Minnesota Closes Non-Conference with Diet Coke Classic

MINNEAPOLIS --The No. 9 Minnesota Golden Gophers (3-3, 0-0 Big Ten) will close out non-conference play by hosting the Diet Coke Classic at Maturi Pavilion. The 'U' will host High Point (6-3, 0-0 Big South) on Thursday and No. 14 Creighton (7-2, 0-0 BIG EAST) on Saturday. B1G+ will stream both matches.

HIGH POINT GAME INFORMATION
No. 9 Minnesota vs. High Point
Thursday, Sep. 14
7 p.m. CT
Maturi Pavilion
Minneapolis, Minn.
TV/Stream: B1G+ - Sam Konstan (Play-By-Play) and Meredith Nelson-Uram (Analyst)
Radio: GopherSports.com - Tanner Hoops (Play-By-Play)
Live Stats

CREIGHTON VS. HIGH POINT GAME INFORMATION
No. 14 Creighton vs. High Point
Friday, Sep. 15
5 p.m. CT
Maturi Pavilion
Minneapolis, Minn.
TV/Stream: B1G+ - Sam Konstan (Play-By-Play) and Alex Karwowski (Analyst)
Live Stats

CREIGHTON GAME INFORMATION
No. 9 Minnesota vs. No. 14 Creighton
Saturday, Sep. 16
4:30 p.m. CT
Maturi Pavilion
Minneapolis, Minn.
TV/Stream: B1G+ - Andrew Becker (Play-By-Play) and Meredith Nelson-Uram (Analyst)
Radio: GopherSports.com - Tanner Hoops (Play-By-Play)
Live Stats

NOTES TO KNOW
201 -- Keegan Cook won his 200th career game as a head coach on Aug. 26 vs. Baylor. His 201st win came on Friday over No. 6 Oregon in the Big Ten/Big-12 Challenge in Palo Alto, Calif.
50 -- Minnesota ranks No. 50 in the nation in blocks per set, averaging 2.50 per set after six matches.
15 -- The Gophers are one of two teams in the country to have five of their first six matches against top-15 ranked teams, joining Stanford. Four of those have been vs. top-10 teams. They'll make it six of eight this weekend, hosting No. 14 Creighton.
10 -- Minnesota's final 2022 rank in the AVCA poll. The Gophers are one of three programs to finish in the top 10 in the last eight seasons.
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 -- Sophomore outside Mckenna Wucherer has had a breakout campaign in year two, leading the team and ranking seventh in the Big Ten with 3.74 kills per set.
6 -- The Gophers are in the midst of a stretch where they play ranked opponents in six of seven games to end non-conference play. They played Baylor (14) Aug. 26, Texas (7) Tuesday and Florida (3) last Sunday. After playing Oregon (6) and Stanford (5) in Palo Alto, Calif, the 'U' hosts High Point (UR) on Sept. 14 and closes out the preseason against Creighton (14) on Sept. 16.
1 -- Fifth year libero Kylie Murr ranks first in the Big Ten in digs per set through three weeks of play with 4.70. She's one of two players in the league to tally two 20+ dig matches in 2023. She had 27 vs. TCU (Aug. 25) and 22 vs. Oregon (Sep. 8).
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 Fours, five Elite Eights and 10 Sweet 16s.
1 -- Middle Phoebe Awoleye ranked No. 1 in the nation in blocks per set after the first weekend (2.29). She ranks No. 2 in the Big Ten and No. 12 nationally with 1.52 per set after six games.

LAST TIME OUT
• The 'U' defeated No. 6 Oregon in five sets on Friday night before falling to No. 5 Stanford in four on Saturday during the Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge in Palo Alto, Calif. Mckenna Wucherer posted 21 kills and 10 digs, both career-highs in the win over Oregon. Melani Shaffmaster had 51 assists with 18 digs in the win. The Gophers were split at one set apiece on Saturday at Stanford before the Cardinal pulled away in sets three and four.

SCOUTING HIGH POINT
• High Point is led by sixth-year head coach Ryan Meek, who's led the team to three NCAA Tournament's so far in his five previous years in charge. His teams hold over a .700 win percentage with him at the helm.
• HPU was picked unanimously by the Big South coaches to four-peat as the regular season conference champions. From the 2022 regular season and tournament champions team, Dylan Maberry was voted as the Preseason Player of the Year and All-Conference team for the second year in a row.
• Maberry leads the Panthers with 4.42 kills per set in 2023, while Jordyn Schilling leads them with 3.71 digs per set. HPU holds wins over UMBC, Yale, Army, Wofford, ETSU and Davidson this season.

SCOUTING CREIGHTON
• The No. 14 ranked Creighton Bluejays are led by 21st-year head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth. Under Booth, the team has made 11 straight NCAA Tournaments and they're the nine-time defending BIG EAST regular season champions.
• Norah Sis was named Preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year and CU was picked to finish second in a preseason poll of BIG EAST volleyball coaches. Sis was joined on the 12-woman Preseason All-BIG EAST Team by Bluejay teammates Kendra Wait and Ava Martin.
• Sis ranks second on the team with 4.13 kills and 3.35 digs per set while Ava Martin leads the group with 4.18 kps. Junior setter Kendra Wait was named BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week on Monday (9.91 assists, 1.18 kills per set).

MINNESOTA'S HISTORY VS. HIGH POINT AND CREIGHTON
• The Gophers have never played High Point. They are 6-0 all-time versus Creighton, with their first meeting coming in 1980 and their last meeting taking place in 2019. Their first meeting in 1980 was a 3-1 Gophers victory in a tournament in Springfield, Mo. They played next in 2007, a 3-1 Minnesota win in Minneapolis. The Gophers took wins in 2008 (at CU, 3-1), 2010 (3-0, NCAA Tournament in Minneapolis), 2012 (3-1, NCAA Tournament in Minneapolis), and 2019 (3-2, NCAA Tournament in Minneapolis).
• In the 2019 match, the Gophers rallied from down two sets to one in the Round of 32 match and fought off multiple set points in the fourth to stave off elimination. The Gophers wound up taking the match before beating Florida and Louisville to make the Final Four.

MINNESOTA IN THE DIET COKE CLASSIC
• Minnesota is 58-8 all-time in the Diet Coke Classic. Their only loss in the past 10 years of the tournament came last year against No. 22 Pepperdine, a four-set defeat.

GOPHERS RANKED 9TH IN LATEST AVCA POLL
• The Gophers entered the 2023 season with a No. 7 overall ranking in the Preseason AVCA poll. They come in at No. 9 this week after splitting games against No. 6 Oregon and No. 5 Stanford. 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.

GOPHERS IN NON-CONFERENCE PLAY
• Since 2011, Minnesota is a superb 110-27 (.803) in non-conference competition.
• Of their 27 non-conference losses, eight have come to Stanford (3-7) and six have come to Texas (1-6).

BIG TEN BESTS
• The Gophers hit a Big Ten season-best .323 for a five set match in a win over No. 6 Oregon on Friday night. Only one other Big Ten team has hit over .300 in a five-setter this season (Wisconsin vs. Tennessee, .306, 9/3/23).
• 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. She ranks second in bps in the Big Ten (1.52).
• Kylie Murr's 27 digs on Sept. 25 vs. TCU were tied for the second most digs in a match by a Big Ten player in 2023. Amanda Darling (Iowa) and Sydney Dennis (Iowa) both have a 28-dig match this year. Murr is one of two Big Ten players to have two 20+ dig matches this season.
• The Gophers rank third in the Big Ten in digs per set with 14.43.

'U' HOLDING FIRM AT HOME
• Since 2015, Minnesota holds a 106-15 (.883) record at home. This includes a 36-5 (.900) non-conference mark. The only non-conference home losses during that time were in 2018 to Oregon, 2021/2023 to Texas and in 2022 to Pepperdine and Stanford.

RANKED OPPONENTS ON TAP
• Starting with the Gophers game against then No. 15 Baylor, the Gophers are in the middle of taking on five ranked opponents in their final six non-conference games.
• They've already played Baylor (17), Texas (6) and Florida (3). Oregon (7), Stanford (5) and Creighton (14) are all ranked in the top 20.
• Of all the teams currently ranked in the top-25, Minnesota and Stanford are the only ones who have played five top-25 ranked opponents. Both have played four top-10 ranked opponents already. Only No. 3 Florida has played more than two (3) top-10 ranked opponents in the opening three weeks of the season.

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 on Aug. 26. Her 3.74 kills per set ranks seventh in the Big Ten after six matches. Wucherer holds double digit kills in five 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 Friday.

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 on Aug. 26. Murr holds 2,043 career digs, which ranks No. 6 of all active collegiate players in the nation.
• Murr leads the Big Ten with 4.70 digs per set in 2023 and is one of two players in the league to have two 20+ dig matches this season.

AWOLEYE BUILDS A WALL
• A senior LMU transfer originally hailing from Marietta, Ga., Phoebe Awoleye started her Gophers career with a 'bang' on opening weekend. She posted 16 blocks (2.29 bps) and five kills on her way to Big Ten/Big 12 Challenge All-Tournament honors. Awoleye had a career-high 10 blocks in the win over No. 15 Baylor as the Gophers silenced the Bears attack, holding them to .000 hitting. She ranks No. 12 nationally in blocks per set (1.52), including second in the Big Ten.

UP NEXT
Minnesota opens Big Ten play at Iowa on Thursday, Sep. 21 at 6 p.m. FS1 will televise the match.

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Players Mentioned

Phoebe Awoleye

CC McGraw

Kylie Murr

Melani Shaffmaster

Mckenna Wucherer