Seliger-Swenson Sets #3 Minnesota to 3-0 Sweep of Toledo

Match Stats

• 25-14, 25-22, 25-14
• Minnesota moves to 7-1, Toledo falls to 7-4

The 3rd-ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers swept the Toledo Rockets 3-0 on Saturday morning in Minneapolis. The match marked Toledo’s first match this season against a top 25, or a “Power 5 Conference,” opponent.

The match was driven by the Gophers from start to finish – when they were hitting well, they won big. When they weren’t, Toledo was able to keep it close.

In the bookend sets, where the Gophers won 25-14 each, they hit .500 (18 kills, 2 errors, on 3 attacks) and .423 (24 kills, 3 errors, 26 attacks). On the middle set, where the score was only 25-22, the Gophers hit just .186 (15 kills, 7 errors, on 43 attacks). Toledo didn’t hit particularly well in any of the three sets (.135, .095, and .000, respectively).

The Gophers were led offensively by locally-bred seniors Sarah Wilhite and Hannah Tapp, who had 16 and 11 kills, respectively, to just 1 error each.

The pair was set up by their sophomore teammate from Minnetonka Samantha Seliger-Swenson, one of the best setters in the country. She entered the weekend as the 4th-most prolific setter in the NCAA’s Division I, with 12.05 per set, and was right on that pace with 34 in 3 on Saturday morning (11.3).

Defensively, Dalianliz Rosado (14) and Seliger-Swenson (10) had double digit digs for the Gophers.

Toledo didn’t have anybody with over 10 kills, but sophomore Maurissa Leonard did have 14 digs.

Press Releases

Courtesy Minnesota Athletics:

The No. 3 University of Minnesota volleyball team swept Toledo 3-0 this morning at the Sports Pavilion, in the annual Diet Coke Classic. Minnesota won 25-14, 25-22, 25-14 to improve to 7-1 on the season as the Rockets fell to 7-4.

Sarah Wilhite led the team with match-high 16 kills, hitting .538. Hannah Tapp followed, with 11 kills and a .476 hitting percentage. Alexis Hart and Molly Lohman had eight kills each. Dalianliz Rosado had 14 digs, while Samantha Seliger Swenson had 10 digs and 34 assists. Paige Tapp and Seliger-Swenson each had four block assists, while Taylor Morgan had three and Maddie Beal had two.

Minnesota will conclude the Diet Coke Classic tonight at 7 p.m. against Green Bay.

Set 1: The Gophers hit .500 to Toledo’s .135 to take the first set 25-14. Wilhite had eight kills in 11 attempts, hitting .727. Seliger-Swenson and P Tapp both added three blocks. Minnesota started off the first set on a 4-0 run with two kills from H Tapp. Toledo fought back to shrink Minnesota’s lead to 8-7. A Hart kill put the Gophers back in commanding lead, going on a 4-0 run, causing a Toledo timeout at 12-7. Wilhite put up three kills in a row, bringing Minnesota to a six-point lead at 15-9. Toledo added three kills to shrink Minnesota’s lead, but the Gophers went on a 7-0 run on Seliger-Swenson’s serve rotation and didn’t look back. H Tapp put Minnesota at set point with a kill on the right side, and Lohman ended the set with a kill from the middle.

Set 2: Minnesota hit .186 to the Rockets’ .095 to win a close second set 25-22. The teams would remain tied until a 3-0 run by the Rockets put them up 6-3. A kill by H Tapp started the 4-0 run on Wilhite’s service run that would bring Minnesota to tie it up again at 9-9. Back-to-back kills by Hart caused a Toledo timeout. A 4-0 run on Rosado’s service run increased the Gophers’ lead to 16-11. A 3-0 run and double block by Seliger-Swenson and P Tapp forced a Toledo timeout at 19-13. The Rockets would shrink the lead to two after a 4-0 run at 23-21, causing a Minnesota timeout. A Toledo error put the Gophers at set point, and an H Tapp kill ended the set.

Set 3: Minnesota hit .423 to the Rockets’ .000 (seven kills and seven errors) to take the third set 25-14. The Gophers had 14 kills in 26 attempts with just three errors. Toledo opened the third set on a 3-0 run, ended by a Wilhite kill and ace. After kills by Hart and Seliger-Swenson, the Rockets took a timeout at 9-5. Back-to-back kills from Lohman followed by a kill from Wilhite brought the Gophers’ lead to 14-8. The Rockets took a 3-0 run, but three consecutive Gopher kills forced a Toledo timeout at 18-12. A Taylor Morgan kill brought Minnesota to set point, and a Toledo service error ended the match.

Courtesy Toledo Athletics:

Minneapolis, MN – Toledo volleyball dropped a 3-0 decision to No. 3 Minnesota (7-1) on Saturday morning. The Rockets drop to 7-4 on the season.

“We lost a tough match against a great opponent,” said head coach Greg Smith. “We weren’t consistent enough this morning and they were able to expose some areas of our game that we need to work on. Our mental game broke down in the third set but we can walk away from that match learning a lot. We need to turn around and prepare for our match tonight vs. North Dakota.”

Sophomore OH Gracey Tuifua paced the Rockets with nine terminations, while junior OH Saige Thomastrailed with five kills and notched a team-high two rejections.

Sophomore S Carly Townsend recorded 22 assists and three kills.

Sophomore libero Maurissa Leonard led the backcourt with 14 digs.

The Rockets’ attack could not compete with the Minnesota’s efficiency throughout the match, as the Gophers recorded an impressive .347 attack percentage as a team. The 2015 Big Ten Conference Champions out-blocked UT, 17-5, and the Gophers recorded 47 kills, while holding Toledo to 27.

The Midnight Blue and Gold close out Minnesota’s Diet Coke Classic this evening with a 4:30 p.m. (CT) match against North Dakota.