University of Minnesota Athletics
2018 Big Ten Champions
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The 2018 season was one for the record books. The Golden Gophers won 18-straight Big Ten matches en route to a 19-1 conference record and league championship. It marked the program’s third conference title in school history.
The Golden Gophers opened the season 5-0 before falling in a pair of losses to Pac-12’s Oregon and Stanford. From there, the Gophers responded with 19 straight wins, including 18-straight in Big Ten action. The Gophers closed out the non-conference season with a win over Green Bay (Kansas State match was cancelled due to safety concerns in Pavilion). The 19-straight wins set a new school record and broke the previous best of 15 set in 2015. Minnesota’s 18-straight wins against league opponents also set a new school record, set previously in 2015 during another Big Ten title performance.
Minnesota lost just 11 sets during the daunting Big Ten title run. The Gophers opened Big Ten action against 2017 league champion Penn State at Maturi Pavilion. In a sellout crowd, Minnesota earned a 3-0 win over the Nittany Lions. The Gophers continued their home stand with another set of 3-0 wins against Maryland and Wisconsin. Minnesota then hit the road and won a pair of 3-0 decisions against Indiana and Northwestern before traveling to Nebraska. Minnesota won the first set, 25-20, and dropped the second, 23-25, its first set loss of the conference season. The Gophers, however, rebounded to take the match in four to improve to 6-0 in Big Ten play.
Minnesota went 3-0 against Illinois and Iowa at a sold out Maturi Pavilion before the Nebraska Huskers came to Minneapolis. Suffering just their second set loss of the Big Ten season, Minnesota won, 3-1. The Gophers were on the road for three-straight and earned 3-0 wins against Michigan State and Michigan before it defeated Wisconsin, 3-1, on Oct. 31, 2018. Minnesota had its first five-set decision of the season in a win over the Spartans at Maturi Pavilion. The Gophers added two additional 3-0 wins over Indiana and Purdue to close out the regular season. In a 3-1 win over Maryland, Minnesota secured a tie for the league title. The Gophers, however, won the title outright in a 3-2 victory at Ohio State on Nov. 17, 2018. The Gophers suffered their first and only conference loss of the season in a 3-2 decision against Penn State in University Park, Pa. Minnesota rebounded and closed out the Big Ten season with a win at Rutgers for the 19-1 record.
Samantha Seliger-Swenson was named the Big Ten Player of the Year. She became Minnesota’s first setter to ever don the honors. She was also named Co-Setter of the Year, her second honor in three seasons. Along with Seliger-Swenson, Stephanie Samedy and Regan Pittman were named First Team All-Big Ten, while Alexis Hart, Taylor Morgan and Adanna Rollins were named Second Team All-Big Ten. Rollins and CC McGraw claimed Big Ten All-Freshman honors. Head coach Hugh McCutcheon was named named Big Ten Coach of the Year, his second honor in seven seasons.
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