COLUMBUS, Ohio — The No. 11 Minnesota Golden Gophers volleyball team took down the No. 7 Ohio State Buckeyes, 25-23, 15-25, 25-15, 25-23 on Thursday night at the Covelli Center, completing the season sweep over the Buckeyes. It's Minnesota's third straight win over a top-10 ranked opponent.
The Golden Gophers (15-6, 10-3 Big Ten) were paced by redshirt senior opposite Stephanie Samedy, who tallied 19 kills and 22 digs. Airi Miyabe posted 13 kills while Jenna Wenaas had 11 with 14 digs.
As a team, Minnesota hit .175 with 51 kills, three aces, 79 digs and 12 blocks. Ohio State (18-5, 8-5 Big Ten) hit .112 with 46 kills, six aces, 82 digs and 11 blocks. Gabby Gonzales led the Buckeyes with 11 kills and 12 digs.
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Set Breakdown:
Set 1: The two teams split the first 10 points of the set before a 3-0 spurt put the Buckeyes up 8-5. The Gophers would score five of the next seven to tie it up at 10, paced by a pair of kills each by Miyabe and Samedy. Minnesota would take its first lead of the set at 12-11 after an attacking error by OSU. Another Buckeyes error gave the 'U' its largest lead of the set thus far at 13-11 before a 3-1 answer from the home team tied it at 14. A service error gave the Gophers a 15-14 lead heading into the media timeout. A 4-2 OSU run after the break gave them an 18-17 lead and led to coach McCutcheon calling his first timeout. Two well-timed kills from Samedy sparked a 3-0 Minnesota spurt and forced an OSU timeout with the Gophers up 20-18. A kill from Katie Myers put the 'U' up 22-19, but OSU would cut the lead to just one point three more times during the set. A Buckeyes service error eventually ended the set with a 25-23 Gophers win. Set one saw Minnesota hit .216 and OSU hit .108 while Samedy led all players with five kills. There were 10 ties and five lead changes through the first frame.
Set 2: Ohio State came out firing in set two, scoring three of the first four points to take a 3-1 lead. Minnesota would respond with a 4-2 run, paced by kills from Miyabe and Wenaas to get back within one at 6-5. The Buckeyes had a run of stellar play in the middle of the set, however, going on a 7-1 run to take a 13-6 lead and force a pair of timeouts from the visitors. A 6-3 Gophers run would cut the lead to four at 16-12, but Minnesota would get no closer at OSU closed the set on a 9-4 run to win, 25-16. Wenaas led the Gophers with five kills in the set while Samedy had two. After two sets, the two teams were tied, 1-1. Minnesota hit .084 through the first two while OSU hit .134.
Set 3: Minnesota started hot in set three, taking the first five points. Samedy made an immediate impact on the set, tallying a kill on the first point and consecutive blocks on the fifth and sixth to help the Gophers go up 6-1. A 4-2 run from OSU helped them cut the deficit back to three at 8-5 before a 4-1 dash by the 'U' gave Minnesota its largest lead of the set at 12-6 and forced an OSU timeout. Two straight Myers aces proved to be pivotal in the run. A 6-0 run in the middle of the set put some distance between the Gophers and Buckeyes as the visitors extended their lead to as many as 12 at 19-7. Shea Rubright tallied two straight blocks and a kill to spark the run. OSU would get as close as eight at 22-14 before the Gophers closed out the set, 25-15. Two straight kills from Samedy and one from Miyabe finished it to put the 'U' up two sets to one. Samedy had five blocks in set three alone as Minnesota held Ohio State to -.028 hitting. The Gophers hit .267 with 11 kills and five blocks.
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Set 4: The Buckeyes took control early in set four, scoring seven of the first 10 points. Minnesota would respond, however, taking five of the next eight to get within two at 10-8. Miyabe, Shaffmaster and Wenaas each had kills in the Gophers rally. OSU would extend its lead out to four again at 12-8 before a 3-1 Minnesota run paced by two kills from Samedy cut it to one again. The Buckeyes would take the next two, however, to go up 15-12 into the media break. OSU worked to extend its lead to four at 18-14 with a pair of kills and an attacking error from the visitors. Minnesota showed some mid-set resiliency, cutting the lead to 18-17 after a kill from Samedy, an ace from Shaffmaster and an OSU attacking error. Minnesota would finally take its first lead of the set at 20-19 after consecutive kills from Miyabe and Samedy. OSU would retake the lead twice more at 22-21 and 23-22 before the Gophers closed it out on a 3-0 run to win, 25-23, and complete the season sweep.
