The University of Minnesota was well represented at the Pan Am games with USA Volleyball. Former Gopher greats Lauren Gibbemeyer, Jessy Jones and former Gopher coach Mike Hebert assisted Team USA to a bronze medal, Thursday night. Led by Gibbemeyer and Jones, Team USA had 22 blocks to rally past Dominican Republic 23-25, 25-16, 25-20, 25-19 in  in Guadalajara, Mexico.

In the bronze-medal match, Gibbemeyer (St. Paul, Minn.) added 16 points with 11 kills and five blocks, while Jones (Naperville, Ill.) charted five kills and seven blocks for 12 points. Gibbemeyer was named the Games' Best Blocker. Playing in all 17 sets, Gibbemeyer led Team USA with 24 blocks, averaging 1.41 per set. She ranked second on the team in kills with 36, trailing only team captain Cynthia Barboza, who had 62. Jones had 20 blocks and 24 kills also in 17 sets played. Coach Hebert served as an assistant coach for the Pan Am Games. 

Team USA's Lauren Gibbemeyer Named Best Blocker

Information and photos courtesy of USA Volleyball and NORCECA

The NCAA released the Division I RPI and Minnesota is fourth overall in the nation. Like the AVCA poll, Illinois ranks first as the only undefeated team in the country at 19-0 (6-0 road, 4-0 neutral, 9-0 home). Nebraska, the Gophers' last opponent, ranks second with a 15-1 overall mark, while Iowa State is ranked third (15-3). Of the top 10 teams in the RPI standings, Minnesota has faced five of the teams already this season.

Along with Illinois, Nebraska and Minnesota, the Big Ten Conference has a total of six ranked in the top 20 RPI. Michigan is ranked 15th overall, Purdue is ranked 16th, Penn State at 19. Full RPI rankings located here.

Senior Ariana Filho was highlighted in the Star Tribune. The second-youngest of 10 children, Filho talks about her childhood and her nine siblings. You can read the entire article here. 

The legacy of University of Minnesota athletics will be celebrated Thursday, Sept. 22 at Ted Mann Concert Hall, when eight former Golden Gopher student-athletes are inducted into the "M" Club Hall of Fame.

Each day until then, we will preview one of the eight inductees with a special video. Next up is Golden Gopher volleyball coaching icon Mike Hebert. For more on all the inductees, click here.

The most successful volleyball coach in school history, Mike Hebert lead the Golden Gophers to three NCAA Final Fours and recently finished his career at the University of Minnesota with a 381 and 185 record. In his fifteen years with the Minnesota Gophers, from 1996-2010, Hebert won more than 75% of his games while leading Minnesota to fourteen NCAA tournament appearances, eight NCAA Regional trips and four NCAA titles.

Along with three Final Fours, Hebert also lead the gophers to the National Title match against Stanford in 2004. He's the only coach in division one volleyball to lead two different programs from the same conference to Final Four appearances and one of four to make multiple trips to the Final Four with two different programs.

Along with national acclaim the Gophers also won their first Big Ten Title in 2002 under Hebert's tutelage. Named 2003 National Coach of the Year, Hebert was also named a five-time Big Ten Coach of the Year. Along with the M-Club induction, Hebert was also inducted into the American Volleyball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

The official induction of the 2011 class will take place during a ceremony to be held at the Ted Mann Concert Hall (2128 Fourth Street South, Minneapolis, MN 55455) on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2011.Tickets are available for purchase online through the University of Minnesota ticket office at www.tickets.umn.edu or by calling the Northrop ticket office at 612-624-2345.

Senior Jessica Granquist is known for her libero skills, but her family, especially her sister, inspires her. Read a great story and courage about Jessica, her sister, Christina, and her family here.

Welcome to the Gopher Volleyball blog! We'll have more content up here shortly -- but for right now, we just wanted to welcome you! Keep checking back here for more content.