Minnesota Rallies From Down 0-2 to Defeat Illinois in Five Games

The Minnesota volleyball team (18-11, 11-8) rallied from a 0-2 deficit to defeat Illinois (15-14, 7-12) on Friday, Nov. 23. The last time Minnesota rallied from a 0-2 deficit to win a match was Dec. 4, 1999 when it did so against USC in the NCAA Tournament.

With the win, the Golden Gophers have now won five matches in a row, and claimed victories in six of their last seven matches. The also moved into a sole possession of third place in the Big Ten at 11-8, one match ahead of Michigan and Purdue who are 10-9.

Minnesota was led by freshman outside hitter Brook Dieter (Bloomington, Minn.) who had 18 kills, 11 digs and a career-high four service aces. Senior middle blocker Jessy Jones (Naperville, Ill.) registered her third career double-double with 13 kills and 10 blocks. Lauren Gibbemeyer (St. Paul, Minn.) also hit .364 (12-4-22), had 12 kills and six blocks.

Kyla Roehrig (Papillion, Neb.) finished with eight kills, six blocks and four digs. Junior setter Rachel Hartmann (St. Charles, Ill.) had 49 assists, four blocks and four kills for the match. Christine Tan (Safety Harbor, Fla.) also had a match-high 22 digs for Minnesota.

The Golden Gophers registered 20 or more blocks for the second time this season, as they outblocked Illinois 21.0-to-5.0 on the night. Minnesota also outhit Illinois .248 to .133, despite the fact that Illinois had 66 kills to the Golden Gophers’ 61.

Minnesota also tied a season-high with nine service aces, while Illinois had four. The Golden Gophers outdug Illinois 57 to 50 on the night as well.

Illinois claimed the first two games 30-26, but Minnesota battled back claiming game three 30-23 and game four 30-17.

The Golden Gophers fell behind 3-0 in the fifth game, but Katie Vatterrodt (Bloomington, Ill.) and Dieter sandwiched kills around a block by Jones and Vatterrodt to tie the game at three. The teams sided out on the next eight points to make it 7-7. During that span, Dieter had three of the Minnesota’s four points on kills.

After Hartmann’s dump tied the game at seven, she combined on a block with Jones to give the Golden Gophers their first lead of the game at 8-7. Gibbemeyer followed with a service ace to make it 9-7. Illinois cut the lead to 9-8, but Hartmann had a dump for a kill and Minnesota scored the next point to go up 11-8.

Illinois cut the lead to 11-9, but Roehrig had a solo block to put the Golden Gophers up 12-9. Jones and Vatterrodt combined on a block to put Minnesota ahead 13-9. After an Illinois point, Dieter delivered a kill to make it match point at 14-10. Illinois fought off a pair of match points, before the match ended in bizarre fashion when the Golden Gophers got a point for an illegal substitution by Illinois.

Minnesota hit .250 with eight kills in the fifth game, while Illinois hit .143 with eight kills. Dieter had five of the Golden Gophers’ eight kills in the game, while Jones had three blocks.

Illinois jumped out to an early 14-10 lead in first game, before Jones delivered a kill and the Golden Gophers scored the next point to cut the lead to 14-12. Illinois pushed its lead to 16-12 with consecutive points, but Minnesota scored four of the next five points and cut it to 17-16 on a Gibbemeyer kill. Illinois answered with a 5-0 run to take a 22-16 lead.

Minnesota rattled off five of the next seven points to cut the lead to 24-21. Illinois scored back-to-back points to take a 26-21 lead, but the Golden Gophers answered with three straight points to cut the lead to 26-24. Kelly Schmidt (Champaign, Ill.) and Jones combined a pair of blocks for the final two points of that run.

Illinois scored three of the next four points to make it game point at 29-25. Dieter delivered a kill to fight off the first game point, but Illinois took the game on a Golden Gopher service error to go up 1-0 in the match.

Minnesota outhit Illinois in the game .286 to .275, but the Golden Gophers had 13 kills to 17 for Illinois. Dieter led the way for Minnesota with five kills in the game.

Illinois jumped out to an 11-7 lead, before the Golden Gophers answered with four of the next five points to cut the lead to 12-11. Minnesota fell behind by three points as Illinois pushed the lead out to 16-13. Gibbemeyer answered with a kill and Dieter had a solo block to make it 16-15. Illinois answered with three consecutive points to take a 19-15 lead.

Minnesota battled back with four straight points and tied the game at 19 when Gibbemeyer and Hartmann combined on a block. Illinois scored the next two points to take a 21-19, but the Golden Gophers answered with three straight points to take their first lead of the game at 22-21. Minnesota took that lead when Jones and Hartmann combined on a block.

Illinois quickly responded with three straight points to reclaim the lead at 24-22. The Golden Gophers scored three of the next four, and tied the game at 25 on a Dieter kill. Illinois finished the game with five of the final six points to move ahead 2-0 in the match.

In the second game, Illinois outhit Minnesota .178 to .154, and had 17 kills to the Golden Gophers 13. Minnesota did outblock Illinois 5.0-to-0.0 in the game.

Minnesota jumped out to a 12-9 lead in the third game, but Illinois scored four of the next five points to tie the game at 13. The Golden Gophers answered with three straight points, and took a 16-13 lead on a solo block by Katie Vatterrodt (Bloomington, Ill.). Illinois scored three of the next four points to cut the lead to 17-16. Minnesota responded with an 8-0 run to take a 25-16 lead.

Illinois scored six of the next nine points to cut the lead to 28-22. Jones delivered a kill to make it game point at 29-22. Illinois fought off the first game point, but committed a service error to give the Golden Gophers the third game.

Minnesota outhit Illinois .148 to .105 in the third game, despite the fact that it had 12 kills to 15 for Illinois. The Golden Gophers outblocked Illinois 4.0-to-1.0 in the game.

In the fourth game Illinois jumped out to a 5-4 lead, before the Golden Gophers answered six of the next nine points to take a 10-7 lead. Illinois cut the lead to 10-9, but Minnesota went on a 4-0 run led by three kills by Jones to take a 14-9 lead. Illinois cut the Golden Gophers lead to 15-12 with three of the next four points.

Minnesota answered quickly with a 9-0 run to take a 24-12 lead over Illinois. After an Illinois point, Gibbemeyer answered with a kill and then combined on a block with Hartmann to make it 26-13. Illinois cut it to 27-15, but Gibbemeyer and Roehrig had kills to make it game point at 29-15. After consecutive Illinois points, Roehrig put down a kill to help Minnesota force the match to a fifth game.

The Golden Gophers outhit Illinois .429 to -.056 in the game, and 15 kills to nine for Illinois in the game. Minnesota also outblocked Illinois 5.0-to-0.0 in the game. Jones finished with four kills and three blocks in the game.

Minnesota will be back in action when it finishes the regular-season at No. 9 Wisconsin on Saturday, Nov. 24 at 7 p.m. That match can be heard on gophersports.com.