1 week Ago
The Minnesota Golden Gophers volleyball team remained in its slump on Thursday night, dropping a four-set match on the road to the No. 2 Nebraska Cornhuskers (12-25, 25-22, 22-25, 19-25). Minnesota has now lost three matches in a row.
Follow All Gophers on Facebook The Huskers started fast, winning six of the first seven points. The Gophers battled back, getting within three points, but the Huskers went on another run. The lead soon ballooned to seven, then nine before a 6-0 Nebraska run pushed it to 13 and set point.
The Maroon and Gold couldn't get it together and went down 1-0. Nebraska outhit Minnesota .367 to .
029 in the opening frame, but that proved to be the exception rather than the norm. Related: Minnesota Gophers National Signing Day roundup The second set was much closer, with the teams trading punches early on and the Gophers putting together the first run. It wasn’t until Minnesota went up 13-10 that either team had a three-point lead in the stanza, but it was tied again a short time later.
However, like earlier in the set, it was the Gophers who put together a run, using a 4-0 burst to go up 22-17. Nebraska fought off three set points but the Gophers closed it out to even the match. Minnesota’s win snapped Nebraska’s 16-set win streak, which dated back to Oct.
26. Set No. 3, like the second set, was very tight early on but the Huskers strung together the first run — a 6-1 burst — to take an early four-point lead.
The Maroon and Gold rallied back to tie the set at 12 but the Huskers again responded to jump back in front. From there, it was neck and neck to the finish, but Nebraska managed to hang on thanks to a long Gophers serve to close it out. Finally, Minnesota faded away in the fourth frame.
It again started out close but a quick 7-0 run put Nebraska in control early and the Gophers could never get back within striking distance. After Minnesota outhit Nebraska in the two middle sets while holding the Huskers to under a .150 hitting percentage, the Huskers vaunted attack resurfaced.
The Big Red hit .238 in the final set to slam the door shut on a possible comeback. Julia Hanson had a match-high 20 kills and Lydia Grote added 14; Zeynep Palabiyik and Alex Acevedo each tallied 20 digs; Melani Shaffmaster had 42 assists and four blocks, and Calissa Minatee also had four blocks.
The Gophers (16-9, 9-6 in conference play) are back in action Saturday afternoon against Michigan. That match is set to start at 2 p.m.
at Maturi Pavilion and will be streamed on B1G+. Courtesy: Minnesota Athletics.
