The 13th-ranked University of Minnesota volleyball team (2-4) won for the second time on the day defeating Marquette (1-5) in three games by scores of 30-26, 30-24, 30-26 at the Sports Pavilion on Saturday, Sept. 6. With the win Minnesota finished second in the Nike Invitational with a 2-1 record. In the early match of the second session, Kansas rallied from a 2-1 deficit for the second time in the tournament to defeat Dayton and claim the 2003 Nike Invitational Championship.

Cas sie Busse (Prior Lake, Minn.) and Tri sha Bratford (Reseda, Calif.) were Minnesota's representatives on the Nike Invitational All- Tournament Team. Kansas' Janaina Correa was named the tournament's MVP. Sarah Rome (Kansas), Theresa Coughlin (Marquette) and Erin Treadway (Dayton) rounded out the six-member All-Tournament team.

The first game featured 15 ties and five lead changes. With the game tied at 20, Minnesota went on a 5-0 run to move the score to 25-20. From that point the Golden Gophers moved on to a 30-26 victory in game one. Both teams had great offensive games as Marquette hit .448 and Minnesota hit .444. Tri sha Bratford (Reseda, Calif.) paced Minnesota with seven kills in the game.

With the score tied at 8-8 in game two, Cas sie Busse (Prior Lake, Minn.) helped manufacture a 5-0 run with three service aces to move the score to 13-8. Marquette cut the lead to 15-14, but the Golden Gophers responded with a 6-0 run to go up 21-14. Minnesota led by no less than four points the rest of the way. The Golden Gophers were paced by six service aces, four of which came from Busse. The Golden Gophers also held Marquette to a .000 hitting percentage.

Minnesota closed out the match by winning game three 30-26. Busse led the way six kills and two service aces in the final game.

"I thought the big difference in the way we played today was that we served well," said Minnesota Head Coach Mike Hebert. "We served effectively, which not only resulted in aces, but put the other teams on their heels."

Busse led the way with a career-high seven service aces, along with 12 kills, four blocks and four digs. Bratford had a match-high 13 kills on the night. Mer edith Nelson (St. Croix, Wis.) added on 10 kills and four blocks. Mar ci Peniata (Plymouth, Minn.) and Pau la Gentil (Forteleaza Ceara', Brazil) tied with a match-high 13 digs. Lin dsey Taatjes (Prinsburg, Minn.) had 41 assists on the night.

Minnesota outhit Marquette .283 to .117 on the night. The Golden Gophers tallied 55 kills to Marquette's 32, and had a season-high 10 service aces.

Marquette was led by Theresa Coughlin who had eight kills on the night. Gemma Greer had a team-high 10 digs and 24 assists.

In the first match of the night Kansas rallied from an 11-9 fifth- game deficit to score six of the last seven points to remain undefeated in the tournament and claim the Nike Invitational title. Sarah Rome had 25 kills and 18 digs to lead the way, while Janaina Correa had 20 kills and 13 digs. Erin Treadway led Dayton with 18 kills and 13 digs.

Kansas had 81 kills to Dayton's 63. The Jayhawks overcame 33 errors, while the Flyers only committed 12 on the night. Dayton also outblocked Kansas 13 to 1 on the night. Kansas tallied 87 digs to 65 for Dayton.

Minnesota will head to Gainesville where it will take on Xavier on Sept 12 at 5 p.m. (ET). The Golden Gophers will take on either No. 3 Florida or Florida A&M on Saturday, Sept. 13 at either 1:30 (ET) p.m. or