University of Minnesota Athletics
2009 Final Four
The 2009 season marked the third Final Four appearance in program history and also marked the third trip for the Gophers in six years. The Golden Gophers started the season with a split at the AVCA Showcase against Kansas State and Nebraska, held in Omaha. From there, Minnesota won five-straight before dropping a match to then No. 3 Washington. The Gophers entered the Big Ten season with a 9-3 mark in preseason play. Minnesota opened up league competition with a 5-0 mark before it fell in back-to-back matches against Penn State and Illinois. Minnesota added another three wins before it fell in another pair of back-to-back matches against No. 1 Penn State (in State College) and Ohio State. The Gophers and went on to win their final seven of eight Big Ten matches to finish third in the Big Ten. Minnesota finished conference play with a 15-5 mark, which ranked third in the Big Ten that season. Lauren Gibbemeyer received All-Big Ten honors, while Christine Tan was an All-Big Ten honorable mention. Tabitha Love garnered Big Ten All-Freshman Team accolades.
The Gophers received the overall No. 11 seed that season and were the No. 3 seed in their own Minneapolis Region. It marked Minnesota’s 11th-straight NCAA tournament selection to date. Sent to Knoxville, Tenn., Minnesota opened up the NCAA tournament against Louisville and won in four sets. They followed with a three-set decision over host Tennessee to advance to their home regional. Minnesota hosted Florida State, Kentucky and Colorado State to their regional as the Gophers faced the CSU Rams in the Sweet 16. The Gophers defeated the Rams in four sets to advance to the NCAA Regional Final. Taking on Florida State, the Gophers defeated FSU, in four sets en route to the NCAA National Semifinal. The Gophers, fell to Texas, but finished the season with a 28-9 overall record and held a No. 4 ranking in the final AVCA Top 25 poll.
Gibbemeyer went on to become a First Team All-American that season. She broke the single-season school-record in blocks when she established 181 for the season. Taylor Carico was also named an All-American for the second time in her career as she was named a Third Team All-American. She received second-team honors at USC in 2007 and became the first Division I setter to start for two different programs in the National Semifinals.