StaThe Minnesota volleyball team (5-1) defeated Florida State (1-4) in its second match of the Kansas State Invitational in Manhattan, Kan. on Saturday, Sept. 10. Minnesota is now 2-0 in the Kansas State Invitational, while Florida State dropped to 0-2.

Jessy Jones (Naperville, Ill.) hit .462 (8-2-13) with eight kills and three blocks. In two tournament matches, Jones is now hitting .667 (18-2-24) for Minnesota. Meredith Nelson (St. Croix Falls, Wis.) led the Golden Gophers in a second straight match with nine kills. Nelson also had three blocks for Minnesota.

Minnesota fell behind in the early going and trailed 12-11, before scoring four straight points to take a 15-12 lead. The Golden Gophers pushed the lead out to 17-13, before Florida State cut it to 24-21. Minnesota followed with five straight points to move to game point at 29-21. Florida State scored the next point, but freshman Kyla Roehrig (Papillion, Neb.) put down a kill to give Minnesota game one 30-22.

The Golden Gophers outhit Florida State .276to .121 in the first game. Roehrig led the way with four kills, while Jessica Byrnes (Minnetonka, Minn.) had three kills in three swings in the game.

Florida State jumped out to a 13-9 lead in game two. The Golden Gophers led 8-7, but Florida State scored six of the next seven points to take the lead. Florida State led 18-16, before Minnesota ripped off four straight points to claim a 20-18 lead. The Golden Gophers led 26-23, before Florida State scored three straight points to tie it at 26. Minnesota responded with four straight points to close out the game to claim it 30-26.

Minnesota limited Florida State to a .051 hitting percentage in game two. The Golden Gophers were led by Nelson and Malama Peniata (Plymouth, Minn.) who each had four kills in the game.

In game three, the Golden Gophers jumped out to an early 12-10 lead, but Florida State scored two straight points to tie the game at 12. Minnesota ripped off five of the next six points to move its lead out to 17-13. Florida State cut the lead to 17-14, but the Golden Gophers followed with 13 of the final 14 points to close out the game and match at 30-15.

Minnesota hit .414 in the third game, and limited Florida State to a - .053 hitting percentage. Meghan Cumpston (Red Bluff, Calif.) tallied five kills in the game to help lead the way for the Golden Gophers.

Peniata had 11 digs and five kills in the game, while Byrnes led the way with four blocks. Paula Gentil (Forteleaza Ceara’, Brazil) tallied 13 digs, while Kelly Bowman (Maple Grove, Minn.) had five kills, 27 assists and six digs.

Minnesota outhit Florida State .252 to .036 for the match, and had 45 kills to 34 for Florida Sate. The Golden Gophers have now held five of their six opponents to a .100 or lower hitting percentage this season.

Florida State was led by Lauren Scott who had seven kills and three blocks. Setter Jessica Skower had three kills, 29 assists and two digs, while Summer Weissing had 14 digs.

The Golden Gophers will finish off the tournament later today against No. 24 Kansas State at 7:30 p.m.