes to Dinkytown after a tremendously successful eight-year run at Washington.
• His staff consists of associate head coach Kristen Kelsay and assistant coaches Eric Barber and Kylin Muñoz. Kelsay coached at both Michigan State and Northwestern while Barber comes to Minnesota from UCLA. Muñoz last coached at Loyola Marymount and played for Cook when he was an assistant at Washington.

BIG TEN BESTS
• Phoebe Awoleye is one of three Big Ten players to post 10 blocks in a match (Aug. 26 vs. Baylor). She's the only one to produce 10 blocks in a three set match, however.
• Kylie Murr's 27 digs Friday vs. TCU are tied for the second most digs in a match by a Big Ten player on opening weekend. Amanda Darling (IA) had 28 Saturday.
• Minnesota's 12 team blocks vs. Baylor were the most by any Big Ten team in a three set match last weekend.
• The Gophers rank second in the Big Ten in digs per set with 16.00.

'U' LOOKING TO HOLD FIRM AT HOME
• Since 2015, Minnesota holds a 106-14 (.883) record at home. This includes a 36-4 (.900) non-conference mark. The only non-conference home losses during that time were in 2018 to Oregon, 2021 to Texas and in 2022 to Pepperdine and Stanford.

SHAFFMASTER SETTING THE TABLE
• A 6-foot-3 setter, Melani Shaffmaster ranked second in the Big Ten last year with 10.44 assists per set. She already ranks No. 8 in program history in assists (3,091).
• For the second straight year, Mel earned the Best Setter Award at the Big Ten/Big 12 Challenge after she averaged 8.14 assists, 1.0 kills, 3.71 digs and 1.0 blocks per set in two Gophers victories this weekend.
• Shaffmaster tallied 30+ assists 25 times, 40+ 11 times and 50+ three times in 2022.
• She registered 10+ digs 14 times in 2022 and 3+ blocks 19 times. She posted 3+ kills 19 times as well. Shaffmaster posted double doubles (36/13 and 21/13) in games to open 2023 against TCU and No. 15 Baylor.

RANKED OPPONENTS ON TAP
• Starting with the Gophers game against then No. 15 Baylor on Saturday, the Gophers are set to take on ranked opponents in six of their seven remaining non-conference matchups.
• Texas came in at No. 7 in the latest AVCA poll while Florida (8), Oregon (6), Stanford (2) and Creighton (20) are all ranked in the top 20.

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 in 2022.
• 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.

WE WANT MURR
• 2022 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Kylie Murr comes to Dinkytown for her fifth year of college volleyball after spending the first four at Ohio State. She was named First Team All-Big Ten and earned AVCA All-America honorable mention in 2022.
• She led the Big Ten in both total digs (530) and digs per set (4.69) last year and is set to step into the Gophers libero position that two-time All-American CC McGraw departed from due to graduation.
• She totaled two 30+ dig matches last year, which tied a Big Ten-best. Her 35 digs against Maryland on Nov. 18, 2022 was a conference single game high for the season.
• 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. Murr holds 1,975 career digs, which ranks No. 6 of all active collegiate players in the nation.

UP NEXT
Minnesota travels to No. 8 Florida (2-0, 0-0 SEC) for a Sunday matinee in Gainesville, Fla. First serve will be noon ET/11 a.m. CT on ESPNU.

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Players Mentioned

Phoebe Awoleye

Taylor Landfair

CC McGraw

Kylie Murr

Melani Shaffmaster

Jenna Wenaas

Mckenna Wucherer