University of Minnesota Athletics
Wednesday, October 29
Minneapolis, MN
7:00 PM
University of Minnesota
17-5,7-4Big Ten
3
vs
0
Illinois
12-8,7-4Big Ten
1
2
3
F
Illinois
24
12
22
0
Minnesota
26
25
25
3
Team Stats
Illini
MINN
Kills
35
46
Errors
20
12
Attempts
104
101
Hitting %
.144
.337
Points
43.0
62.0
Assists
32
42
Aces
4
5
Blocks
4
11
Game Leaders
Kills
23
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
7
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
5
Aces
0
Blocks
8
Kills
4
Aces
2
Blocks
1
Players Mentioned
Opposite
/ VolleyballOpposite
/ VolleyballOutside
/ Volleyball
Setter
/ Volleyball
Setter
/ VolleyballMiddle Blocker
/ Volleyball
Hanson's Career Night Leads No. 20 'U' over Illini
10/29/2025 5:41:00 PM | Volleyball
Hanson went for 23 kills on .583 in just three sets
MINNEAPOLIS -- The No. 20 Minnesota volleyball team took down the Illinois Fighting Illini on Wednesday night in straight sets. The set scores were 26-24, 25-12, 25-22. The result concluded the Gophers' five matches in the Big Ten | Discover Volleyball Challenge, where Minnesota went 2-3.
Minnesota improved to 10-1 at home on the season with the win.
Julia Hanson paced Minnesota on a career night, hitting her season-best with 23 kills on a scorching .583. She had 11 of her kills in the first set alone. It was Hanson's second 20+ kill match of the season.
"We came off a tough loss at Purdue and we were in the gym working really hard as a team this week," Hanson said. "Me and Stella had a great connection out there and the passers were awesome. We just had it clicking tonight."
Jordan Taylor went for seven kills on .875 while Stella Swenson tallied 33 assists, seven digs and six blocks. Carly Gilk had 10 digs and Lourdes Myers posted eight blocks to lead the defense.
The Gophers (17-5, 7-4 Big Ten) outhit the Illini (12-,8 7-4 Big Ten) .337 to .144. The 'U' led in kills (46 to 35), digs (42 to 37), blocks (11 to 4) and aces (5 to 4), winning in a dominant effort.
"It was a classic Julia night," said head coach Keegan Cook. "She does all the little things, practices hard, watches film and gets treatment in the training room. It was just a matter of time before she had a night like this."
For Illinois, Taylor De Boer had 13 kills while Averie Hernandez had five kills.
How It Happened
SET 1 | The two teams went back and forth for the first 14 points before the Gophers scored three straight to go up 10-7 after three consecutive kills from Hanson. The Illini would tally a trio of kills to help them catch up to the 'U' at 14-14 before a service error put the 'U' up 15-14 at the media timeout. Hanson had seven kills on nine swings at this point for Minnesota while De Boer had five kills on nine swings for Illinois. Illinois took its first lead of the set at 17-16 following an ace. After a Myers kill, they took their second lead at 18-17 before the Gophers went on a 4-1 spurt, anchored by three blocks from Myers, Swenson and Taylor. Minnesota took a 21-19 lead, forcing a UI timeout. Illinois got a kill and scored on an attacking error after the break to tie it back up at 21-all. Coach Cook then called his first timeout of the set. The Gophers went up 23-22 before Illinois tied it up with a kill, causing the 'U's second timeout. Minnesota would eventually take the set, 26-24, after a Gilk kill and two more kills from Hanson. The Gophers hit .308 for the set with 17 kills, paced by 11 from Hanson.
SET 2 | Illinois came out hot, scoring four of the first six. The Gophers got kills from Taylor and Hanson to tie it up after that. A kill from Gilk and an ace from Garr helped Minnesota take an 8-5 lead before a kill from the Illini. After that, the Gophers erupted on a 9-0 run to take a 17-6 lead. The Illini took both their timeouts during the run. Minnesota got five kills, two blocks and an ace in the spurt. Illinois would cut the lead to as few as 10 at 18-8 before Minnesota finished on a 7-5 run. Kinney and Taylor had kills and blocks in the run while Hanson and Taylor finished the set with a stuff. The Gophers took set two convincingly, 25-12.
SET 3 | Minnesota picked up where it left off, scoring nine of the first 12 in set three before Illinois called a timeout. Hanson and Lauren Crowl had a pair of kills while Georgia Lee had an ace. Lee tallied her second straight ace after the break before a kill from the Illini. A Hanson kill helped Minnesota go up 12-4. After a pair of UI points, the 'U' went on a 4-2 run, getting kills from Taylor and Hanson combined with an ace from Gilk to go up 17-8, forcing a timeout from the visitors. The Gophers would go up by as many as 10 at 20-10 after kills from Kinney and Hanson along with a block from Myers, but a 5-0 UI run made it 20-15, forcing a Minnesota timeout. The Illini would cut the lead to just one at 21-20 before the Gophers called their second timeout. Illinois would tie it up at 21 before Swenson dumped one down for a kill. The Illini tied it up at 22 with a kill before Minnesota ended the match on a 3-0 run to win, 25-22. Taylor tallied her seventh kill before Hanson topped off the night by tying her career-best with 23 kills.
Game Notes
» Minnesota is now 47-40-1 all-time against Illinois. Minnesota has won 11 in-a-row and 15 of the last 16 versus Illinois.
» The win was Minnesota's 11th sweep of the season.
» The 'U' had 11 blocks, their 10th this season with 10-or-more.
» Jordan Taylor went for seven kills on eight swings, hitting a career-best .875.
» Lourdes Myers went for a team-best eight blocks. It was her eighth match this season with five-or-more.
» Julia Hanson went for a season-best 23 kills, her 17th match of the season with 10+. It was her 10 with 15+ and second with 20+. It was her eighth career 20+ kill match. The 23 kills were the second most of any player in the Big Ten in a three set match this year. Her career-high was 24 last year vs. Michigan.
» Carly Gilk had 10 digs, her fourth time this season going for 10+.
» Stella Swenson tied her career-high with six blocks. She also added 33 assists and seven digs.
» Georgia Lee had two aces, her seventh match of the year with multiple.
Up Next
Minnesota hosts No. 22 USC (15-5, 5-5 B1G) on Saturday night at 8 p.m. The match will be on B1G+.
Minnesota improved to 10-1 at home on the season with the win.
Julia Hanson paced Minnesota on a career night, hitting her season-best with 23 kills on a scorching .583. She had 11 of her kills in the first set alone. It was Hanson's second 20+ kill match of the season.
"We came off a tough loss at Purdue and we were in the gym working really hard as a team this week," Hanson said. "Me and Stella had a great connection out there and the passers were awesome. We just had it clicking tonight."
Jordan Taylor went for seven kills on .875 while Stella Swenson tallied 33 assists, seven digs and six blocks. Carly Gilk had 10 digs and Lourdes Myers posted eight blocks to lead the defense.
The Gophers (17-5, 7-4 Big Ten) outhit the Illini (12-,8 7-4 Big Ten) .337 to .144. The 'U' led in kills (46 to 35), digs (42 to 37), blocks (11 to 4) and aces (5 to 4), winning in a dominant effort.
"It was a classic Julia night," said head coach Keegan Cook. "She does all the little things, practices hard, watches film and gets treatment in the training room. It was just a matter of time before she had a night like this."
For Illinois, Taylor De Boer had 13 kills while Averie Hernandez had five kills.
How It Happened
SET 1 | The two teams went back and forth for the first 14 points before the Gophers scored three straight to go up 10-7 after three consecutive kills from Hanson. The Illini would tally a trio of kills to help them catch up to the 'U' at 14-14 before a service error put the 'U' up 15-14 at the media timeout. Hanson had seven kills on nine swings at this point for Minnesota while De Boer had five kills on nine swings for Illinois. Illinois took its first lead of the set at 17-16 following an ace. After a Myers kill, they took their second lead at 18-17 before the Gophers went on a 4-1 spurt, anchored by three blocks from Myers, Swenson and Taylor. Minnesota took a 21-19 lead, forcing a UI timeout. Illinois got a kill and scored on an attacking error after the break to tie it back up at 21-all. Coach Cook then called his first timeout of the set. The Gophers went up 23-22 before Illinois tied it up with a kill, causing the 'U's second timeout. Minnesota would eventually take the set, 26-24, after a Gilk kill and two more kills from Hanson. The Gophers hit .308 for the set with 17 kills, paced by 11 from Hanson.
SET 2 | Illinois came out hot, scoring four of the first six. The Gophers got kills from Taylor and Hanson to tie it up after that. A kill from Gilk and an ace from Garr helped Minnesota take an 8-5 lead before a kill from the Illini. After that, the Gophers erupted on a 9-0 run to take a 17-6 lead. The Illini took both their timeouts during the run. Minnesota got five kills, two blocks and an ace in the spurt. Illinois would cut the lead to as few as 10 at 18-8 before Minnesota finished on a 7-5 run. Kinney and Taylor had kills and blocks in the run while Hanson and Taylor finished the set with a stuff. The Gophers took set two convincingly, 25-12.
SET 3 | Minnesota picked up where it left off, scoring nine of the first 12 in set three before Illinois called a timeout. Hanson and Lauren Crowl had a pair of kills while Georgia Lee had an ace. Lee tallied her second straight ace after the break before a kill from the Illini. A Hanson kill helped Minnesota go up 12-4. After a pair of UI points, the 'U' went on a 4-2 run, getting kills from Taylor and Hanson combined with an ace from Gilk to go up 17-8, forcing a timeout from the visitors. The Gophers would go up by as many as 10 at 20-10 after kills from Kinney and Hanson along with a block from Myers, but a 5-0 UI run made it 20-15, forcing a Minnesota timeout. The Illini would cut the lead to just one at 21-20 before the Gophers called their second timeout. Illinois would tie it up at 21 before Swenson dumped one down for a kill. The Illini tied it up at 22 with a kill before Minnesota ended the match on a 3-0 run to win, 25-22. Taylor tallied her seventh kill before Hanson topped off the night by tying her career-best with 23 kills.
Game Notes
» Minnesota is now 47-40-1 all-time against Illinois. Minnesota has won 11 in-a-row and 15 of the last 16 versus Illinois.
» The win was Minnesota's 11th sweep of the season.
» The 'U' had 11 blocks, their 10th this season with 10-or-more.
» Jordan Taylor went for seven kills on eight swings, hitting a career-best .875.
» Lourdes Myers went for a team-best eight blocks. It was her eighth match this season with five-or-more.
» Julia Hanson went for a season-best 23 kills, her 17th match of the season with 10+. It was her 10 with 15+ and second with 20+. It was her eighth career 20+ kill match. The 23 kills were the second most of any player in the Big Ten in a three set match this year. Her career-high was 24 last year vs. Michigan.
» Carly Gilk had 10 digs, her fourth time this season going for 10+.
» Stella Swenson tied her career-high with six blocks. She also added 33 assists and seven digs.
» Georgia Lee had two aces, her seventh match of the year with multiple.
Up Next
Minnesota hosts No. 22 USC (15-5, 5-5 B1G) on Saturday night at 8 p.m. The match will be on B1G+.
Highlights: Gophers 3, Illinois 0
Wednesday, October 29
Highlights: Gophers 2, Purdue 3
Sunday, October 26
Highlights: Gophers 3, Indiana 1
Friday, October 24
Highlights: Gophers 3, Washington 1
Saturday, October 18