Match Stats
- Minnesota defeats Hawaii 3-0 (25-17, 25-17, 25-19)
- Minnesota advances to the regional round, where they’ll play Missouri
- Sports Pavilion, University of Minnesota
- Attendance: 5,442
A suffocating defensive effort by the Minnesota Golden Gophers stymied Hawaii’s attack in a 3-0 win for the Golden Gophers. Minnesota advances to the regional round having not lost a set yet in this year’s NCAA Tournament.
The Gopher blockers consistently threw wrenches in Hawaii’s offensive plans as the Rainbow Wahine hit just .194 in the loss. The Gophers piled up 10 blocks, 4 of them from Molly Lohman.
Minnesota played furiously right out the gate, holding Hawaii to just a .079 hitting percentage in the first set. The visiting Rainbow Wahine had the wind knocked out of their sails early, though, less from their opponent and more from a timely injury. Senior Nikki Taylor, a Honolulu native, crumpled to the floor just three points in, injuring her ankle while landing on another player. Trainers immediately wrapped her ankle in an air cast, and she returned to the locker room, eventually emerging to watch the match from the sidelines.
That was a big blow for Hawaii, as Taylor was a second team All-American and the Big West Player of the Year a season ago.
Fellow senior Annie Mitchem fought valiantly, though. Her 13 kills tied a career-high, and she took more than a third of Hawaii’s total attempts. Sophomore McKenna Granato was the other big hitter, knocking down 11 kills and continually putting the Gophers on their heels with her serve.
But Minnesota’s crew was relentless, dominating with blocks and constantly attacking Hawaii’s injury-thinned starting lineup. Sarah Wilhite had 13 kills, 5 of them in a third set where she was nearly unstoppable. She also had 11 total digs for a clutch double double. Paige Tapp added 10 kills, as did Lohman. The Gophers hit .348 in front of a roaring crowd in their home Sports Pavilion.
The Gophers will now take on SEC champion Missouri in the regional round next week.
Press releases
Minnesota:
In front of a crowd of 5,442, the University of Minnesota volleyball team swept Hawaii on Saturday night, 25-17, 25-17, 25-19, to advance to the NCAA Regionals. The Gophers improve to 27-4 on the season, and remain undefeated at home.
As a team, Minnesota had six blocks to the Rainbow Wahine’s four. The Gophers added 49 kills hitting .348, and had 55 digs. Sarah Wilhite accomplished a double-double with 13 kills and 11 digs. Paige Tappand Molly Lohman both had ten kills, with P Tapp hitting .625 and Lohman putting up four blocks. Hannah Tapp had seven kills, and Alexis Hart had six. Dalianliz Rosado had a team-high 17 digs and Alyssa Goehner had eight, while Samantha Seliger-Swenson added 41 assists.
The Gophers are scheduled to host the NCAA Regional next Friday and Saturday. Minnesota will face Missouri after the Tigers defeated Purdue in the second round. North Carolina will face the winner of the Baylor/UCLA match. Times will be announced at a later date.
Set Breakdown:
Set 1: Minnesota hit .242 to the Bows’ .079 to win the first set 25-17. The set opened evenly matched, until Minnesota pulled ahead on a five point run, with two aces from P Tapp, forcing a Hawaii timeout at 8-3. The Gophers kept the run going, extending their lead to eight, causing Hawaii to take a second timeout at 14-6. P Tapp went on another serving run to put Minnesota up ten at 21-11. The Bows slowly inched their way up to 17, but a kill by Wilhite but the Gophers at set point and an ace by Rosado ended the set.
Set 2: The Gophers hit a strong .386 to Hawaii’s .227 to win the second set 25-17, and go up 2-0 on the match. Minnesota led in the second, holding a significant lead for most of the set. The Gophers started set two up 10-5 over the Bows, with Hawaii taking a timeout at 12-6. The Bows went on a three-point run to shorten the lead at 15-10, but Minnesota increased its lead to six and forced a second Hawaii timeout at 18-12. Both teams would trade points until a Wilhite kill put the Gophers at set point, and a Hawaii error ended the set.
Set 3: The Gophers hit a commanding .395 to Hawaii’s .194 to win the third set 25-19, and take the match. Minnesota opened the third set up 4-1, but Hawaii quickly tied it up at 5-5, and again at 9-9. After three consecutive kills from the Gophers, the Bows took a timeout at 12-9. Minnesota would extend that to a 6-0 run, leading by eight when Hawaii called its second timeout at 18-10. Following the timeout, the Bows went on a four-point run, forcing the Gophers to take their first timeout of the match up 19-14. Hawaii would make its way up to 19 to close in on Minnesota, but H Tapp put the Gophers at match point and ended the match.
Hawaii:
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.—The No. 12 University of Hawai’i women’s volleyball team (23-6) fell to No. 1/No. 2-seeded Minnesota in the NCAA tournament’s second round, 25-17, 25-17, 25-19. Leading the Rainbow Wahine were Annie Mitchem, who tied her career-high with 13 kills, and McKenna Granato, who added 11 kills. Libero Savanah Kahakai tallied a team-high 17 digs and passed the 1,000 career dig mark in the loss on Saturday night at the Sports Pavilion in Minneapolis, Minn.
At the very start of the match however, with UH trailing 1-2 in the first set, Hawai’i was dealt a tough blow as senior Nikki Taylor went down with an injury. She landed on a Minnesota player’s foot coming down from a block and was helped off the court after medical personnel attended to her. She returned on crutches in the middle of the second set and did not return to the match. Taylor finished her standout career ranked No. 12 in UH history with 1,377 career kills and No. 8 with 117 service aces. In her four years, she amassed 665 digs, 373 blocks, and 1,694.5 career points.
The Rainbow Wahine battled on without their floor captain and fought as hard as they could but were unable to come up with enough firepower to overcome the Golden Gophers. It was just the second time this season that Hawai’i was swept.
Kahakai became just the 14th player in UH history to record over 1,000 digs. Currently, she has 1,001 career digs to end her junior year. She lead the team with 416 digs this season. The last Rainbow Wahine to hit the 1,000 dig mark was Kanani Danielson (2008-11) who finished her career with 1,233 digs.
Mitchem played in her final game as a Rainbow Wahine. She not only recorded a career-high in kills, but also attempts with 43. It was the 11th time this year that Mitchem put down double-digits in kills. She also added five digs and one block in the match. Mitchem ends her two-year Hawai’i career with 249 kills and 91 blocks.
Granato recorded her 12th double-digit kill game of the year. She added an assist, a service ace and two digs in the match.
Setter Norene Iosia posted 27 assists and had four kills with eight digs. She finishes her rookie season with 971 assists, just 29 shy of hitting the 1,000 milestone.
Minnesota (27-4) ended Hawai’i’s season in the NCAA tournament for the second straight year. Last season, the Golden Gophers held off the ‘Bows in four sets at the Des Moines Regional Final. Minnesota’s balanced offensive attack was led by Sarah Wilhite who had 13 kills while Molly Lohman had a match-high four blocks. Minnesota extended the longest active home-winning streak in the country to 34. The haven’t loss a home match in the last two seasons, improving to 15-0 at the Sports Pavilion this year.
Hawai’i had its 11 match-win streak snapped in the loss. UH played all 15 players suited up in the loss. It marked the final match for four Rainbow Wahine seniors—Tayler Higgins, Katiana Ponce, Mitchem and Taylor.
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