StatThe Minnesota Volleyball team defeated Wright State in five games by scores of 29-31, 30-19, 29-31, 30-22 and 15-6 on Friday, August 30. With the win the Golden Gophers moved to 3-1, while Wright State fell to 0-1 after the opener.

Minnesota led for most of the first game, but fell behind 24-23 for the first time. With Wright State leading 26-25, the Golden Gophers scored four of the next five points to go up 29-27. However, the Raiders fought off game point and scored the last four points to take game one from Minnesota 31-29.

Game two started even in the early going. However, with the score tied at 15, Minnesota scored 12 of the next 13 points to go up 27- 16. The Golden Gophers would close out the game at 30-19 to even up the match at one game. Minnesota held Wright State to a -.134 hitting percentage, while Trisha Bratford (Reseda, Calif.) helped ignite the Golden Gophers with five kills in the game.

The Golden Gophers trailed Wright State for most of the third game and found themselves down 28-23. However, Minnesota ripped off five straight points to tie the score at 28. The Raiders scored the next point, but Cassie Busse (Prior Lake, Minn.) answered with a kill to tie it at 29. Wright State answered with the next two points to take game three, and go up 2-1 in the match.

Minnesota jumped out to a 4-0 lead and never trailed the rest of the way in game four. With the score at 25-22, the Golden Gophers scored the last five points to take the game 30-22 and even the match at two games apiece.

In the fifth game, Minnesota took control early jumping out to a 10-3 lead. The Golden Gophers continued to roll winning game five 15-6 to claim the match. Busse had five kills, while Erin Martin had four in the game to help propel Minnesota to the five-game victory.

Busse led the attack with her third career double-double. She had career-highs in kills with 24, digs with 17 and tied her career-high in blocks with seven. Bethany Brafford (Mansfield, Ohio) registered her fifth career double-double with 10 kills and 10 blocks on the night. Freshman libero Paula Gentil (Fortaleza Ceara, Brazil) set the record for digs in rally scoring matches for Minnesota for the second time this season with 27. Sophomore setter Lindsey Vander Well (Prinsburg, Minn.) had a career-high six kills, along with 58 assists and 11 digs. Martin also had double figure kills with 10 on the night.

Karis Day paced Wright State with 19 kills and 18 digs on the match.

Minnesota ends its first day of tournament action with a 2-0 record. The Golden Gophers will take on Youngstown State on Saturday, Aug. 31 at 2 p.m. and host Florida Atlantic at 6 p.m.

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