No. 19 Gophers to Host 2024 Diet Coke Classic

MINNEAPOLIS -- The No. 19 Minnesota Golden Gophers are hosting the Diet Coke Classic at Maturi Pavilion once again. They'll take on LIU on Thursday night before hosting Auburn on Friday on B1G+. LIU and Auburn will compete on Saturday morning, Sept. 14, at 11:30 a.m. CT. All three matches will be streamed on B1G+.

GAME INFORMATION
No. 19 Minnesota vs. LIU
Thursday, Sept. 12
7 p.m. CT
Maturi Pavilion
Minneapolis, Minn.
TV: B1G+ Sam Konstan (Play-By-Play) and Kyra Schwanz (Analyst)
Live Stats

GAME INFORMATION
No. 19 Minnesota vs. Auburn
Friday, Sept. 13
6 p.m. CT
Maturi Pavilion
Minneapolis, Minn.
TV: B1G+ Andrew Cornelius (Play-By-Play) and Kyra Schwanz (Analyst)
Live Stats

GAME INFORMATION
LIU vs. Auburn
Saturday, Sept. 14
11:30 a.m. CT
Maturi Pavilion
Minneapolis, Minn.
TV: B1G+ Sam Konstan (Play-By-Play) and Saniah Bates (Analyst)
Live Stats

NOTES TO KNOW
Minnesota leads LIU, 2-0, and trails Auburn, 1-2
First Meeting: 2004 (LIU) and 1990 (Auburn)
Last Meeting: 2012 (LIU) and 2009 (Auburn)

HEADING INTO THE MATCH
4,000 -- Redshirt Senior setter Melani Shaffmaster passed 4,000 career assists with her 27th assist Sept. 1 vs. Stanford. She is the eighth Gopher ever to reach 4,000 and one of four Gophers in history to record 4,000 career assists and 1,000 career digs.
59 -- Minnesota is 59-9 all-time in the Diet Coke Classic. They went 1-1 last year with a 3-1 win over High Point and a 3-1 loss to No. 14 Creighton.
43 -- All-time, the Gophers are 43-10 in home openers after Tuesday night. Their last loss came in 2021 against No. 1 Texas (3-1). Before that, it was in 2007 against No. 23 Ohio State. Minnesota has won 15 of its last 17 home openers.
43 -- The Gophers 43-21 all-time against SEC teams.
29 -- Libero Zeynep Palabiyik posted a career-best 29 digs Friday at No. 23 Baylor. She ranks 1st in the B1G with 4.65 dps.
28 -- The 'U' clinched its 28th straight winning season with a win over OSU on Nov. 18. The last time they didn't have a winning season was in 1995 (13-17, 7-13 Big Ten). In the 53-year history of Gopher volleyball, the team has had only five losing seasons.
24 -- The 'U' made its 24th NCAA Tournament in the last 25 seasons, including its ninth straight, in 2023.
19 -- Melani Shaffmaster led the Big Ten with 19 double doubles last season. She has 63 in her career, the most of any B1G setter.
14 -- Minnesota tallied 14 blocks in each of its first two matches, tying its season-high from last season. The Gophers have posted 10+ blocks in four of five matches thus far.
12 -- Melani Shaffmaster is one of 12 players in the country to register a triple-double this season. She had a career-high 10 kills with 47 assists and 21 digs on Sept. 7 vs. TCU. She's the first Gopher to register a triple double since Sarah Wilhite did so in September of 2014.
10 -- Phoebe Awoleye ranks 10th among active DI players with 1.23 bps; ranks 4th with 497 total blocks.
9 -- The Gophers have had nine straight seasons winning over half of their B1G games, dating back to 2014 (9-11). Minnesota has had winning conference seasons in 21 of the last 22 seasons.
4 -- Melani Shaffmaster ranks fourth among active DI players with 4,170 career assists. She's one of four athletes in the country that has totaled 4,000 assists and 1,000 digs in her career.
4 -- Four of Minnesota's five matches have went to five sets. The average game time has been 2:28.
2 -- The Gophers were just 2-11 against ranked opponents in 2023, taking wins over No. 15 Baylor and No. 6 Oregon. Minnesota is 1-2 this year. Their next top-25 ranked opponent will be Wisconsin (Sept. 25).

LAST TIME OUT
• The No. 19 Minnesota volleyball team racked up 11 blocks on the way to a 3-0 sweep (25-20, 25-16, 25-21) over the St. Thomas Tommies Tuesday night in their home opener at Maturi Pavilion. The Gophers (2-3, 0-0) Big Ten) offense was paced by Julia Hanson, who finished with 10 kills on the day while accumulating a hitting percentage of .286, and by Lydia Grote, who had 10 kills while hitting .259. Defensively, Minnesota had two players reach double figures in digs as Zeynep Palabiyik had 20 and Melani Shaffmaster had 10.

GOPHERS RANKED 19TH ENTERING WEEK THREE
• The Gophers entered the 2024 season with a No. 18 overall ranking in the Preseason AVCA poll.
• The Gophers have been ranked in the preseason poll in nine straight seasons and 23 of the last 25.
• The last time Minnesota was unranked in a preseason poll was before the 2015 season in which they went on to make the Final Four.
• 18th was Minnesota's lowest preseason ranking since coming in at No. 22 in 2006. They came in at 19 on Sept. 9 after beating No. 1 Texas but falling to No. 23 Baylor and TCU.

SCOUTING LIU
• LIU is led by second-year head coach Amable Martinez. The Sharks went 13-19 (9-5 NEC) in his first year in 2023, taking home the Northeast Conference title after defeating No. 1 Sacred Heart and No. 2 FDU in the conference tournament and semifinals, respectively. LIU made the NCAA Tournament and fell 3-0 to No. 1 Nebraska.
• Camelia Mendez, who was named the NEC Tournament MVP last year after tallying 30 kills in two matches, leads the Sharks with 2.74 kills per set this season. Defensively, senior Alasha Colon paces the backcourt with 4.85 dps.
• LIU is 1-6 so far in 2024, with its lone win coming over Quinnipiac. The Sharks have lost their last three matches in straight sets to Tennessee, UCLA and Rutgers, respectively.

SCOUTING AUBURN
• The Auburn Tigers (6-0, 0-0 SEC) are led by fifth-year head coach Brent Crouch. AU has been to two straight NCAA Tournaments for the first time in school history. Overall, the program has been to three NCAA Tournaments.
• Auburn was picked to finish 10th in the 15-team SEC in the preseason poll. Junior outside Madison Scheer was named to the All-SEC Preseason Team. Scheer paces the team thus far with 3.50 kills per set in 2024. Alexis Dacosta leads the backcourt with 5.00 digs per set while Chelsey McCurdy averages 1.40 blocks per set.
• The Tigers best win of 2024 came on Sunday against No. 15 Florida St., when they came away with a 3-1 win at home. Scheer had 15 kills while Alexis Dacosta had 20 digs and Emma Moore tallied eight blocks.
• The sister of Minnesota's Kate Thibault, Paige, plays for Auburn. She is a senior libero/defensive specialist.

MINNESOTA'S HISTORY VS. LIU AND AUBURN
• Against LIU, the Gophers are 2-0 all-time. They last met in the 2012 regular season, a 3-0 Minnesota win at Maturi Pavilion.
• Minnesota is 1-2 all-time against Auburn. The two teams have not met since 2009, a 3-0 Minnesota win at Maturi Pavilion.

SHAFFMASTER SETS THE TABLE
• A 2022 First Team All-B1G selection, Melani Shaffmaster ranks No. 8 in program history in assists (4,170). She became the eighth Gopher to pass 4,000 with her 27th assist on Sept. 1 against No. 5 Stanford. She started her 2024 season with a massive performance in an upset of No. 1 Texas, posting 44 assists, 17 digs, six kills, four aces and three blocks. She had 40 assists and eight digs on Sunday vs. No. 5 Stanford.
• Melani ranks 4th among active Division I players in assists and 67th in digs (1,224). She is one of just four active players in the country to have recorded 4,000 assists and 1,000 digs.
• Mel is one of four Gophers all-time to record 4,000 assists and 1,000 digs. She joined Sharon Oesterling (1986-89), Samantha Seliger-Swenson (2015-18) and Lindsey Taatjes (2001-04) on the list.
• Shaffmaster did a little bit of everything on Saturday versus TCU. She became the first Gopher since Sarah Wilhite in 2014 to register a triple-double when she went for 10 kills, 47 assists and 21 digs in a five set defeat. The 10 kills was also a career-best for Shaffmaster.

MINATEE MAKING MIDDLE MAGIC
• After playing sparingly as a true freshman in 2023, Calissa Minatee has stepped into a big role as a starter at middle blocker. She posted a career-high seven blocks in a five set loss to No. 5 Stanford on Sept. 1 before going for a career-high nine kills (.571) and six blocks in a win over No. 1 Texas Sept. 2.
• Minatee posted a career-best 11 kills on Friday night at No. 23 Baylor, her first 10+ kill match.
• Against St. Thomas on Tuesday night, Minatee tallied a career-best eight blocks.

SCHEDULE TO TEST MINNESOTA ONCE AGAIN
• Opponent-wise, Minnesota will play 10 matches against top-25 ranked teams in 2024. They'll play five matches against preseason top-five ranked teams, squaring off against No. 1 Texas, No. 2 Nebraska, No. 3 Wisconsin (twice) and No. 5 Stanford. They'll also take on top-10 ranked teams Penn State (7), Purdue (8) and Oregon (10). The Gophers will travel to No. 21 USC and No. 24 Baylor this year as well.
• Other teams on Minnesota's schedule that made the NCAA Tournament last year include LIU, Auburn and TCU.
• 13 of Minnesota's 30 matches will come against teams that competed in the postseason in 2023.

PALABIYIK PACES BACKCOURT
• Sophomore Turkish libero Zeynep Palabiyik got her feet wet as a true freshman but is set to take 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. Serving for the first time in her career, she posted nine aces as well. 'Z' will have the first crack at the starting libero job this fall.
• 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.
• Palabiyik posted a career-best 29 digs against Baylor on Friday and 24 vs. TCU Saturday. She ranks first in the Big Ten with 176 reception attempts, digs 107 and digs per set (4.65). She ranks 41st nationally in total digs.

HANSON'S PATIENCE PAYING OFF
• A junior out of Savage, Minn., Julia Hanson has been patiently waiting for her chance to shine on the outside for Minnesota. She played situationally as a freshman in 2022, appearing in 10 matches (1.38 kills per set) and all 30 matches in 2023, but notching just 0.64 kills and 1.08 digs per set.
• She's stepped up multiple times in big games when her team has needed her most. On Nov. 12, 2023 at Indiana, she tallied a career-high 19 kills with six digs and an ace. She came off the bench to play front row and led the team in kills in a crucial win in Bloomington.
• As a freshman in 2021, her best match came at then top-ranked Texas where she went for 14 kills (.375) and two blocks in her third ever match.
• She's shined as a full-time starter in 2024, leading the team in kills against No. 5 Stanford (14) and No. 1 Texas (19) to begin the season. She recorded 19 kills and 13 digs for her first ever double-double in an upset win over UT on Sept. 2.
• Hanson again led Minnesota against Baylor and TCU, going for 16 kills and a career-best 19 digs Friday and a career-best 23 kills Saturday. She was named Big Ten/Big 12 Challenge All-Tournament.

UP NEXT
Minnesota travels to Green Bay for the Capital Union Credit Classic from Sept. 19-21. The Gophers will play Green Bay, North Dakota and Chicago State in the three-day event.

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Players Mentioned

Phoebe Awoleye

Lydia Grote

Julia Hanson

Calissa Minatee

Kylie Murr

Zeynep Palabiyik

Melani Shaffmaster

Kate Thibault