University of Minnesota Athletics
Sunday, November 17
Minneapolis, MN
2:00 PM
University of Minnesota
vs
Michigan
Players Mentioned
Outside
/ Volleyball
Middle Blocker
/ Volleyball
Outside/Opposite
/ Volleyball
Outside
/ Volleyball
Middle Blocker
/ Volleyball
Libero
/ Volleyball
Libero/DS
/ Volleyball
Setter
/ Volleyball
Outside
/ Volleyball
Michigan Comes to Visit No. 16 Minnesota
11/15/2024 2:27:00 PM | Volleyball
The Gophers are looking to bounce back from a three match losing streak
MINNEAPOLIS -- The No. 16 Minnesota Golden Gophers (16-9, 9-6 B1G) are looking to bounce back from a three-match losing streak as they host the Michigan Wolverines (16-9, 6-8 B1G) on Sunday, Nov. 17 at 2 p.m. The match will be streamed on B1G+ with Andrew Cornelius (play-by-play) and Meredith Nelson Uram (analyst) on the call.
The Gophers sit in a tie for seventh place in the conference standings with five matches to play. During Big Ten play, the Gophers are 4-3 at Maturi Pavilion.
MICHIGAN GAME INFORMATION
No. 16 Minnesota vs. Michigan
Sunday, Nov. 17
2 p.m.
Maturi Pavilion
Minneapolis, Minn.
TV: B1G+ - Andrew Cornelius (Play-By-Play) and Meredith Nelson-Uram (Analyst)
Radio: Tanner Hoops (Play-By-Play)
Live Stats
NOTES TO KNOW
Minnesota leads Michigan, 64-16. Streak: Minnesota W5
First Meeting: 1975
Last Meeting: Nov. 3, 2024 at Michigan
HEADING INTO THE MATCH
Minnesota leads Michigan, 64-16 (Streak: Minnesota W5)
First Meeting: 1975
Last Meeting: Nov. 3, 2024 at Michigan
HEADING INTO THE MATCH
601 -- Phoebe Awoleye reached 600 career blocks Nov. 14 at Nebraska. She currently holds 601, ranking No. 3 among all active Division I players in that category.
77 -- Julia Hanson ranks No. 77 in the country and No. 9 in the Big Ten with 3.79 kills per set.
52 -- Melani Shaffmaster and Julia Hanson were named to the AVCA Top-52 Player of the Year Watch List. Shaffmaster was named to the original 36 list while Hanson was added as one of 16 additions on Oct. 18.
49 -- The 'U' comes in at No. 49 in the country, holding opponents to just .176 for the year. Only nine of Minnesota's opponents have hit over .200 this season. Four have been below .100.
34 -- Shaffmaster is one of 34 players in the country to register a triple-double in '24. She had a career-high 10 kills with 47 assists and 21 digs on Sept. 7. She's the first Gopher to register a triple-double since Sarah Wilhite in Sept. of 2014.
29 -- All-time at home against Michigan, Minnesota is 29-4. They've won nine straight at home in the series, dating back to 2011. Michigan has won just eight sets in the nine consecutive losses at the Pav. Their last set win at the 'U' came in 2021, a 3-2 loss.
13 -- Times this season Minnesota has posted 10+ blocks as a team, including six of the last 11 matches.
13 -- Minnesota has won 13 of the last 14 matches against Michigan. They have won five straight in the series, taking 15 consecutive sets.
10 -- The 'U' has won 10-or-more Big Ten games in every season except for one dating back to 1999. They can clinch their 10th straight with 10+ wins Sunday versus Michigan.
8 -- Minnesota matches have gone five sets (4-4 record), 13 have been sweeps (12-2) and three have been in four sets (0-3).
7 -- Phoebe Awoleye ranks 8th among active DI players with 1.28 bps; ranks 3rd with 601 total blocks.
7 -- Melani Shaffmaster ranks seventh in Gophers history and fourth among active DI players with 4,827 career assists. She passed Lindsey Taatjes for No. 7 all-time at the 'U' last week.
5 -- Minnesota has just five regular season matches remaining before Selection Sunday (Dec. 1). The Gophers have three home matches (Michigan, Iowa, Ohio State) and two away (Wisconsin, Illinois).
3 -- Minnesota ranks third in the Big Ten and 23rd nationally with 257.0 total blocks in 2024.
2 -- The Gophers were just 2-11 against ranked opponents in 2023, taking wins over No. 15 Baylor and No. 6 Oregon. Minnesota is 2-7 in 2024 with wins over No. 1 Texas, No. 7 Wisconsin. Their losses came against No. 2 Nebraska, No. 3 Penn State, No. 5 Stanford, No. 10 Purdue, No. 12 Oregon, No. 21 USC and No. 23 Baylor. Minnesota plays at No. 6 Wisconsin on Nov. 20 for their last ranked match of 2024.
2 -- Phoebe Awoleye ranks second in the Big Ten and 12th in the country with 1.46 blocks per set.
2 -- Minnesota ranks second in the Big Ten (104th in the NCAA) with 15.18 digs per set.
2 -- In B1G matches only, Minnesota ranks 2nd with 2.80 blocks per set (157 blocks), behind Wisconsin.
1 -- Phoebe Awoleye set the new NCAA high for blocks in a three-set match with 14 on Oct. 12 vs. Maryland. Her 14 blocks also tied a program record for stuffs in a single match.
1 -- In Big Ten play (15 matches), Phoebe Awoleye leads the Big Ten with 1.62 bps and 91 blocks.
LAST TIME OUT
• The No. 16 Minnesota volleyball team fell in four sets to the No. 2 Nebraska Cornhuskers (12-25, 25-22, 22-25, 19-25) on Thursday night in Lincoln. Julia Hanson had 20 kills and 10 digs, Alex Acevedo (career-high) and Zeynep Palabiyik tallied 20 digs each while Melani Shaffmaster went for 42 assists, eight digs and four blocks. Phoebe Awoleye (three blocks) passed 600 for her career, which ranks No. 3 among all active players.
GOPHERS IN THE RANKINGS
• The Gophers came in at 16 in the AVCA Poll on Nov. 11, moving down two spots from the Nov. 4 rankings. Minnesota has been ranked as high as 12 this year (Sept. 30) and as low as 19 (Sept. 9).
• Minnesota comes in at 31 in the RPI rankings and No. 16 in the NCAA DI Committee's Top-16 rankings.
SCOUTING MICHIGAN
• Michigan (16-9, 6-8 B1G) is led by second-year head coach Erin Virtue, who was announced as the seventh head coach in Michigan volleyball history on Jan. 17, 2023. She returned to Ann Arbor after spending five seasons (2011-15) with the Maize and Blue as an assistant. In year one, UM went 7-22 (5-15 B1G) in 2023.
• The Wolverines are having a bounceback 2024 season and began with a strong non-conference performance, going 10-1. The only loss came to now No. 25 UNC in a 3-2 defeat. UM is 0-6 vs. ranked teams.
• Allison Jacobs paces the Wolverines with 4.09 kps (6th in B1G) while Morgan Burke holds 10.11 aps. Jacobs hasn't played since Oct. 30 as she's dealing with an injury.
MINNESOTA'S HISTORY VS. MICHIGAN
• All-time against Michigan, Minnesota is 64-16. The Gophers have won 13 of the last 14 in the series versus the Wolverines. The lone loss came in 2021, a five set defeat in Ann Arbor. Minnesota swept Michigan twice last season. Minnesota has swept Michigan five straight times, winning 15 straight sets in the series. The Gophers won in three sets in Ann Arbor on Nov. 3 (25-23, 25-19, 25-21). Lydia Grote (13), Julia Hanson (12) and Mckenna Wucherer (11) all had 10+ kills while Melani Shaffmaster had 31 assists and eight digs.
STREAKS TO WATCH
• Phoebe Awoleye has tallied multiple blocks in 14 of the last 15 matches. She's posted seven-or-more blocks in eight of the last 11 matches, including 63 total blocks in the last nine contests.
• Calissa Minatee has earned five-or-more kills in 14 matches this season. Minnesota is 11-3 when she has 5+ kills.
• Julia Hanson has totaled 10+ kills in 20 of 25 matches this year, including 11 times in Big Ten play.
• Hanson has tallied 10+ kills in eight consecutive matches. During that span, she's averaged 4.67 kills per set on .332 hitting. She's also totaled 1.79 digs and 0.29 service aces per set.
• Melani Shaffmaster has tallied double-doubles in 12 of 25 matches this season.
• Mckenna Wucherer has posted 10+ kills in four of the last five matches she's played in.
SCHEDULE TESTING GOPHERS ONCE AGAIN
• Opponent-wise, Minnesota will play 10 matches against preseason top-25 ranked teams in 2024. They've played four matches against preseason top-five ranked teams, squaring off against No. 1 Texas, No. 2 Nebraska, No. 3 Wisconsin and No. 5 Stanford. They've also taken on top-10 ranked teams Penn State (7), Purdue (8) and Oregon (10). The Gophers traveled to No. 21 USC and played No. 23 Baylor this year as well.
• Other teams Minnesota played that made the NCAA Tournament include LIU, Auburn and TCU.
• 13 of Minnesota's 30 matches will come against teams that competed in the postseason in 2023.
• Nine of Minnesota's 25 matches thus far have come against top-25 ranked opponents (2-7 record).
GOPHERS STANDING OUT IN ATTENDANCE AT THE PAV
• In 2024, Minnesota ranks fifth nationally in average attendance with 4,845 fans per match. Only Nebraska, Wisconsin, Hawaii and Purdue average more fans per game. The Gophers have sold out conference home matches against Wisconsin, Purdue, Indiana, Maryland, Oregon and Michigan thus far (six of eight). Both remaining home matches against Iowa and Ohio State are tracking to be sellouts as well.
PALABIYIK PACING BACKCOURT
• Sophomore libero Zeynep Palabiyik got her feet wet as a true freshman but is taking the next step with the graduation of Kylie Murr. She played in 20 matches (69 sets) as a freshman in 2023, averaging 1.12 digs, 0.28 assists and 0.13 aces per set.
• She had six-or-more digs seven times last year, including a career-high 11 in a win over Iowa.
• Her sophomore season started with a bang after she tallied a then career-best 22 digs, six assists and even in a kill in an upset over No. 1 Texas. She had just one receiving error as well after having eight on Sept. 1 vs. No. 5 Stanford.
• So far in 2024, Palabiyik holds 10+ digs in 19 of 25 matches and 20+ in seven matches.
• Z ranks seventh in the B1G in digs per set (3.74) and in total digs (352).
MINNESOTA MILESTONES
• Phoebe Awoleye passed 600 career blocks on Nov. 14 at NU. She ranks No. 3 among all active Division I players with 598 in her collegiate career.
• Melani Shaffmaster passed 4,800 assists on Nov. 14 at Nebraska. She ranks fourth among all active Division I players in assists with 4,827. She could be the sixth Gopher ever to pass 5,000 in her career.
• Shaffmaster clinched her fourth straight season with 20+ service aces last weekend. She became the first Gophers setter to reach 400 kills last Sunday at Michigan (408 for her career).
• Lydia Grote (252) reached the 200-kill mark for the fourth time in her career.
• Julia Hanson clinched her first career 300+ kill season last week vs. Washington. She also hit 20 service aces for the first time in her career. Hanson posted a career-best four aces Nov. 3 at Michigan.
UNDER .200, 10+ BLOCKS CLUB
• The Minnesota defense has held 16 of its 25 opponents this year under .200 hitting. Teams are hitting just .170 against the Gophers on the year (fourth in B1G).
• The Gophers have totaled 10+ blocks 13 times this season (high of 19 on Oct. 12). Out of Big Ten teams, only USC (15) has totaled more 10+ block matches this season as Minnesota.
• Minnesota was just the second team all year to hold No. 2 Nebraska below .200 hitting in a match on Nov. 14. The Huskers have won 22 straight matches.
MARKETING THEMES
• Sunday's tilt will be Minnesota's 'Pride' Match. The team will have specific warm up shirts to celebrate the day. There will be activations and messaging on the video board throughout the day.
UP NEXT
Minnesota heads to No. 6 Wisconsin (19-5, 13-2 B1G) on Wednesday, Nov. 20. The match is set for 8 p.m. CT on Big Ten Network.
The Gophers sit in a tie for seventh place in the conference standings with five matches to play. During Big Ten play, the Gophers are 4-3 at Maturi Pavilion.
MICHIGAN GAME INFORMATION
No. 16 Minnesota vs. Michigan
Sunday, Nov. 17
2 p.m.
Maturi Pavilion
Minneapolis, Minn.
TV: B1G+ - Andrew Cornelius (Play-By-Play) and Meredith Nelson-Uram (Analyst)
Radio: Tanner Hoops (Play-By-Play)
Live Stats
NOTES TO KNOW
Minnesota leads Michigan, 64-16. Streak: Minnesota W5
First Meeting: 1975
Last Meeting: Nov. 3, 2024 at Michigan
HEADING INTO THE MATCH
Minnesota leads Michigan, 64-16 (Streak: Minnesota W5)
First Meeting: 1975
Last Meeting: Nov. 3, 2024 at Michigan
HEADING INTO THE MATCH
601 -- Phoebe Awoleye reached 600 career blocks Nov. 14 at Nebraska. She currently holds 601, ranking No. 3 among all active Division I players in that category.
77 -- Julia Hanson ranks No. 77 in the country and No. 9 in the Big Ten with 3.79 kills per set.
52 -- Melani Shaffmaster and Julia Hanson were named to the AVCA Top-52 Player of the Year Watch List. Shaffmaster was named to the original 36 list while Hanson was added as one of 16 additions on Oct. 18.
49 -- The 'U' comes in at No. 49 in the country, holding opponents to just .176 for the year. Only nine of Minnesota's opponents have hit over .200 this season. Four have been below .100.
34 -- Shaffmaster is one of 34 players in the country to register a triple-double in '24. She had a career-high 10 kills with 47 assists and 21 digs on Sept. 7. She's the first Gopher to register a triple-double since Sarah Wilhite in Sept. of 2014.
29 -- All-time at home against Michigan, Minnesota is 29-4. They've won nine straight at home in the series, dating back to 2011. Michigan has won just eight sets in the nine consecutive losses at the Pav. Their last set win at the 'U' came in 2021, a 3-2 loss.
13 -- Times this season Minnesota has posted 10+ blocks as a team, including six of the last 11 matches.
13 -- Minnesota has won 13 of the last 14 matches against Michigan. They have won five straight in the series, taking 15 consecutive sets.
10 -- The 'U' has won 10-or-more Big Ten games in every season except for one dating back to 1999. They can clinch their 10th straight with 10+ wins Sunday versus Michigan.
8 -- Minnesota matches have gone five sets (4-4 record), 13 have been sweeps (12-2) and three have been in four sets (0-3).
7 -- Phoebe Awoleye ranks 8th among active DI players with 1.28 bps; ranks 3rd with 601 total blocks.
7 -- Melani Shaffmaster ranks seventh in Gophers history and fourth among active DI players with 4,827 career assists. She passed Lindsey Taatjes for No. 7 all-time at the 'U' last week.
5 -- Minnesota has just five regular season matches remaining before Selection Sunday (Dec. 1). The Gophers have three home matches (Michigan, Iowa, Ohio State) and two away (Wisconsin, Illinois).
3 -- Minnesota ranks third in the Big Ten and 23rd nationally with 257.0 total blocks in 2024.
2 -- The Gophers were just 2-11 against ranked opponents in 2023, taking wins over No. 15 Baylor and No. 6 Oregon. Minnesota is 2-7 in 2024 with wins over No. 1 Texas, No. 7 Wisconsin. Their losses came against No. 2 Nebraska, No. 3 Penn State, No. 5 Stanford, No. 10 Purdue, No. 12 Oregon, No. 21 USC and No. 23 Baylor. Minnesota plays at No. 6 Wisconsin on Nov. 20 for their last ranked match of 2024.
2 -- Phoebe Awoleye ranks second in the Big Ten and 12th in the country with 1.46 blocks per set.
2 -- Minnesota ranks second in the Big Ten (104th in the NCAA) with 15.18 digs per set.
2 -- In B1G matches only, Minnesota ranks 2nd with 2.80 blocks per set (157 blocks), behind Wisconsin.
1 -- Phoebe Awoleye set the new NCAA high for blocks in a three-set match with 14 on Oct. 12 vs. Maryland. Her 14 blocks also tied a program record for stuffs in a single match.
1 -- In Big Ten play (15 matches), Phoebe Awoleye leads the Big Ten with 1.62 bps and 91 blocks.
LAST TIME OUT
• The No. 16 Minnesota volleyball team fell in four sets to the No. 2 Nebraska Cornhuskers (12-25, 25-22, 22-25, 19-25) on Thursday night in Lincoln. Julia Hanson had 20 kills and 10 digs, Alex Acevedo (career-high) and Zeynep Palabiyik tallied 20 digs each while Melani Shaffmaster went for 42 assists, eight digs and four blocks. Phoebe Awoleye (three blocks) passed 600 for her career, which ranks No. 3 among all active players.
GOPHERS IN THE RANKINGS
• The Gophers came in at 16 in the AVCA Poll on Nov. 11, moving down two spots from the Nov. 4 rankings. Minnesota has been ranked as high as 12 this year (Sept. 30) and as low as 19 (Sept. 9).
• Minnesota comes in at 31 in the RPI rankings and No. 16 in the NCAA DI Committee's Top-16 rankings.
SCOUTING MICHIGAN
• Michigan (16-9, 6-8 B1G) is led by second-year head coach Erin Virtue, who was announced as the seventh head coach in Michigan volleyball history on Jan. 17, 2023. She returned to Ann Arbor after spending five seasons (2011-15) with the Maize and Blue as an assistant. In year one, UM went 7-22 (5-15 B1G) in 2023.
• The Wolverines are having a bounceback 2024 season and began with a strong non-conference performance, going 10-1. The only loss came to now No. 25 UNC in a 3-2 defeat. UM is 0-6 vs. ranked teams.
• Allison Jacobs paces the Wolverines with 4.09 kps (6th in B1G) while Morgan Burke holds 10.11 aps. Jacobs hasn't played since Oct. 30 as she's dealing with an injury.
MINNESOTA'S HISTORY VS. MICHIGAN
• All-time against Michigan, Minnesota is 64-16. The Gophers have won 13 of the last 14 in the series versus the Wolverines. The lone loss came in 2021, a five set defeat in Ann Arbor. Minnesota swept Michigan twice last season. Minnesota has swept Michigan five straight times, winning 15 straight sets in the series. The Gophers won in three sets in Ann Arbor on Nov. 3 (25-23, 25-19, 25-21). Lydia Grote (13), Julia Hanson (12) and Mckenna Wucherer (11) all had 10+ kills while Melani Shaffmaster had 31 assists and eight digs.
STREAKS TO WATCH
• Phoebe Awoleye has tallied multiple blocks in 14 of the last 15 matches. She's posted seven-or-more blocks in eight of the last 11 matches, including 63 total blocks in the last nine contests.
• Calissa Minatee has earned five-or-more kills in 14 matches this season. Minnesota is 11-3 when she has 5+ kills.
• Julia Hanson has totaled 10+ kills in 20 of 25 matches this year, including 11 times in Big Ten play.
• Hanson has tallied 10+ kills in eight consecutive matches. During that span, she's averaged 4.67 kills per set on .332 hitting. She's also totaled 1.79 digs and 0.29 service aces per set.
• Melani Shaffmaster has tallied double-doubles in 12 of 25 matches this season.
• Mckenna Wucherer has posted 10+ kills in four of the last five matches she's played in.
SCHEDULE TESTING GOPHERS ONCE AGAIN
• Opponent-wise, Minnesota will play 10 matches against preseason top-25 ranked teams in 2024. They've played four matches against preseason top-five ranked teams, squaring off against No. 1 Texas, No. 2 Nebraska, No. 3 Wisconsin and No. 5 Stanford. They've also taken on top-10 ranked teams Penn State (7), Purdue (8) and Oregon (10). The Gophers traveled to No. 21 USC and played No. 23 Baylor this year as well.
• Other teams Minnesota played that made the NCAA Tournament include LIU, Auburn and TCU.
• 13 of Minnesota's 30 matches will come against teams that competed in the postseason in 2023.
• Nine of Minnesota's 25 matches thus far have come against top-25 ranked opponents (2-7 record).
GOPHERS STANDING OUT IN ATTENDANCE AT THE PAV
• In 2024, Minnesota ranks fifth nationally in average attendance with 4,845 fans per match. Only Nebraska, Wisconsin, Hawaii and Purdue average more fans per game. The Gophers have sold out conference home matches against Wisconsin, Purdue, Indiana, Maryland, Oregon and Michigan thus far (six of eight). Both remaining home matches against Iowa and Ohio State are tracking to be sellouts as well.
PALABIYIK PACING BACKCOURT
• Sophomore libero Zeynep Palabiyik got her feet wet as a true freshman but is taking the next step with the graduation of Kylie Murr. She played in 20 matches (69 sets) as a freshman in 2023, averaging 1.12 digs, 0.28 assists and 0.13 aces per set.
• She had six-or-more digs seven times last year, including a career-high 11 in a win over Iowa.
• Her sophomore season started with a bang after she tallied a then career-best 22 digs, six assists and even in a kill in an upset over No. 1 Texas. She had just one receiving error as well after having eight on Sept. 1 vs. No. 5 Stanford.
• So far in 2024, Palabiyik holds 10+ digs in 19 of 25 matches and 20+ in seven matches.
• Z ranks seventh in the B1G in digs per set (3.74) and in total digs (352).
MINNESOTA MILESTONES
• Phoebe Awoleye passed 600 career blocks on Nov. 14 at NU. She ranks No. 3 among all active Division I players with 598 in her collegiate career.
• Melani Shaffmaster passed 4,800 assists on Nov. 14 at Nebraska. She ranks fourth among all active Division I players in assists with 4,827. She could be the sixth Gopher ever to pass 5,000 in her career.
• Shaffmaster clinched her fourth straight season with 20+ service aces last weekend. She became the first Gophers setter to reach 400 kills last Sunday at Michigan (408 for her career).
• Lydia Grote (252) reached the 200-kill mark for the fourth time in her career.
• Julia Hanson clinched her first career 300+ kill season last week vs. Washington. She also hit 20 service aces for the first time in her career. Hanson posted a career-best four aces Nov. 3 at Michigan.
UNDER .200, 10+ BLOCKS CLUB
• The Minnesota defense has held 16 of its 25 opponents this year under .200 hitting. Teams are hitting just .170 against the Gophers on the year (fourth in B1G).
• The Gophers have totaled 10+ blocks 13 times this season (high of 19 on Oct. 12). Out of Big Ten teams, only USC (15) has totaled more 10+ block matches this season as Minnesota.
• Minnesota was just the second team all year to hold No. 2 Nebraska below .200 hitting in a match on Nov. 14. The Huskers have won 22 straight matches.
MARKETING THEMES
• Sunday's tilt will be Minnesota's 'Pride' Match. The team will have specific warm up shirts to celebrate the day. There will be activations and messaging on the video board throughout the day.
UP NEXT
Minnesota heads to No. 6 Wisconsin (19-5, 13-2 B1G) on Wednesday, Nov. 20. The match is set for 8 p.m. CT on Big Ten Network.
Highlights: Gophers 2, Purdue 3
Sunday, October 26
Highlights: Gophers 3, Indiana 1
Friday, October 24
Highlights: Gophers 3, Washington 1
Saturday, October 18
Highlights: Gophers 1, Oregon 3
Friday, October 17