Minnesota Routes Wisconsin In Four Behind 23 Alexis Hart Kills

Match Results

• #3 Minnesota def. #12 Wisconsin 3-1, (21-25, 25-18, 25-21, 25-22)
• Minnesota improves to 19-2, 8-2 Big Ten, Wisconsin falls to 14-5, 5-5 Big Ten
• Minneapolis, Minnesota
• Attendance: 5,541
• Match Stats

The #3 Minnesota Gophers fought back from a first set loss to defeat #12 Wisconsin in four sets.

The first set of the match was a back and forth battle between the two squads. With the score at 8-8, Minnesota took a lead off an Alexis Hart kill and Lauryn Gillis hitting error. Wisconsin bounced back to tie it back up at 10-10 off a Gillis kill and Dana Rettke kill. The squads continued to fight back and forth but Wisconsin took the edge late on a 4-0 run to go up 24-19. Minnesota fought off two match points on kills from Stephanie Samedy and Jasmyn Martin but Madison Duello ended the first 25-21 with a kill for Wisconsin.

The second started off a close battle as the score was tied at 5-5. Kills from Tionna Williams and Gillis gave Wisconsin the 7-5 edge but the Gophers went on a 7-0 run that gave them the 12-7 advantage. The Gophers continued to chip away on small runs throughout the set, finishing things off on a kill from Samedy and a Badger hitting error.

It was another back and forth feat between the two teams in the third set before the Gophers moved ahead to take a 19-14 lead late. The Badgers threw out two-point runs to Minnesota’s one point returns to try to catch back up but it was too late as the Gophers ended the third with a Martin/Regan Pittman block at 25-21.

Minnesota did not waste time in the fourth set, bouncing out to a quick 9-3 lead over the Badgers. Wisconsin fought back into the set, bringing things to a tie at 16-16 mid-set. Two Wisconsin errors put Minnesota back on top at 18-16 and this small lead was too much for the Badgers to catch up with late. Samantha Seliger-Swenson finished things off with a kill at 25-22 in the fourth.

Hart dominated things for the Gophers with 23 kills on a .367 hitting clip while Samedy chipped in another 11 kills and 20 digs for a double-double. Martin posted 10 kills while Molly Lohman blocked six balls.

Wisconsin was led by Rettke who put down 22 kills on an impressive .647 hitting performance while adding in four blocks. Williams contributed another 11 kills and six blocks while Duello posted 10 kills and four blocks. Setter Sydney Hilley dished out 52 assists and 11 digs for a double-double while Tiffany Clark and Gillis picked up 21 and 16 digs, respectively.

WATCH: Here's Alexis Hart's post-game interview after tonight's big win. pic.twitter.com/ZEkgKGwwGg

— Minnesota Volleyball (@GopherVBall) October 22, 2017

Press Release

Courtesy of Minnesota Athletics

The No. 5 University of Minnesota volleyball program earned a 3-1 win over No. 9 Wisconsin, tonight, in front of 5,541 fans at Maturi Pavilion. The Golden Gophers (19-2 overall, 8-2 Big Ten) fell in the first set, 21-25, and won the next three, 25-18, 25-21, 25-22. Minnesota has now won the past six meetings between the two teams, with the last loss coming to the Badgers in 2014.

Minnesota hit .240 to Wisconsin’s .189. Both teams had 10 blocks, while Wisconsin held a one-dig advantage at 74-73. Alexis Hart had a match-best 23 kills and hit .367, while she added one ace, three digs and a block. Stephanie Samedyhad 11 kills, followed by Jasmyn Martin with 10. Molly Lohman had a team-best six blocks. Samedy added the double-double with a career-best 20 digs, followed by Dalianliz Rosado had 18. Samantha Seliger-Swenson posted 50 assists, three kills, an ace, eight digs and two blocks.

Minnesota hosts Illinois on Wednesday night, 8 p.m. at Maturi Pavilion. The match is televised on the Big Ten Network.

Set Breakdown:
First Set: Wisconsin hit .341 in the opening set to take a 25-21 set win. The two teams traded points until Wisconsin took a 15-13 lead. Minnesota, however, battled back and later tied the set at 16-16. The two teams later went back and forth until Wisconsin took the lead for good at 19-18 to secure the win. The Badgers later took a 22-19 lead, which forced Minnesota to call a timeout. They later pushed the score to 24-19 as Minnesota called its second timeout. The Gophers came out of the break and prolonged the set with kills from Samedy and Martin, but Wisconsin finished off the set with a kill to go up, 1-0.

Second Set: In the second set, it was Minnesota that hit .344 to win it, 25-18. Wisconsin took a narrow 7-5 lead, which forced Minnesota to call an early timeout. The Gophers responded by going on a 5-0 run, which caused Wisconsin to call a timeout. The Gophers finished with a 7-0 run, six of which came on the Seliger-Swenson’s serve rotation and a 12-7 lead. A Samedy kill pushed the Gophers lead to 15-12. A Hart kill put the Gophers at 19-14 and forced Wisconsin to call a timeout. Hart later pushed the score to 21-15, while Samedy and Lohman combined on a block for a 23-17 lead. The Gophers capped off the set on a Wisconsin attack error to tie the match, 1-1.

Third Set: Minnesota earned a 25-21 set win in the third. Wisconsin put together an early 8-5 lead, which forced Minnesota to call a timeout. The Gophers came out of the break and later tied the set at 10-10 on a Lohman/Samedy block. The two teams traded points until Minnesota took a 17-14 lead off back-to-back kills from Pittman and forced Wisconsin to call a timeout. Continuing on Barnes’ serve rotation, Minnesota tacked on two more points for a 19-14 lead. A Samedy kill pushed the lead to 22-16, while Hart added a kill at the 23-18 mark. The Gophers took a 2-1 lead when Martin and Pittman combined for a block at 25-21.

Fourth Set: The Gophers utilized 19 kills to secure a 25-22 set win and the 3-1 victory. Minnesota took a 9-3 lead off a Pittman overpass kill as Wisconsin called a timeout. The Gophers, however, came out of the Wisconsin break and added to the lead off a Lohman kill at 12-7. Wisconsin rallied back and cut the Gopher lead to 12-9 as Minnesota called a timeout. As Wisconsin cut the lead to two, Minnesota took a 15-12 lead off a Pittman/Martin block. Wisconsin came back and tied the set at 16-16 as the Gophers called a timeout. Minnesota came out of the break and went up, 18-16 off a Wisconsin attack error and 21-18 off a Hart ace, which forced Wisconsin to call a timeout. Pittman pushed the set to 23-21. Seliger-Swenson ended the match with a kill, her third of the evening.

Press Release

Courtesy of Wisconsin Athletics

The ninth-ranked Wisconsin volleyball team could not find a way to top No. 5 Minnesota on the road as the Badgers fell 21-25, 25-18, 25-21, at Maturi Pavilion Saturday night.

Wisconsin (14-5, 5-5 Big Ten) took the first set, but then fell in three consecutive sets to Minnesota (19-2, 8-2 Big Ten). The Badgers hit .189 (59 kills – 26 errors – 175 attempts) and were outpaced by Minnesota’s .240 (60 – 20 – 167).

Coming off Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors, freshman Dana Rettke had a dominant performance, earning 22 kills without committing a single hitting error. Rettke hit .674 (22 – 0 – 34) on the night. Rettke’s fellow middle blocker, Tionna Williams, also made an impact, adding 11 kills.

The Badgers and Golden Gophers played an even match for most of the night. Both teams had 10 blocks, and the Badgers picked up three aces compared to Minnesota’s two.

In the backcourt, Wisconsin had 74 digs to Minnesota’s 73. The Badgers were paced by Tiffany Clark, who collected 21 digs, her third 20-plus dig performance of the season.

Notables

• Freshman Sydney Hilley recorded her team-best seventh double-double of the season with 52 assists and 11 digs.
• Minnesota is just the fourth opponent to hit better than Wisconsin this season. The Gophers hit .240, while the Badgers hitting .189.
• Senior Lauryn Gillis set her season high for digs with 16.
• Sophomore Madison Duello matched her career high with four digs.
• Freshman Riley Bell tied her career-high with two digs.

Quotable

“They’re really good defending the pins and the high balls. It’s really hard for our left-sides to score against them. Those long rallies—they were winning those more than we were. And I have to find a way to help our pins score. Not too many people are against them, but that was the biggest thing tonight.”
“I thought Dana was fantastic tonight. Really great match for her. She was pretty much unstoppable tonight. Late into the match, I told Sydney Hilley that she was making things more difficult than they needed to be—she just needed to keep giving Dana the ball at every opportunity. Dana was working harder than she ever was.”
“There are a lot of positives to take from tonight’s match. That’s a good team we lost to.”
-Head Coach Kelly Sheffield

Up next:

The Badgers continue conference play with a showdown at No. 1 Penn State on Wednesday at 6 p.m. (CT) before returning to the UW Field House to face Northwestern on Saturday at 7 p.m.