The University of Minnesota volleyball team (12-3, 5-0) held off a furious rally by Ohio State (7-7, 1-4) as it defeated the Buckeyes in five games by scores of 30-27, 30-24, 21-30, 30-32, 15-10 at St. John’s Arena on Friday, Oct. 5. With the win, the Golden Gophers started off 5-0 in Big Ten play for the first time since 2002.

Junior outside hitter Kyla Roehrig (Papillion, Neb.) tied a career-high with 22 kills and four blocks. Freshman middle blocker Lauren Gibbemeyer (St. Paul, Minn.) hit .343 (17-5-35) with a career-high 17 kills and four blocks.

Freshman outside hitter Brook Dieter (Bloomington, Minn.) had her sixth double-double of the year with 15 kills and a career-high 16 digs. Junior setter Rachel Hartmann (St. Charles, Ill.) narrowly missed her first career triple-double, as she had a season-high 63 assists, 10 digs and a career-high nine kills.

Sophomore outside hitter Rachelle Hagerty (Defiance, Ohio) had a season-high 10 kills in the return to her homestate, while Kelly Schmidt (Champaign, Ill.) had nine kills and two blocks filling in for the injured Jessy Jones at middle blocker.

Christine Tan (Safety Harbor, Minn.) had 16 digs, three service aces and three assists. Kelly Roysland (Fosston, Minn.) finished with 14 digs and four assists, while Hailey Cowles (Eden Prairie, Minn.) had 11 digs and one service ace.

Minnesota outhit Ohio State .207 to .169, and had 82 kills to 60 for the Buckeyes. Ohio State became just the second team to outblock the Golden Gophers this season, as the Buckeyes had 16.0 blocks to seven for Minnesota. Ohio State also doubled the Golden Gophers in service aces 10-to-5. The Buckeyes also narrowly outdug Minnesota 79 to 77.

The Golden Gophers won the first two games, but Ohio State rallied back with a 30-21 victory in the third game to make it 2-1. Minnesota had match point in the fourth game at 30-29, but the Buckeyes extended the match to a fifth game on back-to-back kills from Danielle Meyer and Katie Dull, followed by a Minnesota attack error.

Ohio State jumped out to a 3-2 lead in the fifth game. Roehrig delivered a kill to tie it, and Minnesota took a 4-3 lead on an attack error by the Buckeyes. Ohio State wrestled the lead back at 5-4.

Schmidt delivered a kill to tie it at five, and Tan followed with a service ace to give Minnesota back the lead at 6-5. Dieter delivered a kill to put the Golden Gophers ahead 7-5. Ohio State cut the lead to 7-6, but Gibbemeyer came back with a kill followed by a Buckeye ballhandling error to make it 9-6.

Ohio State scored the next two points, before Hartmann delivered a kill to put Minnesota ahead 10-8. Anna Szerszen delivered a kill to cut the Golden Gopher lead back to one at 10-9. Roehrig answered with a kill to make it 11-9.

The Buckeyes followed with an attack error, and Schmidt and Hartmann combined on a block to give Minnesota some breathing room at 13-9. Roehrig made it match point with a kill for a second time at 14-9. Ohio State fought off match point to make it 14-10, but followed with service error to end the match on the next point.

Minnesota limited Ohio State to two kills and an -.091 hitting percentage in the fifth game. Four of the Golden Gophers eight kills in the game came from Roehrig.

In the first game, Minnesota ran out to a quick 5-0 lead. Ohio State responded quickly with the next four points to make it 5-4. Roehrig delivered back-to-back kills to put the Golden Gophers up 7-4. After the Buckeyes cut it to 7-6, Minnesota ripped off five of the next six points to take a 12-7 lead.

Ohio State scored five of the next seven points to cut the Golden Gophers’ lead to 14-12. Minnesota responded with the next three points capped on a Gibbemeyer kill to make it 17-12. The Golden Gophers held onto the five-point lead at 20-15. Ohio State scored four of the next five points to cut the Minnesota lead down to 21-19. Gibbemeyer and Hartmann sandwiched kills around a Buckeye point to make it 23-20 to force an Ohio State timeout.

The Buckeyes responded with back-to-back points to cut the lead to 23-22 to force the first Minnesota timeout of the match. Out of the timeout, Roehrig and Gibbemeyer combined on a block to make it 24-22. Dieter followed with a kill and Gibbemeyer delivered a service ace to make it 26-22.

After the Buckeyes scored back-to-back points, Minnesota responded with three of the next four points to make it game point at 29-25. Ohio State fought off a pair of game points, before Dieter delivered a kill to give Minnesota game one.

Minnesota outhit Ohio State .163 to .109, and had 16 kills to 14 for the Buckeyes. Roehrig paced the Golden Gophers with four kills in the game.

The Golden Gophers jumped out to a 10-7 lead in game two, but Ohio State responded with five of the next six points to move ahead 12-11. With score tied at 14, eight of the next 10 points to take a 22-16 lead. Ohio State scored to make it 22-17, but Roehrig answered with a kill and a solo block to put Minnesota up 24-17.

Minnesota pushed it out to an eight-point lead at 25-17, and held that lead at game point after a Hagerty kill made it 29-21. After three straight points by the Buckeyes, Gibbemeyer terminated a kill to give Minnesota a 2-0 lead in the match.

The Golden Gophers outhit Ohio State .318 to .125 in the game, and had 20 kills to 13 for the Buckeyes. Roehrig and Gibbemeyer each had four kills in the game.

Ohio State jumped out to a 3-0 lead in game three, but Minnesota responded quickly with seven of the next eight points to take a 7-4 lead. The Buckeyes rattled off four straight points to reclaim the lead at 8-7. With the score tied at 12, Ohio State scored five of the next points to move ahead 17-13 to force a Golden Gopher timeout. Out of the timeout, Hagerty and Dieter had kills followed by a Buckeye attack error that made it 17-16.

The Buckeyes scored seven of the next eight points to take a 24-18 lead to force a Minnesota timeout. Out of the timeout, the Buckeyes moved ahead 25-18. Ohio State moved on to claim the third game 30-21 to cut it to 2-1 in the match.

Ohio State outhit Minnesota .194 to .125, despite the fact that the Golden Gophers had 15 kills to 11 for the Buckeyes. Ohio State outblocked Minnesota 5.0-to-0.0 in the game. Gibbemeyer led the way with four kills in the game.

Minnesota grabbed an early 2-1 lead in game four, but Ohio State rattled off five of the next seven points to make it 7-4. The Golden Gophers ran off four consecutive points to take an 8-7 lead. The Buckeyes came back with four straight points to move the lead out to 11-8. Minnesota answered with three straight points to tie the game at 11.

From that point, the teams sided out up to being tied at 21. After a Gibbemeyer kill and a Buckeye error, Minnesota led 23-21. Ohio State scored the next point to cut to a one-point lead, but Gibbemeyer and Hartmann delivered kills to make it 25-22. The teams exchanged the next four points with Minnesota taking a 27-24 lead on Schmidt kill.

Ohio State answered with four straight points to move ahead 28-27. After a Dieter kill that tied the game, the Buckeyes made it game point at 29-28. Hagerty delivered a kill to tie the game at 29. Gibbemeyer delivered a kill to give Minnesota match point at 30-29. However, Ohio State responded with the next three points to close out the game.

The Buckeyes outhit Minnesota .386 to .283, despite the fact that the Golden Gophers had 23 kills to 20 for Ohio State. Minnesota was outblocked 3.0-to-0.0 in the game. Roehrig and Gibbemeyer had seven and five kills respectively in the game.

Ohio State was led by Meyer who had 18 kills, seven blocks and two service aces. Szerszen had 14 kills, three assists, three blocks and two service aces. Katie Dull finished with 11 kills, five digs and three blocks. Ami Stevens also had a match-high 25 digs.

Minnesota will be action next when it faces No. 3 Penn State on Saturday, Oct. 6 at 7 p.m. (CT).