The 12th-ranked Minnesota volleyball team (26-6,
16-4) closed out the regular-season with a four-set victory over Michigan State
(15-16, 7-13) by scores of 25-18, 20-25, 25-13, 25-23 in the regular-season
finale at Jenison Field House on Saturday, Nov. 29.
With the victory, Minnesota
won its eighth straight match. The eight straight Big Ten wins to close out Big
Ten play, matches the program’s third-longest conference winning streak in a
single season.
The Golden Gophers also claimed their 26th
victory of the year. The 26 wins are the most in the regular-season by Minnesota since 2004,
and the program’s fourth-highest regular-season total during the NCAA era.
Minnesota
will wait to find out where they are going in the NCAA Tournament. The NCAA
Tournament Selection Show will start on Sunday, Nov. 30 at 9 p.m. (CT) on
ESPNU. It will also air on Nov. 30 at 9:30 p.m. (CT) on ESPNews.
The Golden Gophers were led by senior Kyla Roehrig (Papillion, Neb.)
who hit .360 (12-3-25) with 12 kills and three blocks in her final career Big
Ten match. Roehrig had two solo blocks to move her into fourth place on the
school’s all-time list at 125. Rachel Hartmann (St. Charles, Ill.)
also had 37 assists, with three blocks and two kills in her Big Ten match.
Katie Vatterrodt (Bloomington,
Minn.) had four kills and two blocks in her
final Big Ten match, while Kelly Schmidt (Champaign,
Ill.) had four kills and two
block in her Big Ten finale.
Sophomore Lauren Gibbemeyer (St. Paul, Minn.)
hit .360 (12-3-25) with nine kills, six block and had a service ace, while Pam
Luiz (Limeira, Brazil) had 13 digs, seven kills and three blocks.
Christine Tan (Safety Harbor,
Fla.) had a team-high 14 digs, and Hailey
Cowles (Eden Prairie, Minn.) finished with 10 digs, four kills and
a service ace.
Minnesota outhit Michigan State .223 to .095, despite the fact
that the Spartans had 53 kills to 43 for the Golden Gophers. Minnesota
forced Michigan State into 39 attack errors, while it
had 16 on the night. Overall, the Spartans had 48 errors on the night (39
attack errors and nine service errors). Minnesota
also outblocked Michigan
State 12.0-to-9.5 on the
night.
Michigan
State jumped out to a 4-2
lead in the first set, but the Golden Gophers got a kill and a service ace to
tie the set at four. Minnesota
scored eight of the next 10 points to stretch out a 10-2 run into a 12-6 lead.
The Spartans scored three of the next five points to cut the lead to 14-9.
Vatterrodt and Gibbemeyer answered with back-to-back kills to
spark a 6-0 run for the Golden Gophers to put them up 20-9. Michigan State
responded with five of the next six points to cut the lead to 21-14. Schmidt
and Roehrig sandwiched kills around a Spartan point to move Minnesota’s lead out to 23-15. The Golden
Gophers pushed it to set point at 24-16. Michigan
State fought off a pair of set points,
before Roehrig put down a kill to give Minnesota
the first set 25-18.
The Golden Gophers outhit the Spartans .320 to .094, despite
the fact that they had 11 kills to Michigan
State’s 12 in the set. Minnesota had two service aces to none for the Spartans,
and also committed only three attack errors to nine for Michigan State.
Vatterrodt led the Golden Gophers with three kills in the set.
Minnesota
jumped out to a 10-6 lead in the second set, but the Spartans answered with 12
of the next 15 points to take an 18-13 lead. The Golden Gophers stopped the run
when Gibbemeyer and Hartmann combined on a block. From that point, the teams
exchanged the next 12 points to move it to set point at 24-20. Heather McDaniel
delivered a kill to give the Spartans the second set 25-20.
Michigan State outhit the Golden Gophers .231 to .182 in the
set, and had 18 kills to 10 for Minnesota.
The Golden Gophers outblocked the Spartans 5.0-to-3.0 in the set, and only had
four attack errors to nine for Michigan
State in the set.
Gibbemeyer led Minnesota
with four kills and two blocks in the second set.
In the third set, the Golden Gophers jumped out to a 12-6
lead after a kill by Roehrig. Minnesota
expanded on that lead with a 7-0 run to move it 19-6. Roehrig had a kill and a
solo block during the run, while Gibbemeyer had a kill and combined on a block
during that stretch. Minnesota
pushed it to set point at 24-9. The Spartans scored four straight points to cut
it to 24-13, before committing and attack error to give the Golden Gophers the
set.
Minnesota outhit Michigan State .250 to -.081 in the set, despite
the fact that the teams both had nine kills. In the set, the Golden Gophers
outblocked the Spartans 3.0-to-0.0, and had only two attack errors to 12 for Michigan State. The Spartans also committed three
service errors in the set. Gibbemeyer had three kills in the set for Minnesota, while Tan had
six digs.
Michigan
State jumped out to a 13-5
lead in the fourth set, but the Golden Gophers scored 10 of the next 13 matches
to cut the lead to 16-15. The Spartans scored consecutive points to make it
18-15, but Luiz answered with a kill and Schmidt followed with a solo block to
make it 18-17. Minnesota made it a 4-0 run to
take the lead at 19-18 after consecutive attack errors by Michigan State.
The Spartans scored consecutive points to grab the lead back
at 20-19. Michigan
State committed a service error to tie the set again, but McDaniel delivered
and a service ace to put the Spartans ahead 22-20.
Minnesota’s
seniors took over when Roehrig sandwiched a pair of kills around a kill by
Schmidt to give the Golden Gophers a 23-22 lead. Michigan State committed an
attack error to give Minnesota match point, but Becca Zlabis came up with a
kill to cut the lead to 24-23, but the Golden Gophers closed out the match on
the next play to claim the four-set victory.
Michigan State was led by Zlabis who has 15 kills and two blocks.
McDaniel had 10 kills and nine digs, while Kyndra Abron finished with 11 kills
and two blocks. Setter Natalie Emro had 43 assists, 15 digs and six kills, and
Allyson Karaba had a match-high 19 digs
Courtesy: University of Minnesota
