The No. 6 University of Minnesota volleyball team cruised to a three-set sweep over No. 5 University of Wisconsin, 25-17, 25-21, 25-15, in front of a sold out 5,697 crowd. With the win, Minnesota improves to 9-2 overall and 3-0 in the Big Ten while Wisconsin drops to 9-2 overall and 2-1 in conference play.
The moment @GopherVBall secured the win & swept the Badgers: pic.twitter.com/Qs6KvvRCqs
— Minnesota on BTN (@MinnesotaOnBTN) September 27, 2018
Alexis Hart hit .609, a team-best, when she added 14 kills, did not commit and error, in 23 attempts. That hitting clip was also a career best for the junior. Stephanie Samedy also set a new career-high, when she hit .545 and contributed 14 kills and 10 digs, for the double-double. Adanna Rollins produced eight kills and Taylor Morgan added six. Samantha Seliger-Swenson had 39 assists on the evening with eight digs and two service aces. CC McGraw led the defense with 13 digs and was followed by Lauren Barnes who had nine, while Barnes set a new career-high with three service aces.
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As a team team Minnesota outhit Wisconsin .386 to .221. The Gophers also had 46 kills, 50 digs and three blocks. Wisconsin put up 39 kills, 41 digs and 4 blocks. The win marks the seventh-straight win against the Badgers, dating back to 2014.
.@samjoswens isn't letting the ball hit the floor! She is a digging machine tonight. Minnesota leads Wisconsin 22-13. pic.twitter.com/JfybbCQBiJ
— Minnesota Volleyball (@GopherVBall) September 27, 2018
The Gophers hit the road and travel to Bloomington, Ind., to take on the Hoosiers, Saturday, September 29, at 6 p.m. The match will be available on BTN Plus.
Set Breakdown:
Set 1: The Gophers hit .417 in the opening set to win, 25-17. Minnesota trailed early 2-0, only to go on a 5-0 run, including four points on a Barnes serve rotation. Back-to-back kills by Hart put the Gophers up, 11-8, while Samedy pushed it to 15-11 with a kill in front of the block. The Gophers went u, 17-11 off a block from Pittman as the Badgers called a timeout. The Badgers responded and rattled off three straight as the Gophers led, 17-14 and called a timeout. Minnesota came out of the break and 3-1 run to go up, 20-15 as the Badgers used their second timeout. An ace by Seliger-Swenson pushed the Gopher lead to 23-16. Minnesota gained set point on a Wisconsin service error, while Barnes served up an ace to end go up, 1-0.
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Set 2: The Gophers continued to hit with efficiency as they had 13 kills, just two errors in 30 attempts to hit .367 in the second. Wisconsin jumped out to an early lead, but the Gophers battled back and cut Wisconsin's lead to one at 10-9. As Barnes subbed in and went back to serve, the Gophers went up, 12-10 as the Badgers called a timeout at 12-10. The Gophers pushed the lead to 14-10 with a Morgan kill. A block by Rollins and Pittman at 18-14 caused Wisconsin to call its second timeout. The Gophers, however, went up 20-16 off a Hart kill. Wisconsin cut the lead to two at 22-20 as the Gophers called a timeout. The Gophers used the timeout and went up 24-20 on an ace from Barnes and won the set, 25-21 on a kill from Samedy.
Wanna know how we won the 2nd set? Take a look back at the last play 👀 pic.twitter.com/z5q9j2xmGG
— Minnesota Volleyball (@GopherVBall) September 27, 2018
Set 3: Minnesota added another 15 kill, two errors and hit .371 for the sweep, 3-0. Minnesota jumped out to a 6-0 lead as Wisconsin ended up using both timeouts within the first six points. Seliger-Swenson served up seven-straight points before Wisconsin got on the board at 8-1. The Gophers continued to add to the lead when a Morgan kill put the Gophers up, 11-2. A Samedy kill later put the Gophers up 14-5 and a Pittman kill pushed the score to 16-9. Another Hart kill put Minnesota up, 18-11, while Rollins added back-to-back kills for a 21-12 lead. An ace from Rollins later solidified the sweep as the Gophers won, 25-15.
