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No. 12 'U' Wins 12th Straight in Sweep of RU
9/28/2025 5:42:00 PM | Volleyball
Minnesota moves to 12-1 (2-0 B1G)
MINNEAPOLIS -- The No. 12 Minnesota volleyball team took down the Rutgers Scarlet Knights on Sunday afternoon at Maturi Pavilion. The scores were 25-22, 25-13, 29-27.
The Gophers hit .369 for the match, their fourth-best total of the season. It was the eighth time they hit over .300. Minnesota also had 11 aces, including a season-best for a set with seven in the second frame alone.
"I just had to remind our team that serve receive and service pressure are a big part of our game," said head coach Keegan Cook. "We needed to take some risks from the service line and get Rutgers off the net. They certainly answered that call."
Julia Hanson and Lourdes Myers led Minnesota with eight kills while Stella Swenson went for 28 assists and four aces. Carly Gilk and Jordan Taylor had seven kills each and combined for five blocks.
"It all starts with the defense," Gilk said. "Our diggers were getting the ball high enough for Stella and she is so connected with all our hitters. I think the team aspect and how connected we are played a big part in our success."
The Gophers (12-1, 2-0 Big Ten) outhit the Scarlet Knights (9-5, 0-2 Big Ten) .369 to .277. The two teams tied in kills (41 to 41) and blocks (5 to 5). RU had more assists (40 to 36) and Minnesota led in digs (31 to 29) and aces (11 to 6).
Maxwell Aspen paced Rutgers with 14 kills while setter Lily Bolen had 39Â assists.
The Gophers have won 12 straight matches since dropping their opener, continuing the program's longest winning streak since 2019.
How It Happened
SET 1 | Rutgers came out aggressively, scoring four of the first five. A 3-0 Gophers spurt tied it up and the two teams went back and forth up to 9-9. A 4-0 RU run paced by three kills and an ace put the visitors up 12-9, forcing a Minnesota timeout. RU kept between a one and three point lead all the way up to 17-17, where Minnesota tied it up with a kill from Carly Gilk and an ace from Alex Acevedo. With the two teams tied at 18, a Scarlet Knights kill and block put the visitors up 20-18, leading to the 'U's final timeout of the frame. Another kill would put RU up 21-18 before a Gilk kill and bad set made it 21-20. Rutgers called a timeout at this point. A kill from Myers tied it at 21. The Gophers would go up 23-22 after a kill and a hitting error, leading to RU's final timeout of the set. An ace from Hanson and a hitting error from RU helped Minnesota take the first set, 25-22, despite 17 kills from the Scarlet Knights.
SET 2 | Minnesota started fast in set two, scoring six of the first eight before the visitors called time. Taylor and Hanson totaled kills while Myers went for two straight in the run. Minnesota would go up a set-high five points at 8-3 after an ace from Georgia Lee. The 'U' would keep a steady lead from three to five points through the middle of the frame before a 3-1 run put them up 15-9. Kills from Gilk and Myers came along the way. RU had got two straight kills and a Minnesota error after that, resulting in a Gophers timeout with the tally at 15-12. The 'U' came out red hot after the break, getting points from a pair of RU errors before a kill of Acevedo and three straight aces from Georgia Lee. RU would score just one point the rest of the frame as Minnesota finished on a 10-1 run to win, 25-13. Stella Swenson finished the set with two straight aces. The Gophers had seven aces total in the set.
SET 3 | The two teams split the first 14 points in a competitive beginning of the frame. A 4-2Â Minnesota spurt paced by kills from Taylor, Gilk and Kinney helped the Gophers go up 11-9. A pair of kills from Myers and one more from Kinney put the home team up 15-12 heading into the media timeout. Minnesota kept up the momentum, getting a pair of aces from Swenson in-a-row to go up 18-13, leading to an RU timeout. A block from Gilk and Taylor combined with a Taylor Kill put the 'U' up 21-13. A kill from Hanson helped the Gophers go up 23-15 before the Scarlet Knights reeled off four straight to cut the lead to four at 23-19, causing a timeout to come from coach Cook. RU would get as close as one at 24-23 before Minnesota called a timeout. RU tied it at 24 after an ace. Minnesota had three chances at match point but the Scarlet Knights kept answering. Kinney had a kill to put Minnesota up 27-26, leading to RU's final timeout. After the Scarlet Knights put down another kill to make it 27-27, the Gophers closed it out with kills from Taylor and Hanson to win, 29-27.
Game Notes
» Minnesota now leads the all-time series against RU, 12-3.
» The 'U' now has nine sweeps in 12 wins this year.
» Minnesota hit over .300 for the eighth time in 2025.
» The Gophers set their season-high with 11 aces on Sunday afternoon. It was their second time with 10+.
» Jordan Taylor set a new career-high with seven kills on .667.
» Alex Acevedo had two aces, her fourth match of the year with multiple aces.
» Georgia Lee tallied a career-high four aces, her fourth match of the year with multiple in a match.
» Stella Swenson set a career-high with four aces to go along with 28 assists and six digs.
» Lourdes Myers went for eight kills, her 10th time going for five-or-more in a match this year.                                               » The 'U' celebrated alumni day on Sunday, honoring over 30 Golden Gophers. The 2015 Final Four and Big Ten title game received special honors. Â
Up Next
Minnesota travels to Michigan (10-3, 0-2 B1G) on Wednesday evening at 6:30 p.m. CT on BTN.Â