(26The eighth-ranked Minnesota volleyball team maintained its share of first place in the Big Ten standings with a 16-14, 15-10, 15-13 victory over Michigan at the Sports Pavilion. The Golden Gophers (26-2, 15-2 Big Ten) remain in a first-place tie with Wisconsin, a three-game winner against Illinois.

"The theme of tonight was survive and advance," said Minnesota head coach Mike Hebert. "We played hard, but certainly didn't play our best. We were the better team tonight after 10 points. Yvonne VanOort's passing was one of the critical elements in winning tonight's match."

Nicole Branagh led Minnesota with 16 kills and 12 digs. She needs 59 kills to become the Big Ten's all-time leader in kills. Stephanie Hagen added 14 kills at a .414 hitting percentage, while contributing eight digs and five blocks. Charnette Fair led Minnesota with six blocks.

Minnesota had to rally to win in all three games. In the first game, the Gophers trailed 14-13 before scoring the final three points on two Michigan errors and a Hagen kill to win, 16-14. In the second game, Minnesota trailed 8-7 before scoring eight of the final 10 points of the game. VanOort served the final three points of the second game, with Branagh getting two kills and Lindsey Berg hitting a kill in the rally. In the final game, Michigan scored five consecutive points to take a 13-12 lead, but two Gopher blocks and a Michigan hitting error ended the match.

The Gophers will play their final regular season match at the Sports Pavilion by hosting Michigan State at 7:30 p.m.

BIG TEN STANDINGS Conf. Pct. Overall Pct. Minnesota 15-2 .882 26-2 .929 Wisconsin 15-2 .882 25-3 .893 Penn State 13-4 .765 24-5 .828 Ohio State 12-5 .706 22-5 .815 Michigan State 9-8 .529 16-10 .615 Iowa 8-9 .471 12-13 .480 Michigan 7-10 .412 17-11 .607 Indiana 6-12 .333 15-13 .536 Purdue 4-13 .235 12-17 .414 Illinois 4-14 .286 13-16 .448 Northwestern 2-16 .111 5-23 .179 Wednesday, November 15 Penn State d. Indiana, 3-0 (15-5, 15-11, 15-12) Thursday, November 16 Northwestern d. Illinois, 3-1 (14-16, 15-12, 16-14, 15-11) Friday, November 17 Minnesota d. Michigan, 3-0 (16-14, 15-10, 15-13) Ohio State d. Indiana, 3-1 (15-4, 8-15, 16-14, 15-7) Michigan State d. Iowa, 3-0 (15-10, 18-16, 15-3) Purdue d. Northwestern, 3-0 (15-7, 15-12, 16-14) Wisconsin d. Illinois, 3-0 (15-12, 15-7, 15-8) Saturday's Matches Michigan State at Minnesota, 7:30 Ohio State at Penn State, 6:30 Purdue at Wisconsin, 7 Michigan at Iowa, 7