• Minnesota's first match against UConn will be shown live on video in the Gold Zone on gophersports.com.

• Minnesota will host the Diet Coke Classic on Sept. 15-16. The Golden Gophers will start the tournament by facing UConn on Friday, Sept. 15 at 7:30 p.m. Minnesota’s second match will be on Saturday, Sept. 16 at 12:30 p.m. The Golden Gophers will finish the tournament against Dayton at 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 16. Minnesota enters the weekend with a 3-4 record, while Northern Iowa is 7-4. UConn enters the tournament with a record of 8-1, while Tulane is 4-2 and Dayton is 7-4.

• In her first match of the year, Malama Peniata became the second player in school history to record 40 or more digs in a single match. Peniata recorded 41 digs in a four-game victory over Northern Iowa in Rochester on Sept. 13. The 41 digs was a school-record for a four-game match. It was also the first time since Dec. 10, 2004 that a Golden Gopher had 40 digs in one match. That occurred when Paula Gentil had 41 digs against Georgia Tech in the NCAA Regional Semifinals at the Sports Pavilion. Earlier that year, Gentil set the Big Ten record with 47 against Penn State. Peniata’s 41 digs marked only the third time in school history that a player recorded 40 or more digs in a match.

• Sophomore Kyla Roehrig has paced the Minnesota offense over the course of the past week. Roehrig is averaging 4.12 kpg, hitting .328 and has 0.81 blpg. Roehrig had a career-high 22 kills and six blocks in a win over No. 20 Cal Poly, hit .485 with 19 kills against No. 1 Nebraska and had 19 kills against Northern Iowa. This season, she leads the team with 102 kills (3.78 kpg) and is second in blocks with 28 (1.04 blpg). Roehrig is also hitting .294 for the season.

• The Golden Gophers will host the 10th version of the Diet Coke Classic this week. Minnesota has won the tournament five of the nine times it has hosted it. The Golden Gophers have won the last three Diet Coke Classics, and five of the last six. Entering this year’s Diet Coke Classic, Minnesota has won nine straight matches in the tournament. It’s last loss came when Northern Iowa won the Diet Coke Classic in 2002. The tournament started in 1996 when Georgia Tech claimed the title. Northern Illinois (1997) and Auburn (1998) claimed titles before Minnesota won for the first time in 1999. The Golden Gophers won again in 2000, 03, 04 and 05. The tournament was cancelled 2001 due to 9/11.

• Minnesota faces a pair of teams who are receiving votes in the top 25 this week in Northern Iowa and Dayton. The Golden Gophers enter the week with 16 votes in the poll, while the Flyers and Panthers received 28 and five votes respectively. Only one of Minnesota’s first six opponents this season is not receiving votes or in the top 25. The Golden Gophers have faced No. 1 Nebraska, No. 20 Louisville and No. 25 Cal Poly this year. Minnesota also faced No. 18 LSU when it was still receiving votes and Texas A&M who is currently receiving 73 votes. The current ranking for Minnesota’s opponents, includes No. 1 Nebraska, No. 18 LSU, No. 23 Cal Poly, Louisville receiving 84 votes and Texas A&M receiving 73 votes. Minnesota is also set to face the five Big Ten Teams that are ranked twice this season. Currently, Penn State is ranked No. 1, Wisconsin is No. 11, Purdue is No. 14, Ohio State is No. 15 and Michigan is No. 22.