It's year three of the Keegan Cook era in Minneapolis
MINNEAPOLIS -- The University of Minnesota volleyball team is getting set for year 54 in program history this fall. Now in year three of the Keegan Cook era, the Golden Gophers will be looking to make their 11th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance and 30th all-time.
They've missed the postseason just once (2014) since 1999. They'll open up the 2025 season with an exhibition match this Saturday, Aug. 16 at 3 p.m. inside Maturi Pavilion. The current team will take on selected alumni, many of whom earned AVCA All-America honors and played in a Final Four.
After that, the preseason No. 11 ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers will officially begin competition on Monday, Aug. 25 against No. 9 Texas A&M. The match will be played at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D. at 7:30 p.m. CT on Big Ten Network. Texas A&M returns most of its core group from a team that fell 3-2 in the Sweet 16 last year to Wisconsin.
LAST SEASON
In 2024, the 'U' finished 21-11 (13-7 B1G) and went to the NCAA Tournament's Round of 32 for the second straight year. The Gophers won an NCAA Tournament match for the 10th straight season and finished tied for sixth in the conference standings in year two under head coach Keegan Cook. The program won four more matches than it did in 2023 (17), and increased its conference win total from 12 to 13 games.
The 'U' earned top-10 wins over then No. 1 Texas and No. 7 Wisconsin, both in five sets. It was the first time Minnesota defeated a No. 1 ranked team since 2019 and the program's second straight home win over Wisconsin.
Statistically, Minnesota improved in hitting percentage (.226 to .242), kills per set (12.4 to 13.0), assists per set (11.5 to 11.8), digs per set (14.7 to 15.3) and blocks per set (2.6 to 2.7) from the year prior.
Minnesota celebrates after taking down then No. 1 ranked Texas in Milwaukee RETURNING PRODUCTION
In 2025, Minnesota returns 62% of its kills, 68% of their digs, 43% of its blocks and 56% of its aces.
Four players who had significant starting experience are back this season. Senior outsides Julia Hanson and Mckenna Wucherer, both Preseason All-Big Ten honorees, have combined to play in almost 150 matches in their careers and have nearly 1,400 kills.
Junior libero Zeynep Palabiyik is back for her second year as a regular after starting in all 32 matches a year ago. She averaged 3.86 digs per set, a figure that put her at seventh in the Big Ten Conference.
Junior middle blocker Calissa Minatee hit over .300 in extended action as a starter in 2024, going for 1.52 kills and 0.98 blocks per set. She's expected to be a big contributor once again this season.
Former Oregon transfers Kate Thibault (Junior, DS/L) and Alex Acevedo (Redshirt Sophomore, OH) both saw extensive action last year, with Thibault playing three rotations in the back row and Acevedo playing all over as an outside. Thibault played in every match and was second on the team with 1.79 digs per set. Acevedo played in 30 games, leading the team with 0.35 service aces per set.
Redshirt senior opposite Lauren Crowl has played in 54 matches during her time at Minnesota. She's averaged 0.83 kills and 0.4 blocks per set but is expected to be a key piece on the pin in her fifth year.
Junior Zeynep Palabiyik (L) and Senior Julia Hanson (R) are back for year two as starters SCHEDULE NOTES
The Golden Gophers will be featured on the Big Ten Network or streamed on B1G+ for every match this season besides six. The 'U' will play a pair of games on FS1, ESPN+ and one on NBC (vs. Nebraska).
Minnesota will compete in a 20-match Big Ten conference schedule following 11 non-conference contests in August and September. Conference play is set to begin on Sept. 25 vs. Michigan State.
The Gophers are set to play 10 matches against AVCA Preseason Top-25 ranked teams. Five of those matches will be against top-10 ranked opponents (No. 8 Wisconsin twice, No. 1 Nebraska, No. 2 Penn State, No. 9 Texas A&M).
Minnesota will also play No. 15 Purdue twice, No. 18 UCLA, No. 21 USC and No. 24 Dayton.
The 'U' is set to play 15 matches against 2024 NCAA Tournament teams from a year ago, including 10 against Sweet 16 teams and two against Final Four participants.
Four opponents who finished inside the AVCA top-10 are set to visit Maturi Pavilion this year, including No. 1 Penn State, No. 4 Nebraska, No. 7 Wisconsin and No. 9 Purdue.
The Gophers celebrate their second straight home win over Wisconsin in 2024 TIME TO INTRODUCE THE TRANSFERS
Two transfers joined the Minnesota roster in the off-season. Sixth-year senior middle blocker Lourdes Myers comes to the 'U' with one year of eligibility after spending five years at Purdue from 2020-24. She played three seasons there after redshirting in 2021. Myers helped the Boilermakers make Sweet 16s in 2023 and 2024 after they went to the Round of 32 in 2022. She averaged 1.31 kills (.342), 1.0 blocks and 0.24 digs per set in her three years in West Lafayette and had her best season in 2024, hitting .356 with 1.28 kills and 1.06 blocks per set.
Junior setter Georgia Lee heads to Dinkytown after spending her first two years at Rutgers. The Phoenix, Ariz., native has played in 29 career matches, averaging 2.05 assists, 0.14 aces and 0.56 digs per set in 77 sets played. She will work to compete with redshirt freshman Stella Swenson.
SWENSON SET TO TAKE OVER INCREASED DUTIES
Redshirt freshman Stella Swenson will make her first appearance for Minnesota volleyball after coming in as a heralded recruit from Minnetonka, Minn. A four-time all-state selection, she led Wayzata H.S. to three straight state titles from 2021-23, being named Minnesota's Gatorade Player of the Year all three seasons.
During her high school career, Wayzata accumulated a 108-4 record. Swenson was a consensus top-10 ranked recruit in the 2024 class, including the No. 1 recruit in the state of Minnesota.
Her older sister, Samantha Seliger-Swenson, played at Minnesota from 2015-18 and led the Gophers to two Final Fours. Seliger-Swenson was a four-time AVCA All-American, including a three-time first team selection.
She redshirted last year as redshirt senior Melani Shaffmaster completed her final year of eligibility.
Stella Swenson getting ready for the 2025 season 'U' TO BE LED BY SENIOR JULIA HANSON
In 2025, the 'U' will be led by 2024 AVCA All-America Honorable Mention Julia Hanson. The senior outside was a unanimous First Team All-Big Ten selection last fall and made the Preseason All-Big Ten Team this year, one of 20 players to do so.
A Savage, Minn., native, Julia Hanson had a breakout season as a junior in 2024. Coming into last year, Hanson had tallied just 98 total kills in her career, playing as a reserve outside hitter and a defensive specialist.
Everything changed in 2024 when she earned a starting spot and never looked back. She hit double-digit kills in 27 of 32 matches, including seven 20+ kill matches. Hanson had 10-or-more kills in each of her last 15 matches of the year and led the team with 4.57 points and 4.01 kills per set. She also tallied career-highs in digs (2.19 dps), blocks (0.55 bps) and aces (0.28 saps).
Among Big Ten pins, Hanson ranked seventh in kills per set and third in hitting percentage (.268). Her 473 kills ranked sixth in the league. She earned two Big Ten Player of the Week awards and won AVCA Player of the Week once as well.
She ranks second among all Big Ten returning players in both kills and points per set.
Mckenna Wucherer is looking to have a big time senior season in 2025 WUCHERER LOOKING TO CLOSE OUT ON TOP
One of the most decorated recruits in Gophers history (No. 1 in 2022), Mckenna Wucherer is looking to have her best season yet in the Maroon and Gold. The former Wisconsin Gatorade Player of the Year has been a two-time AVCA All-Region selection at the 'U' and made the All-Freshman Team in 2022.
The senior has played in 77 career matches, including 26 last year, but a back injury slowed her down throughout the course of the year. She totaled 2.49 kills per set in 2025, a figure that ranked third on the team.
Just 236 kills from 1,000 for her career, Wucherer is expected to pair with Hanson to be one of the most lethal outside hitter combinations in the Big Ten.
YEAR THREE ON THE WAY FOR COACH COOK
Minnesota head coach Keegan Cook enters year three in charge of the Minnesota volleyball program after taking over for Hugh McCutcheon in 2023. He holds a 38-24 record, including a mark of 25-15 in Big Ten competition.
The Gophers advanced to the Round of 32 in each of the past two seasons, finishing fifth and sixth, respectively, in the conference standings.
Eight Gophers have earned All-Big Ten honors in the past two seasons, including four players to the First Team.
Julia Hanson and Melani Shaffmaster were both named AVCA All-America Honorable Mention last year for his first All-Americans in the Maroon and Gold.
This will be his 11th year as a head coach. In his eight years at Washington, he led the Huskies to four Pac-12 titles and eight NCAA Tournament trips, including six Sweet 16s and four Elite Eights. He made his first Final Four during the spring of 2021. His teams have never missed the NCAA Tournament.
Minnesota's freshman class (L-R): Jordan Taylor, Kelly Kinney, Carlk Gilk, McKenna Garr HIGH HOPES IN TACT FOR 2025 FRESHMEN CLASS
A top-10 ranked recruiting class arrived in Dinkytown this past year. Libero/defensive specialist McKenna Garr (Rush City, Minn./Rush City H.S.), opposite Carly Gilk (Brooklyn Park, Minn./Champlin Park H.S.), outside Kelly Kinney (West Palm Beach, Fla./The King's Academy) and middle blocker Jordan Taylor (Houston, Texas/Langham Creek H.S.) have all signed on to be Minnesota Golden Gophers.
Garr, one of three January arrivals with Gilk and Taylor, was voted as the top libero in Minnesota High School volleyball last fall. A top-five finalist for the Minnesota Ms. Baden Award last fall, Garr led Rush City to three straight state tournament appearances.
Opposite Carly Gilk was the No. 1 ranked prep recruit in Minnesota and the 27 player in the country in 2024. The Star Tribune Player of the Year is a three-time all-state honoree and led Champlin Park to the state finals last year after never having been to state previously. She was named a Senior Prep Volleyball Second Team All-American on the club circuit.
Middle blocker Jordan Taylor (Houston, Texas) brings physicality and skill to a crucial need for Minnesota. The 6-foot-5 Texas native was named District Outstanding Blocker of the Year her final three years of high school. She totaled 712 kills and 133 total blocks as a senior last fall on her way to All-Greater Houston First Team honors. She played a key role on Team USA's U19 Team taking silver this summer as well.
A 6-foot-2 outside hitter from the Sunshine State, Kelly Kinney enrolled at Minnesota in June after a heralded prep career. Prep Volleyball ranked her as the No. 11 player in the country in 2025, including the No. 1 player ranking in the south. She was named an All-American by Under Armour, Prep Volleyball, Volleyball Magazine and Prep Dig. The four-time all-district and all-region honoree played with Taylor on the Team USA U19 team this past summer.
All four players earned AVCA All-Region honors while Hanson and Shaffmaster were named AVCA All-America Honorable Mention, the first All-America honors of their careers. Hanson was also named a VBMag.com Third Team All-American.
Melani Shaffmaster departs after starting for five years in Minneapolis KEY DEPARTURES
Minnesota loses three All-Big Ten honorees from its 2024 team. Setter Melani Shaffmaster, the only Gopher to reach 5,000 assists, 1,000 digs, 300 kills and 300 blocks in her career, departs after being named AVCA All-America and First Team All-Big Ten. She started in all 141 matches she played in over five years, helping Minnesota to an Elite Eight and two Sweet 16s.
Middle blocker Phoebe Awoleye was one of the most prolific blockers in Minnesota history during her two years with the program. Last year, she ranked No. 1 in the Big Ten during conference play with 1.64 blocks per set. Her senior year had her ranked No. 6 all-time for a single season in Gophers history with 1.48 bps (2024). She was Second Team All-B1G in 2024.
Opposite Lydia Grote capped off her two-year career in Minneapolis with First Team All-Big Ten honors in 2024. She ranked second on the team with 2.90 kills per set, also adding 1.45 digs and 0.78 blocks per set. She started all 31 matches she played in.
NCAA TOURNAMENT STREAK
The program has made 25 of the last 26 NCAA Tournaments and has had 29 straight winning seasons, dating back to 1995. The Gophers have won 10-or-more Big Ten games in every season except for one dating back to 1999. The program has finished in the top six of the Big Ten standings every year since 2015.
