The Minnesota volleyball team (18-5, 8-4) defeated Indiana (9-15, 2-10) in three games by scores of 30-21, 30-20, 30-18 in front of 9,671 fans at Williams Arena on Saturday, Oct. 29. The attendance was the second-highest in school history, only surpassed by last year’s Williams Arena match total of 10,927.

“We always enjoy the environment when we move over to play at Williams Arena,” said Minnesota Head Coach Mike Hebert. “We hope the fans enjoy coming out to see us play when we play over there, because it is always a fun experience that our team enjoys.”

Minnesota was led by junior Meghan Cumpston (Red Bluff, Calif.) who had 13 kills and hit .440 (13-2-25) for that match. Junior Kelly Bowman (Maple Grove, Minn.) hit .500 (8-2 -12) with eight kills, 28 assists and seven digs.

Senior Paula Gentil (Forteleaza Ceara’, Brazil) had a match-high 15 digs and tallied her highest service ace total against a Big Ten opponent in her career with six. Malama Peniata (Plymouth, Minn.) also had four service aces for Minnesota.

Sarah Florian (Holland, Ohio) had nine kills and seven digs, while Meredith Nelson (St. Croix Falls, Wis.) had eight kills for the Golden Gophers.

Minnesota jumped out to an early 9-7 lead in the first game, and expanded it 14-7 with five straight points. Indiana scored three of the next four points to cut the lead to 15-10. However, Minnesota answered with five of the next seven points to move ahead 20-12.

The Golden Gophers pushed the lead out to 24-14, before the Hoosiers scored four of the next five points to cut the lead to 25-18. Minnesota responded with three straight points to push the out to 28-18 to force a Hoosier timeout. Out of the timeout, Indiana scored two straight points to cut the lead to 28-20. Nelson delivered a kill to give Minnesota game point at 29-20. After Indiana scored to make it 29-21, Florian delivered a kill to give the Golden Gophers game one 30-21.

Minnesota outhit Indiana .469 to .227 in game one, and had 19 kills to 10 for the Hoosiers. Bowman and Florian led the way for the Golden Gophers with four kills apiece in the game. Gentil had four service aces in the game as well.

In game two Indiana jumped out to a 10-8 lead, before the Golden Gophers responded with four straight points to move ahead 12-10. The Hoosiers cut the lead to 13-12, but Minnesota answered with nine of the next 12 points to move ahead 22-15. After Indiana scored to make it 22-16, the Golden Gophers ran off four straight points to make it 26-16 to force a Hoosier timeout. Indiana scored three of the next five points to make it 28-19. Nelson delivered a kill to give the Golden Gophers game point at 29-19. After the Hoosiers made it 29-20, Jessica Byrnes (Minnetonka, Minn.) delivered a kill to give Minnesota the game at 30-20.

The Golden Gophers outhit Indiana .444 to .353 in the game, and had 19 kills to 14 for the Hoosiers. Cumpston led the way with five kills in the game, while Nelson had four for Minnesota.

In the third game, the two teams were tied at 3-3 before the Golden Gophers ripped off eight of the next nine points to go up 11-4 to force an Indiana timeout. Out of the timeout, Minnesota scored the next two points to push the lead out to 13-4. Indiana cut the lead to 16-8, but the Golden Gophers scored four of the next five points to push their lead out to 20-9. Minnesota grabbed is largest lead of the game at 26-12, before Indiana cut the lead down to 27-16. The Golden Gophers finished the game with three of the last five points to claim it 30-18.

Minnesota tied a season-high with 12 service aces on the night. The Golden Gophers outhit Indiana .389 to .211, and had 56 kills to 32 for the Hoosiers.

Indiana was led by Rachel Gerling who had 10 kills and eight digs on the night. Sara Diehl had a team-high 13 digs for the Hoosiers.

Minnesota will be back in action when it travels to Michigan State on Friday, Nov. 4 at 6 p.m. (CT). The Golden Gophers will also hea