sprThe Minnesota volleyball team dropped its final match of the spring to Northwestern 3-1 by scores of 25-30, 30-23, 31-29 and 30-20 at the Sports Pavilion. It was the third weekend of Minnesota’s spring volleyball schedule.

Last week, Minnesota won at the Marquette Tournament, with victories over North Dakota State, Northern Michigan and Marquette.

Minnesota will return seven letterwinners from last year’s national runner-up team, including First-Team All-Americans Kelly Bowman (Maple Grove, Minn.) and Paula Gentil (Forteleza Ceara’, Brazil). The Golden Gophers also welcome four Fab-50 senior recruits into the program, along with Arizona transfer Meghan Cumpston.

The Golden Gophers began the 2005 season by hosting the Diet Coke Classic at the Sports Pavilion on Sept. 2-3. Minnesota will host North Dakota State, Xavier and Central Florida in that tournament. That same week, the Golden Gophers will face Nebraska on Monday, Sept. 5 at the Sports Pavilion.