Minnesota Falls to No. 1 Nebraska in Final Match of Ameritas Challenge
The University of Minnesota volleyball team (2-4) dropped a four-game decision to No. 1 Nebraska (7-0) by scores of 28-30, 30-25, 30-22, 30-22 in the Ameritas Players Challenge at the Nebraska Coliseum on Sunday, Sept. 10. Minnesota finished the tournament at 1-2 tied with No. 20 Louisville and No. 25 Cal Poly, while Nebraska won going 3-0 in its three matches.
Minnesota had two players named to the All-Tournament Team in Jessy Jones (Naperville, Ill.) and Kyla Roehrig (Papillion, Neb.).
Roehrig had another big match against her home-state university as she hit .485 (19-3-33) with 19 kills and three blocks. Sophomore Katie Vatterrodt (Bloomington, Ill.) also had a career-high 17 kills for the Golden Gophers.
Senior Kelly Bowman (Maple Grove, Minn.) had a third straight double-double with 10 kills and 10 digs for Minnesota. Jones also .400 (10-2-20) with 10 kills and four blocks.
Nebrasksa outhit Minnesota .337 to .256 for the match, and had 73 kills to 66 for the Golden Gophers. The two teams both finished with seven blocks. Nebraska outdug Minnesota 70 to 62 for the match. The Cornhuskers also had five service aces to eight service errors, while the Golden Gophers totaled two service aces and 14 service errors for the match.
Freshman Christine Tan (Palm Harbor, Fla.) had a career-high 21 digs for Minnesota, while Rachel Hartmann (St. Charles, Ill.) finished with 58 assists and 15 digs. Krista Chin (Wheeling, Ill.) also had 10 digs for the Golden Gophers.
The two teams went back forth in the early going and were tied at 10, after a maximum of 10 ties throughout the first 20 points of the match. Minnesota scored the next points, and took a two-point lead at 12-10 after a service ace by Bowman. After a hitting error by Nebraska, Vatterrodt delivered a kill to give the Golden Gophers a 14-10 lead. The Cornhuskers made it 14-11, but Vatterrodt followed with a kill to move it back up to 15-11.
Nebraska followed with three of the next four points to cut the Minnesota lead to 16-14. However, the Golden Gophers answered with back-to-back points punctuated by a combined block by Jones and Roehrig to take an 18-14 lead. The Cornhuskers cut it back to two points at 19-17 with three of the next four points. Minnesota move ahead 20-17 on a solo block by Jones.
The Cornhuskers tied the game for the 11th time at 20 with three straight points. Bowman denied Nebraska a chance to get the lead when Bowman delivered a kill to make it 21-20. Vatterrodt followed with another kill to make it 22-20. The Cornhuskers cut it to 22-21, but Vatterrodt answered with a kill to put Minnesota ahead 23-21. Nebraska cut it to 23-22, but Nelson answered with a kill to make it 24-22.
Nebraska moved it to 24-23, but Hartmann and Jones combined on a block to move Minnesota ahead 25-23. Minnesota scored the next point on a Cornhusker hitting error to make it 26-23. Nebraska cut it to 26-24, but Roehrig delivered a kill to put the Golden Gophers ahead 27-24. Nebraska trimmed the lead to 27-26 with consecutive points, but Roehrig followed with another kill to give Minnesota a 28-26 lead. Nebraska brought the lead down to one again at 28-27, but Bowman delivered a kill to make it game point at 29-27. The Cornhuskers fought off game point to make it 29-28, but Vatterrodt answered with a kill to give Minnesota game one 30-28.
The game one loss was the first for the Cornhuskers at home since Nov. 13, 2005 when they lost 30-28 to Missouri. It was only the second time in two-plus years that Nebraska dropped the first game at home. Minnesota outhit Nebraska .436 to .265 in game one, and had 20 kills to 14 for the Cornhuskers. The Golden Gophers won game one despite nine service errors. Vatterrodt hit .727 with eight kills in 11 swings in the game.
Nebraska jumped out to an 8-6 lead in game two, but Minnesota came back with five of the next seven points to take an 11-10 lead. The Cornhuskers ripped off four straight points to take a 14-11 lead. Roehrig came back with a kill, and the Golden Gophers scored the next point to make it 14-13. Nebraska scored three of the next four points to take a 17-14 lead. Minnesota scored four of the next five points punctuated by a kill from Roehrig to tie the game at 18.
The Cornhuskers immediately responded with back-to-back points to move ahead 20-18. Nebraska pushed the lead out to 24-20, before a kill from Bowman cut it to 24-21. The teams exchanged the next two points to make it 25-22, but the Cornhuskers answered with back-to-back points to move ahead 27-22. Cumpston delivered a kill, but Nebraska followed with a point to move it to 28-23. The teams exchanged the next two points to make it game point at 29-24. Roehrig delivered a kill to cut it to 29-25, but the Cornhuskers scored the next points to claim the game 30-25 to tie the match at one game apiece.
Nebraska outhit Minnesota .348 to .200 and 20 kills to the Golden Gophers’ 17 in the game. The Cornhuskers also outblocked Minnesota 4.0-to-1.0. Roehrig led the Golden Gophers with seven kills in the game.
Minnestoa jumped out to a 6-4 lead in game three, but Nebraska went on a 7-0 run to take an 11-6 lead. Cumpston halted the run with a kill, and Bowman followed with a service ace to make it 11-9. The Cornhuskers responded with a 5-0 run to move ahead 16-9. The teams exchanged the next four points to make it 18-11. Nebraska pushed it’s lead to eight at 19-11. The Cornhuskers maintained that cushion all the way up until 26-18, when Jones and Bowman had back-to-back kills to make it 26-20. Nebraska scored consecutive points to make it 28-20. The Golden Gophers cut it to 28-22, before the Cornhuskers scored consecutive points to claim game three 30-22.
Nebraska limited Minnesota to a .128 hitting percentage, and hit .326 in the game. The Cornhuskers also had 20 kills to the Golden Gophers’ 14. Jones led the way for the Golden Gophers with four kills.
In game four Nebraska jumped out to a 10-6 lead, before Minnesota scored four of the next six points to trim it to 12-10. The Cornhuskers answered with four of the next five points to move ahead 16-11. Minnesota cut the lead to three points at 19-16, but Nebraska responded with game-deciding 5-0 run to move ahead 24-16. Nebraska stretched it out to a 28-18 lead. Minnesota scored three straight points to make it 28-21. However, Nebraska finished the game with two of the next three points to win 30-22 to claim the match.
Sarah Pavan led Nebraska with 23 kills and 11 digs, while Jordan Larson finished with 17 kills and 11 digs. Tracy Stalls also had double-figure kills with 14 kills and five blocks.
Minnesota will be back in action on Wednesday, Sept 13 when it faces Northern Iowa in Rochester, Minn. at 7 p.m. The Golden Gophers will also host the Diet Coke Classic on Sept. 15-16. Minnesota will face Connecticut on Friday, Sept. 15 at 7:30 p.m. Minnesota will also Tulane on Saturday, Sept. 16 at 12:30 p.m, and finish the tournament against Dayton on Sept. 16 at 7:30 p.m.
