Minnesota Sets Volleyball Media Day For Aug. 21 - GOPHERSPORTS.COM - The Official Athletic Site of the Minnesota Gophers

Minnesota Sets Volleyball Media Day For Aug. 21
The Minnesota volleyball team will have its media day on Monday Aug. 21 at 2:00 p.m.

The Minnesota volleyball team will have its media day on Monday Aug. 21 at 2:00 p.m. Head Coach Mike Hebert will be available to the media, along with the players on the team.

Minnesota will practice before the media session from 9:30 a.m. to 12 noon. Media is encouraged to get any footage during that timeframe. If they are unable to get to that practice session, the Golden Gophers will also practice from 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. later in the day.

There will also be an intersquad scrimmage on Sunday, Aug. 20 at 3:30 p.m., which media are welcome to attend.

Practice will begin for the team on Friday, Aug. 11 from 9:30 a.m. to 12 noon. There will be a later practice that day from 3:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. The Golden Gophers will have similar practice times until the season begins. There will be media availability before and after the practices with proper notice.

Minnesota will also have it’s match against the Alumni on Saturday, Aug. 26 at 7 p.m. The Golden Gophers will have their first match of the season at St. Louis as part of the St. Louis Tournament on Friday, Sept. 1 at 7 p.m.

The Golden Gophers return 12 letterwinners and five starters from last year’s team, which went 25-8 overall, finished No. 21 in the nation and went 14-6 in Big Ten play to tie for third place. Minnesota also advanced to the second round, marking the ninth time in 10 years with head coach Mike Hebert that they won an NCAA Tournament match.

Minnesota returns 2005 First-Team All-Big Ten middle blocker Meredith Nelson (St. Croix Falls, Wis.), 2004 First-Team All-American Kelly Bowman (Maple Grove, Minn.) and last year’s team MVP Malama Peniata (Plymouth, Minn.). The Golden Gophers also welcome a pair of freshman to the program in 6-3 outside hitter Rachelle Hagerty (Defiance, Ohio) and 5-4 libero Christine Tan (Palm Harbor, Fla.). Hagerty was ranked No. 19 among seniors according to prepvolleyball.com, while Tan was ranked among the top senior defensive high school players in the nation by the same source.

For more information call Minnesota volleyball athletic communications contact Steven Geller at 612-624-9396 for practice times, along with player and coach availability.