No. 16 Gophers Open Big Ten Play with No. 7 Wisconsin at the Pav

MINNEAPOLIS-- The No. 16 Minnesota Golden Gophers enter conference play after earning six straight sweeps to end their preseason slate. They'll play host to the No. 7 Wisconsin Badgers for the first time at home since 2022.

It'll be a 'Gold Out' at Maturi Pavilion. Big Ten Network will provide television coverage, with Sloane Martin and Emily Ehman on the call. Tanner Hoops will have the radio broadcast on GopherSports.com. The 'U' won its 2022 home opener against then No. 6 Wisconsin in straight sets.

GAME INFORMATION
No. 16 Minnesota vs. No. 7 Wisconsin
Wednesday, Sept. 25
8 p.m. CT
Maturi Pavilion
Minneapolis, Minn.
TV: BTN - Sloane Martin (Play-By-Play) and Emily Ehman (Analyst)
Radio: GopherSports.com
Live Stats

NOTES TO KNOW
Minnesota leads Wisconsin, 53-38.
Streak: Wisconsin, Won Two Straight
First Meeting: 1975
Last Meeting: 2023

TRAFFIC ADVISORY:
Ongoing construction will impact traffic flow on 4th Street between Oak Street and I-35W. All fans are encouraged to utilize other roads to avoid delays. Please allow for extra time on your way to and from Maturi Pavilion. Fans are encouraged to purchase parking passes in advance. All fans arriving at Maturi Pavilion without a parking pass should park in Lot 37 or Maroon Lot.

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 three Gophers in history to record 4,000 career assists, 1,000 digs and 300 kills.
500 -- Phoebe Awoleye reached 500 career blocks Sept. 13 vs. Auburn. She is one of four active Division I players in the nation to reach the 500-block mark. She currently holds 510.
31 -- Minnesota is 31-12 all-time at the Pav against Wisconsin. The Gophers have won 11 of the last 15 at home in the series, including a 3-0 sweep in their last meeting in 2022.
29 -- Libero Zeynep Palabiyik posted a career-best 29 digs Sept. 6 at No. 23 Baylor. She has five matches with 20+ digs (B1G best) in 2024 and ranks 1st in the B1G with 4.42 dps.
29 -- Minnesota is 29-13 all-time in Big Ten lidlifters.
21 -- Melani Shaffmaster is one of 21 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.
19 -- Melani Shaffmaster led the Big Ten with 19 double doubles last season. She has 65 in her career, the most of any B1G setter (6 in 2024). Shaffmaster was named to the AVCA Top-36 Player of the Year Watch List on Sept. 19. The three-time All-B1G honoree is looking to earn her first All-America honor in 2024.
14 -- The Gophers have won at least one postseason match in 14 straight NCAA Tournaments. The last time they were eliminated in the first round was in 2007 (3-1 loss to Sacramento State). The Gophers are 27-1 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
14 -- Of the 31 Gophers home wins in the series against Wisconsin have been sweeps.
12 -- Minnesota has won its last 12 home openers. Its last loss was in 2011, a 3-2 defeat to Illinois.
9 -- Phoebe Awoleye ranks 9th among active DI players with 1.23 bps; ranks 4th with 510 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.
8 -- Melani Shaffmaster ranks 8th all-time in Gophers history with 4,287 career assists.
6 -- Minnesota ranks sixth in the B1G with 2.63 blocks per set. They've had 10+ blocks in five matches.
5 -- The Gophers ranks fifth in the B1G with 1.82 service aces per set.
4 -- Melani Shaffmaster ranks fourth among active DI players with 4,287 career assists. She's one of four athletes in the country that has totaled 4,000 assists and 1,000 digs.
4 -- The first four Gophers matches went five sets (1-3 record), but the last six have all been sweeps.
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 with a win over No. 1 Texas.
1 -- Minnesota ranks first in the Big Ten with 17.29 digs per set. The second place team is Wisconsin at 15.57 dps. Opposing teams are hitting just .120 against the Gophers (1st in the B1G).

LAST TIME OUT
• No. 16 Minnesota is coming off a 3-0 week, with three sweeps at the Capital Credit Union Classic in Green Bay, Wis. The Gophers beat Green Bay, North Dakota and Chicago State in the three-day event. 15 of the 17 rostered players appeared in matches. Julia Hanson and Phoebe Awoleye were named to the all-tournament team while Hanson won MVP after notching 33 kills on .461 hitting in the three-day event.

GOPHERS RANKED 16TH THIS WEEK
• 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.
• Minnesota has been ranked all four weeks of the AVCA Top-25 poll in 2024.
• 18th was Minnesota's lowest preseason ranking since coming in at No. 22 in 2006. They came in at 16 on Sept. 23, moving up one spot from the No. 17 ranking last week.

SCOUTING WISCONSIN
• Wisconsin is led by 12th-year head coach Kelly Sheffield. He's led the Badgers to five Final Fours since he's been at the helm, including a national title in 2021. Wisconsin has won four of the last five Big Ten regular season titles and is coming off its fourth Final Four appearance since 2019.
• The Badgers (6-3, 0-0 B1G) enter Wednesday's matchup on a six-game winning streak after losing their first three matches to top-10 ranked teams in Louisville, Texas and Stanford. The Badgers will be searching for their first top-15 win of the season in their conference opener.
• UW is led by reigning AVCA/Big Ten Player of the Year Sarah Franklin, who paces the team with 4.63 kills and 2.51 digs per set. Opposite/middle Devyn Robinson leads the team on defense with 1.21 blocks per set.

MINNESOTA'S HISTORY VS. WISCONSIN
• Minnesota is 53-38 all-time versus Wisconsin. The Gophers broke a six-game losing streak in the series in 2022 with a 3-0 sweep on Sept. 25 at the Pav. Prior to the six-game slide, the Gophers had won eight straight in the series from 2015-18. Last year, Wisconsin took the lone match in Madison, 3-0.
• All-time at the Pav, Minnesota is 31-12 against the Badgers. Minnesota has won 11 of the past 15 matchups at home against Wisconsin. 14 of the Gophers 31 home wins in the series have been sweeps.
• Four times previously in the series history have the teams opened up conference play at the Pav. Minnesota has won all four of those matchups (1995, 1999, 2009, 2022), winning 12 of the 13 sets (three sweeps).

GOPHERS IN BIG TEN OPENERS
• Minnesota is 29-13 in B1G openers and has won its last 12 conference home openers.
• The Gophers last loss in a Big Ten home opener was a 3-2 defeat to Illinois in 2011.
• Minnesota swept then No. 6 Wisconsin in its 2022 home opener at the Pav.

MINNESOTA GOES BIG
• Since 2012, Minnesota is 173-55 (.761) in B1G play, including 11 seasons over .500 in league play.
• In 10 of those seasons, the 'U' went 15-5 or better in B1G play, with the best being 19-1 in 2018.
• This will be the first season since 2014 (9-11 Big Ten) that Minnesota will have won less than 15 of its conference matches. However, it clinched its ninth straight winning B1G season on Nov. 18 against Ohio State. Minnesota had won 15-or-more B1G bouts in 10 of the last 11 seasons.
• The Gophers won Big Ten titles in 2016 and 2018 and have finished either first, second or third in 10 of the last 11 seasons. The Gophers tied with Ohio State for third place in 2022. Minnesota took fifth in the conference in 2023 behind Nebraska, Wisconsin, Penn State and Purdue.

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.
• So far in 2024, Hanson has tallied double digit kills in nine of 10 matches, aces in nine of 10 matches and has three double doubles. She was named to the Big Ten/Big 12 Challenge All-Tournament team in addition to winning MVP of the Capital Credit Union Classic.
• Julia leads Minnesota and ranks 10th in the Big Ten with 3.71 kills per set in 2024.

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.
• 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 eight of 10 matches and 20+ in five matches.
• Entering Big Ten play, Palabiyik leads the Big Ten in digs per set (4.42) and 20+ dig matches (5). She ranks third in digs (168) and sixth in reception attempts (238).

SERVING STEPS UP FOR THE MAROON AND GOLD
• One of head coach Keegan's Cook's points of emphasis is to be a tough serving team to compete against. So far in 2024, the Gophers have totaled 69 for an average of just under seven per match. The Gophers ranks sixth in the league in aces and 5th in aces per set (1.82).
• After last Friday's match versus Auburn, head coach Brent Crouch told AuburnTigers.com: "Minnesota is just an incredibly good serving team. Everyone that I've talked to who's played them has said that's the best serving team they've seen. It looked like that on video. It's really tough to be a team that's serving like that. We had some good runs but there's also some room to grow there. But I love where we are at this point of the year."

UP NEXT
Minnesota takes on No. 10 Purdue on Saturday, Sept. 28 at 5:30 p.m. inside Maturi Pavilion. Big Ten Network will again provide television coverage.

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Players Mentioned

Phoebe Awoleye

Julia Hanson

Kylie Murr

Zeynep Palabiyik

Melani Shaffmaster