The ninth-ranked Minnesota volleyball team (1-1) dropped a five-game decision to No. 23 Ohio University (3-0) by scores of 24-30, 31-29, 18-30, 30-27, 15-13 in its first match of the Diet Coke Classic on Friday, Aug. 31 at the Sports Pavilion. In the earlier match No. 2 Stanford defeated No. 12 San Diego in three games 30-24, 30-24, 30-20.

For the second straight match, Minnesota was led by freshman outside Brook Dieter (Bloomington, Minn.) who had 22 kills, 10 digs, two solo blocks, two service aces and hit .375 (22-4-48). Dieter has collected 40 kills in her first two career matches as a Golden Gopher.

Senior middle blocker Jessy Jones (Naperville, Minn.) had 14 kills, four blocks and hit .385 (14-4-26) on the night. Freshman middle blocker Lauren Gibbemeyer (St. Paul, Minn.) had a match-high seven blocks and 10 kills for the match. Kyla Roehrig (Papillion, Neb.) also had 11 kills and six blocks on the night.

Junior setter Rachel Hartmann (St. Charles, Ill.) had 55 assists, 16 digs and a career-high five kills. Sophomore libero Christine Tan (Safety Harbor, Fla.) had 20 digs and three assists, while freshman Hailey Cowles (Eden Prairie, Minn.) had 12 digs and five assists.

Minnesota outhit Ohio University .254 to .159 on the night, but the Bobcats had 73 kills to 69 for the Golden Gophers. Minnesota outblocked Ohio University 17.0-to-6.0 on the night. The Golden Gophers also had 72 digs to 67 for the Bobcats.

“It was one of those matches that we won in most of the stat categories, but we were not able to win on court,” said Minnesota Head Coach Mike Hebert. “We outblocked them in the match, but their left-side hitters did a good job all night of getting points for them. We also made some mistakes in crucial moments of the match. Give Ohio University credit for coming in here, being aggressive and getting the victory.”

Minnesota jumped out to a 2-0 lead in game five on an error by the Bobcats and a Kelly Roysland (Fosston, Minn.) service ace. Ohio University scored three of the next four points to tie it at 3-3. Gibbemeyer and Hartmann combined on a block to push the Golden Gophers ahead 4-3. After the Bobcats tied it at four, Gibbemeyer delivered a kill to put Minnesota ahead 5-4.

Ohio University responded with four straight points to take an 8-5 lead and force a Golden Gopher timeout. Out of the timeout, the Bobcats went up 9-5. Roehrig followed with a kill, but the Bobcats answered to make it 10-6. Jones and Roehrig combined on a block to make it 10-7, but Ohio University responded to pushed it to 11-7. Roehrig followed with another kill to make it 11-8, but the Bobcats pushed it back out to 12-8.

Jones delivered a kill, followed by a Gibbemeyer and Katie Vatterrodt (Bloomington, Minn.) combining on a block to make it 12-10. Ohio University scored the next point, but Dieter came up with back-to-back kills to cut it to 13-12. After a timeout, Minnesota had a costly service error. Dieter delivered another kill to make it 14-13, but Ellen Herman answered with a kill for the Bobcats to give them the match.

Thirteen of Ohio University’s points in the fifth game came on kills, as the Bobcats hit .391 for the game. Minnesota hit .368, but had eight kills in the deciding game.

After splitting the first two games, Minnesota ran out to a 10-7 lead in game three. Ohio University answered with three of the next four points to cut it to 11-10. The Golden Gophers rattled off the next five points to take a 16-10 lead. The Bobcats scored the next points, but Roehrig and Jones combined on a block to make it 17-11. Jones followed with an athletic play, when she poked a ball over the Bobcat defense during a scramble play to give Minnesota an 18-11 lead.

The teams exchanged the next 10 points to make it 23-16. Jones and Roehrig combined on a block to make it 24-16 to force a Bobcat timeout. Minnesota expanded its lead to 10 points at 26-16. After the teams exchanged the next two points, Roehrig delivered back-to-back kills to give the Golden Gophers game point at 29-17. Ohio University fought off one game point, but Jones delivered a kill to give Minnesota a 2-1 lead in the match.

Minnesota limited Ohio University to a -.128 hitting percentage in the game, while hitting .242. The Golden Gophers also outblocked the Bobcats 6.0-to-0.0, and had 13 kills to nine for Ohio University. Dieter led Minnesota with four kills in the game.

The Golden Gophers jumped out to a 4-1 lead in game four, but Ohio University answered 11 of the next 15 points to move ahead 12-8. The two teams exchanged the next six points to make it 15-11. Minnesota scored the next two points to make it 15-13. Ohio University pushed the lead out to 17-14, but Dieter answered with back-to-back kills to cut the lead to 17-16. The Bobcats made it 18-16, but Dieter responded with another kill to cut the lead back to one point.

Ohio University answered quickly with five of the next six points to move ahead 23-18 to force a Golden Gopher timeout. Minnesota cut the lead to 23-20 on a solo block by Hartmann and a kill by Vatterrodt. The Bobcats answered with six of the next eight points to make it game point at 29-22. Minnesota scored the next five points, including a kill by Gibbemeyer, two service aces by Dieter and kill by Roehrig, to make it 29-27. Ohio University finally closed out the game to send the match to a fifth game.

The Bobcats outhit Minnesota .300 to .154 in game four, and had 22 kills to 13 for Minnesota. Dieter and Roehrig each had four kills in the game.

In the first game, the teams had 10 ties within the first 20 points to make it 10-10. Dieter delivered a kill to help start a Minnesota run where it scored five of six points to move ahead 15-11. With the score at 13-11, Gibbemeyer and Hartmann combined on a block and then Gibbemeyer again team with Roehrig on a block to help close out the Golden Gopher run.

Ohio University scored to make it 15-12, but Dieter answered with a backrow kill. The Bobcats cut it to 16-13, but Jones and Roehrig delivered back-to-back kills to make it 18-13. Ohio University scored five of the next seven points to cut the lead to 20-18. The teams exchanged the next six points to make it 23-21. The Bobcats cut it to a one-point lead at 23-22.

Jones broke up the Bobcats momentum with a kill to make it 24-22. Following an attack error to make it 25-22, Ohio University called a timeout. Out of the timeout, the Golden Gophers scored the next three points to close out a 5-0 run to make it 28-22. After a Bobcat point, Roehrig delivered a kill to make it game point at 29-23. Ohio University fought off the first game point, but Jones finished off the game with a kill to give Minnesota the 1-0 lead in the match.

The Golden Gophers outhit Ohio University .345 to .094 in the first game, and had 15 kills to 11 for the Bobcats. Dieter and Jones each led Minnesota with four kills apiece in the game.

In game two, Minnesota ran out to a 9-2 lead to force a Bobcat timeout. With the score at 5-2, Gibbemeyer and Roehrig delivered back-to-back kills. Roehrig and Gibbemeyer followed with back-to-back solo blocks to push the lead out to 9-2. Ohio University cut the lead to 13-8, before Kelly Roysland (Fosston, Minn.) halted the momentum with a backrow kill. Minnesota pushed it to a seven-point lead, before Ohio University answered with back-to-back points to trim it back to 15-10.

Following a Dieter kill, the Bobcats answered with consecutive points to make it 16-12. Gibbemeyer and Jones answered with back-to-back kills to push it back out to 18-12. After Ohio University pushed it back to four points at 18-14, Jones answered with a kill to make it a five-point lead. The Bobcats followed with an error, and Rachelle Hagerty (Defiance, Ohio) delivered a kill for a third consecutive point to make it 21-14.

Ohio University answered with the next four points to cut the Golden Gopher lead to 21-18 to force a Minnesota timeout. The Golden Gophers scored the next two points to push the lead out to 23-18. Ohio University answered with the next two points to make it 23-20, but Jones delivered a kill to make it 24-20. The Bobcats ripped off six straight points to take their first lead of the game, and then pushed it out to two points at 26-24.

Dieter answered with back-to-back kills to tie the game at 26. Ohio University moved back ahead 27-26, but Dieter answered with another kill to tie at 27. Gibbemeyer gave Minnesota a 28-27 lead, but the Bobcats quickly answered with consecutive points to make it game point at 29-28. Hartmann delivered a kill on a dump to tie it at 29. However, Ohio University came right back with the next two points to claim the game to tie the match at one game apiece.

The Bobcats had 20 kills to 18 for Minnesota in game two and won the game, despite being outhit by the Golden Gophers .245 to .224 in the game. Dieter led Minnesota with six kills in game two.

Ohio University was led by Herman, who had 25 kills, 12 digs and two blocks. Melissa Griffin finished with 12 kills, while Stephanie Blackburn had 10 kills and 14 digs. Setter Jill DeArmond had 58 assists, eight digs and three kills.

Minnesota will be back in action on Saturday, Sept. 1 when it faces No. 2 Stanford at 3:30 p.m. Ohio University will face No. 12 San Diego in the first match at 1 p.m.