Gophers to Host Iowa on Fan Appreciation Night

MINNEAPOLIS -- No. 16 Minnesota comes home to take on the Iowa Hawkeyes after an emotional 3-2 loss to No. 6 Wisconsin on Wednesday night. Saturday's match will be at 7:30 p.m. on B1G+. The Gophers will be looking to clinch their 10th consecutive winning season in Big Ten play on Saturday night as they work towards earning a host seed for the 2024 NCAA Tournament.

The Gophers sit in seventh place in the conference standings with three matches to play.

IOWA GAME INFORMATION
No. 16 Minnesota vs. Iowa
Saturday, Nov. 23
7:30 p.m.
Maturi Pavilion
Minneapolis, Minn.
TV: B1G+ - Kyra Schwanz (Play-By-Play) and Meredith Nelson Uram (Analyst)
Radio: Tanner Hoops (Play-By-Play)
Live Stats

HEADING INTO THE MATCH
Minnesota leads Iowa, 82-12 (Streak: Minnesota W48)
First Meeting: 1975
Last Meeting: 2023

FAN APPRECIATION NIGHT
• Minnesota will be selling special collector edition t-shirts at the fan shop during the match against Iowa. Limited supplies are available, so fans are encouraged to get them while they last.

NOTES TO KNOW
68 -- Julia Hanson ranks No. 68 in the country and No. 8 in the Big Ten with 3.89 kills per set.
52 -- Melani Shaffmaster and Julia Hanson were named to the AVCA Top-52 Player of the Year Watch List earlier this year.
43 -- The 'U' comes in at No. 43 in the country, holding opponents to just .168 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's the first Gopher to register a triple-double since Sarah Wilhite in Sept. of 2014.
30 -- Alex Acevedo leads the team with 30 aces (0.35 saps). She's tallied aces in five straight contests (13 total).
28 -- Minnesota's RPI rating coming into this week.
14 -- Times this season Minnesota posted 10+ blocks as a team, including seven of the last 13 matches.
10 -- The 'U' has won 10-or-more Big Ten games in every season except for one (2014) dating back to 1999. They clinched their 10th straight with 10+ wins Sunday versus Michigan.
10 -- straight matches with 10+ kills for Julia Hanson. She's hitting .288 during that span, with eight 15+ kill matches and three straight with 20+ kills (No. 2 Nebraska (20), Michigan (24), No. 6 Wisconsin (20).
9 -- Minnesota matches have gone five sets (4-5), 14 sweeps (12-2) and four have been in four sets (1-3).
9 -- Phoebe Awoleye ranks 9th among active DI players with 1.28 bps; ranks 3rd with 614 total blocks.
7 -- Alex Acevedo put down a career-high and tied the B1G high for 2024 with seven aces Sunday.
6 -- Melani Shaffmaster now ranks sixth in Gophers history and fourth among active DI players with 4,925 career assists. She tied Rachel Hartman (2005-08) for No. 6 all-time on Wednesday night.
6 -- If the season ended today, Phoebe Awoleye (1.46 bps) would rank No. 6 in Gopher history for a single season in blocks per set. It would be the most since Paige Tapp had 1.55 bps in 2014.
5 -- Double digit kills in five of the last six matches for Lydia Grote. She's also posted multiple blocks in five of the last six, including two straight 6+ block contests heading into Saturday.
5 -- Five straight matches with double-digit digs for Zeynep Palabiyik (tied for longest streak in 2024).
4 -- Shaffmaster has tallied double-doubles in four of her last five matches. She's got 14 this season.
3 -- Minnesota ranks third in the Big Ten and 16th nationally with 279.0 total blocks in 2024.
3 -- In B1G matches only, Minnesota ranks 3rd with 2.75 blocks per set (179 blocks), behind UW, UO.
2 -- The Gophers were 2-11 against ranked opponents in 2023. Minnesota is 2-8 in 2024 with wins over No. 1 Texas, No. 7 Wisconsin. Losses are against No. 2 Nebraska, No. 3 Penn State, No. 5 Stanford, No. 6 Wisconsin, No. 10 Purdue, No. 12 Oregon, No. 21 USC and No. 23 Baylor.
2 -- Phoebe Awoleye ranks second in the Big Ten and 11th in the country with 1.46 blocks per set.
2 -- Minnesota ranks second in the Big Ten (96th in the NCAA) with 15.34 digs per set.
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 (17 matches), Phoebe Awoleye leads the Big Ten with 1.60 bps and 104 blocks. The next closest player in conference play to her has just 83 blocks.
1 -- The Gophers tied an NCAA season-best for a three set match with 19.0 blocks vs. Maryland on Oct. 12.

LAST TIME OUT
• No. 16 Minnesota volleyball was outlasted in a five set thriller at No. 6 Wisconsin on Wednesday night (21-25, 25-12, 25-22, 20-25, 18-20). Julia Hanson posted a 20-kill, 18-dig match while Melani Shaffmaster went for a season-high 51 assists and 13 digs. Minnesota had a chance at match point, leading 16-15, but UW fought it off and eventually took the fifth set, 20-18. It would have been the 'U's first win in Madison since 2018.

GOPHERS IN THE RANKINGS
• The Gophers entered the 2024 season with a No. 18 overall ranking in the Preseason AVCA poll.
• 18th was Minnesota's lowest preseason ranking since coming in at No. 22 in 2006.
• They came in at 16 in the AVCA Poll on Nov. 18, staying put from the Nov. 11 rankings. Minnesota has been ranked as high as 12 this year (Sept. 30) and as low as 19 (Sept. 9).
• Minnesota comes in at 28 in the RPI rankings and No. 16 in the NCAA DI Committee's Top-16 rankings.

SCOUTING IOWA
• The Iowa Hawkeyes are led by third-year head coach Jim Barnes. Barnes was the head coach at Tulane from 2016-21 before being hired in December of 2021 to lead Iowa's program.
• UI (10-19, 4-13 B1G) went 6-6 in non-conference play before winning their Big Ten opener over Rutgers. They started 2-0 in league play after winning at Maryland the following night. They beat RU again at home in addition to sweeping Indiana last Thursday for their fourth conference win of the season. The Hawkeyes are having a much improved 2024 season after going 8-24 (0-20 B1G) in 2023.
• Statistically, Joy Galles ranks ninth in the Big Ten in digs per set (3.65) while Hannah Whittingstall places 14th in blocks per set (1.16). Both Jenna Meitzler (8.85) and Claire Ammeraal (6.98) are in the top-15 in the league in assists per set.

MINNESOTA'S HISTORY VS. IOWA
• Minnesota is 82-12 all-time against Iowa. The Gophers have won 48 straight matches against the Hawkeyes, dating back to 1995. Of the last 18 matches against Iowa, Minnesota took 13 of them in three sets. The two teams played twice in 2023, with Minnesota winning in five sets in Iowa City and in three sets at the Pav.

HANSON ON A HEATER IN BIG TEN PLAY
• Minnesota junior outside Julia Hanson is on an absolute tear throughout the past month. Named Big Ten Player of the Week on Oct. 28, the Savage, Minn., native has tallied 10+ kills in each of the last 10 matches, including eight 15+ kill bouts and three with 20+. She's hit 20 in three straight matches, the first Gopher to accomplish that feat since Stephanie Samedy did so in 2021.
• Hanson leads the team and ranks ninth in the Big Ten in kills per set (3.89). She's also hitting .262 for the year, which trails only Wisconsin's Sarah Franklin (.297) and Purdue's Eva Hudson (.290) among B1G pins.

AWOLEYE AIMS HIGH IN FINAL SEASON
• Senior middle Phoebe Awoleye is having a big time final year in the Maroon and Gold. In B1G play (17 matches), she leads all Big Ten players with 1.60 blocks per set and 104 total blocks. The next closest players to her are Carter Booth, UW (1.53 bps) and Zuzanna Kulig, MSU (83 blocks).
• In conference play, she's posted five-or-more blocks 11 times, eight-or-more six times and 10+ twice. Awoleye set the conference and school record in a three-set match with 14 blocks Oct. 12 against Maryland.
• Awoleye ranks second in the Big Ten (all matches) with 1.46 blocks per set in 2024.

STREAKS TO WATCH
• Phoebe Awoleye has tallied multiple blocks in 16 of the last 17 matches. She's posted seven-or-more blocks in nine of the last 12 matches, including 76 total blocks in the last 11 contests.
• Calissa Minatee has earned five-or-more kills in 15 matches this season. Minnesota is 11-4 when she has 5+ kills.
• Julia Hanson has totaled 10+ kills in 22 of 27 matches this year, including 13 times in Big Ten play.
• Hanson has tallied 10+ kills in 10 consecutive matches. During that span, she's averaged 4.76 kills per set on .288 hitting. She's also totaled 2.14 digs and 0.51 blocks per set.
• Melani Shaffmaster has tallied double-doubles in 14 of 27 matches this season.
• Mckenna Wucherer has posted 10+ kills in six of the last seven matches she's played in.

GROTE KEEPS GROWING IN FIFTH SEASON
• A transfer from California, Lydia Grote stepped up in a big way at the opposite position for the Maroon and Gold. She's hit 10+ kills in 16 matches, including a streak of seven straight in Big Ten play with double digits (Sept. 25-Oct. 18). She ranks second on the team in aces per set (0.30) and total aces (29) this season.
• A Second Team All-Big Ten selection in 2023, Grote has upped her kills (2.97 from 2.68), digs (1.54 from 1.03), blocks (0.81 from 0.79) and points (3.69 from 3.40) from last season.
• Grote was named to Michella Chester's NCAA Rotation of the Week on Sept. 30 after talling 34 kills and 30 digs in two matches against top-10 opponents that week.

GOPHERS STANDING OUT IN ATTENDANCE AT THE PAV
• In 2024, Minnesota ranks fourth nationally in average attendance with 4,876 fans per match. Only Nebraska, Wisconsin and Hawaii average more fans per game.

WUCHERER MAKING WAVES
• In six of her last seven matches played, Mckenna Wucherer has totaled 20+ kills, the longest streak of her 2024 season. She's tallied 10 double-digit kill matches this year despite dealing with a back injury throughout the season. Her 2.57 kills per set ranks third on the team.

MINNESOTA MILESTONES
• Phoebe Awoleye passed 600 career blocks on Nov. 14 at NU. She ranks No. 3 among all active Division I players with 614 in her collegiate career.
• Melani Shaffmaster passed 4,900 assists on Nov. 20 at Wisconsin. She ranks fourth among all active Division I players in assists with 4,874. 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 (416 for her career).
• Lydia Grote (285)) reached the 200-kill mark for the fourth time in her career.
• Julia Hanson clinched her first career 300+ kill season Nov. 7 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 17 of its 27 opponents this year under .200 hitting. Teams are hitting just .168 against the Gophers on the year (third in B1G).
• The Gophers have totaled 10+ blocks 14 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.

UP NEXT
Minnesota travels to Illinois (17-9, 9-7 B1G) for its final road match on Wednesday, Nov. 27. The match is set for 7 p.m. CT on B1G+.

Upcoming Events

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Alex Acevedo

Phoebe Awoleye

Lydia Grote

Julia Hanson

Calissa Minatee

Zeynep Palabiyik

Melani Shaffmaster

Mckenna Wucherer