University of Minnesota Athletics
2004 Final Four
The Minnesota volleyball team continued to raise the bar for a program already growing accustomed to lofty expectations. After advancing to its first Final Four in school history in 2003, the Golden Gophers took the 2004 season to the next level by advancing to the national championship.
The 2004 team learned the lessons from a tough 2003 start, and ran out to an 11-1 record in non-conference play. Minnesota started the season strong with a four-game victory against host No. 11 Colorado State in the NACWAA Classic. The next night the Golden Gophers seemed poised to end USC’s 49-match winning streak, but saw the Women of Troy rally from a 2-1 deficit to win in five games. Despite the loss, this match would give Minnesota the confidence it needed to be one of the elite teams in the nation throughout the year.
Golden Gopher fans got their first glimpse of the team when Minnesota defeated No. 15 Kansas State in five games. In that match, the Golden Gophers trailed 2-1, but rallied to win the final two games to claim the match. The same scenario unfolded the next night when Minnesota rallied from a 2-1 deficit to defeat No. 4 Florida in five games. The win matched Minnesota’s highest-ranked victory in school history.
When the national poll came out on Sept. 13, Minnesota shot up from No. 5 to No. 1. That came as a result of one of the craziest weekends in college volleyball history, that saw the top four teams in the nation lose in the same weekend.
The Golden Gophers extended their winning streak from non-conference play to 12 matches with a pair of three-game sweeps against Michigan State and Michigan to open up conference play. In the Michigan match, Paula Gentil broke her own school record for digs in a match with 39 in three games.
The Golden Gophers had their 12-match winning streak halted when No. 16 Ohio State defeated them in four games in Columbus. The next night, Minnesota rebounded with a hard-fought five-game victory over No. 4 Penn State. The matchup between the top-ranked Golden Gophers and the fourth-ranked Nittany Lions was the highest ranked matchup between Big Ten teams in conference history. In the match, Gentil broke the Big Ten record for digs with 47, while Erin Martin became just the eighth Minnesota player to record 30 kills in a match.
On Oct. 16, The Gophers returned home on a four-match winning streak to host their first match at Williams Arena since 1993. Minnesota smashed a school attendance record, as a crowd of 10,927 came out to see the second-ranked Golden Gophers defeat No. 23 Illinois in four games. The 10,927 fans was the largest crowd to see a collegiate volleyball match in 2004, and was the fourth-largest non-Midnight Madness crowd to watch a regular-season match in NCAA history.
Minnesota moved its Big Ten record to 10-1, following three-game road victories at Indiana, Purdue and Northwestern. The Golden Gophers had their eight-match winning streak snapped at Wisconsin, as they lost a five-game match to the Badgers.
Minnesota lost a second straight match, as Penn State won in the Sports Pavilion for a second year in a row. The four-game victory, gave the Nittany Lions the inside track on the Big Ten title. Minnesota bounced back to defeat No. 7 Ohio State in four games to get back on the winning track to move to 11-3 in Big Ten play.
Minnesota followed with a tough five-game victory at Michigan on Nov. 12. It marked the fourth time in 2004, that the Golden Gophers won a five-game match in which they trailed 2-1. Minnesota did not lose a game in any of their remaining five Big Ten matches, as the Golden Gophers finished 17-3 in conference play. Minnesota ended up tied for second place in the Big Ten for a second straight year. It marked the fifth time in six years that the Golden Gophers have finished second or higher in the Big Ten.
The Golden Gophers received their first No. 1 seed in school history in the NCAA Tournament, as they were named the No. 4 seed in the entire field. However, Minnesota was sent on the road to New Haven, Conn. for the first two rounds. The Golden Gophers won a pair of three-game matches over Long Island and Yale to advance to the NCAA Regionals for the fifth time in six seasons.
For the first time since 1993, Minnesota hosted the NCAA Regionals. It also marked the first time that the Golden Gophers hosted the NCAA Regionals at the Sports Pavilion, where they are undefeated in NCAA Tournament play. The Golden Gophers jumped out to a 2-1 lead against Georgia Tech, and were ahead 28-23 in the fourth game. What followed was one of the most amazing games in NCAA Tournament history. The Yellow Jackets scored six straight points to give them game point at 29-28. That would be the first of 19 game points for the two teams (10 match points for Minnesota and nine games points for Georgia Tech). The result was the Yellow Jackets winning the longest game in NCAA rally-scoring history at 48-46. Minnesota would again show its mental toughness, as it responded by winning game five and claiming its sixth five-game victory of the season. Martin finished with a career-high 31 kills, while Gentil had an NCAA Tournament record 41 digs against the Yellow Jackets.
Minnesota met Ohio State for a third time in the season in the NCAA Regional Finals. The Golden Gophers lost the first game and faced two game points in game two, before responding to claim it 34-32 to tie the match at one game apiece. The Buckeyes won game three, and led in game four 26-25. However, Minnesota claimed game four 30-28 and won game five to punch its ticket to a second straight Final Four. The match marked the fifth time in the 2004 season, that the Golden Gophers rallied from a 2-1 deficit to win a five-game match.
Senior setter Lindsey Taatjes recorded her first career triple-doubles in each of the two matches, including 18 kills, 37 assists, 13 digs and a .552 (18-2-29) hitting percentage in the NCAA Regional Final against Ohio State. Taatjes was named the Regional’s Most Outstanding Player. Martin and Gentil also received NCAA Regional All-Tournament honors.
Awaiting the Golden Gophers in the Final Four was two-time defending national champion USC. The Women of Troy entered with a 16-match NCAA Tournament winning streak, and had handed Minnesota two losses in the past year. However, this time was different as the Golden Gophers defeat the Women of Troy in four games to advance to the national championship match to play Stanford. The Golden Gophers’ victory ended USC’s 16-match NCAA Tournament winning streak, which was the longest in NCAA Tournament history.
In the national championship, Minnesota fell behind 1-0, but seemed ready to capture some of the momentum in game two. The Golden Gophers led 27-25 in game two, before Stanford rattled off the next five points to move ahead 2-0. The Cardinal claimed game three to deny Minnesota its first national championship in school history.
Gentil and Martin each claimed Final Four All-Tournament honors for Minnesota.
Individually, Minnesota had many players who had seasons to remember. Kelly Bowman and Gentil were each named First-Team AVCA All-Americans. Gentil became the first libero in the AVCA’s history to walk away with first-team honors. It also marked the first time in school history that Minnesota had two players receive first-team All-America honors.
Gentil, who was also named First-Team All-Big Ten and Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, broke an NCAA single-season dig record with 924 digs on the season. She also broke the Big Ten career digs record in just her junior season and heads into her senior season third on the NCAA career digs list.
Martin was named an Honorable-Mention All-American on the season, was All-Region and First-Team All-Big Ten. She had the second-highest single-season kill total in school history at 695, and the fifth-highest solo block total in school history at 55. Martin also finished fifth on the career kills list with 1,818 kills.
Bowman, who was named First-Team All-Big Ten and All-Region, led the nation in triple-doubles with nine, including five against ranked opponents. Taatjes also became the second player in school history to record 1,000 assists and 400 digs in the same season. Her 495 digs was tied for the fourth-highest total in school history.
As a team, Minnesota set school records for wins (33) during the NCAA era (since 1982), assists per game (16.45) and digs per game (19.94 dpg). The Golden Gophers were also the only team in the nation to hold a top-five spot in the national rankings for the entire season. Minnesota claimed its first No. 1 ranking in school history, and had its highest finish in school history in the final rankings at No. 2.