Other Gopher Sports
In the opening match of the weekend, the Gophers took care of the Houston Cougars 30-13 30-17 30-23. Minnesota was humming offensively, hitting a blistering .427 led by sophomore Jessy Jones who tied a school record by hitting .909 with 10 kills on 11 swings. Jones also registered 8 blocks. Meredith Nelson led the team with 11 kills in the rout.
Minnesota took back to the court on Saturday against the Seminoles of Florida State. Similar to the Cougars, FSU was no contest for Minnesota, losing 30-22 30-26 30-15. The Gophers won the match with a strong defense that held FSU to .036 hitting. Meredith Nelson led a balanced offense with 9 kills, while Jessy Jones added 8.
The highlight match of the weekend occurred when Minnesota faced off with their second ranked opponent of the season, the Kansas State Wildcats. KSU came into their tournament undefeated having just snuck back into the top 25 at #24. Minnesota came out fast, winning the first two games by scores of 30-25 and 30-22. Kansas State became the first team not ranked #1 to steal a game from Minnesota, taking the third 30-26 behind strong hitting from Agate Rezende. The Gophers raised their game to win the match, taking the decisive fourth game 30-25.
Meredith Nelson who registered 15 kills at a sizzling .538 clip led Minnesota. Meghan Cumpston had her biggest match of her young Gopher career with 13 kills, while Jessy Jones and Malama Peniata added 11 kills apiece. Agate Rezende led the Wildcats with a match-high 20 kills. For the tournament, Meredith Nelson and Jessy Jones made the all-tournament team, and Malama Peniata was named MVP for her all around prowess.
On Tuesday night, Minnesota made the quick trek to Rochester to take on one of their biggest rivals of late, Northern Iowa. While the Panthers aren’t quite as strong as they were two or three years ago, they’re still one of the biggest tests of the non-conference for this Gopher team in flux.
Minnesota swept through the match, but were given a stiff test before winning 30-21 31-29 30-25. While the Gophers looked solid overall, some passing and serve receive difficulties led to their struggles in the second game. UNI has always been a strong serving a team, and had 7 aces with no errors to rough up Minnesota. The biggest news of the game was the quick debut of sophomore USC transfer, Sarah Florian. Florian, still adjusting to her new team, had 1 kills and 1 service ace in spotty action. Malama Peniata led the Gophers with a career-high 12 kills, while Meredith Nelson added 10. Paula Gentil had 25 digs to lead the defensive effort.
This weekend marks the final chance for Minnesota to work with their ever-changing line-up before the Big Ten season rolls around. The team heads to Forth Worth, TX for the TCU Tournament. The tournament has an underwhelming field featuring Campbell University and the University of Maine. Host TCU is a name we’ve all heard of, but the Horned Frogs aren’t a volleyball power by any measure, as their biggest victory of the year was a five game victory over the University of Denver.
Looks for Minnesota to roll through this tournament with no troubles. Expect Coach Hebert to finally give Sarah Florian a long look at outside hitter during this tournament, as she’ll be needed as the Gophers trek to Madison to take on #13 Wisconsin in a little more than a week.