Gophers Hit the Road to play at OSU and Illinois

Volleyball 11/3/2021 10:10:00 AM

MINNEAPOLIS – Well. 11 The Minnesota Golden Gophers (14-6, 9-3 Big Ten) head east for two decisive conference games on Thursday in 7th place in Ohio State (18-4, 8-4 Big Ten) and No. 25 in Illinois (16-7, 8-4 Big Ten). ) on Saturday. The Gophers are 3-1 in the middle of 12 matches, where they will face eight of their top 25 opponents to finish the Big Ten regular season. Currently, “U” is in third place in the conference rankings after Wisconsin 4th (18-2, 10-2 Big Ten) and 9th after Nebraska (16-5, 10-2 Big Ten).

SHIPMENT INFORMATION

Thursday, November 4th
Well. 11 Minnesota at No. 7 Ohio State | at 6 pm CT | BTN
Covelli Arena
Columbus, Ohio
BTN senders: Connor Onion (PBP) and Emily Ehman (analyst)

SHIPMENT INFORMATION

Saturday, Nov. 6
Well. 11 Minnesota at No. 25 Illinois | at 6 pm CT | B1G +
Huff Hall
Champaign, Ill.
B1G + broadcasters: TBA

THE LAST TIME

• No. 11 Minnesota Golden Gophers have won three consecutive and 12 of the last 15 wins since starting 1-3. They won No. 6 in Nebraska on Saturday night in an all-time thriller in Pavi.
• Golden Gophers (14-6, 9-3 Big Ten) boosted the red shirt senior opposite Stephanie Samedy, which recorded 20 kills and a season record of 26 excavations. Jenna Wenaas had a career record of 22 kills at the same time Melanie Shaffmaster a total of three kills, 45 passes, 21 wells and four blocks. Minnesota hit .168 with 59 kills, eight aces, 107 digs and 10 blocks.

SCOUTING OHIO STATE

• No. 7 The Ohio State Buckeyes (18-4, 8-4 Big Ten) have started brilliantly in 2021. They made a perfect 10-0 out-of-conference game and have consistently been tough in Big Ten. to be afraid. They have won eight of their last 10 conference games since they dropped their first pair to Purdue and Illinois. OSU is at home 9-0 this year.
• OSU is led by second-year head coach Jen Flynn Oldenberg, who is 34-8 over two leadership years.
• Buckeyes leads Big Ten events (14.91 fps) and feeds (13.89 fps). They are spurred by Emily Londot, who ranks seventh in Big Ten with a 3.66 kill per set. Middle blocker Rylee Rader is in second place in the league with an excellent 0.465 hit percentage in 374 swings. Mac Podraza feeds an average of 11.88 feeds per batch.

SOUTING ILLINOIS

• No. 25 Illinois Fighting Illini (16-7, 8-4 Big Ten) made it into the top 25 for the first time this season behind a four-match winning streak. They recently knocked down the 13th Penn State on the road in four batches.
• Illinois is led by fifth-year head coach Chris Tamas, who is 94-47 in Champaign. He led to the Ilini Final Four in 2018 and a 32-4 record for the best time of his season there so far.
• DS / L Taylor Kuper has done a great job of keeping the defense under control and finished third in the B1G Series in the series-specific excavations with 4.41. Illini is the conference’s best-serving team, making the series the highest 1.93 service aces per batch.

GOPHERS HISTORY AGAINST OHIO PART AND ILLINOIS

• Minnesota is an all-time 47-36 against Ohio State, including 14-1 below. Hugh McCutcheon. The Gophers have won a series of nine tubes. Under Hugh, Minnesota is 8-0 at home and 6-1 away against Buckeyes.
• The Gophers lead the all-time series against Illinois 41-40-1, including Hugh’s 12-2 record. Minnesota has won five consecutive wins against Illini and nine out of the last ten. The only loss in this area came in 2017. The Gophers are 4-2 led by Hugh while playing in Champaign.

GOPHERS IN BIG TEN PLAY

• Alla Hugh McCutcheon, Minnesota is 141-40 (.779) in the Big Ten. During his nine years in 2021, Gophers has played eight seasons in over 0,500 conference games. In all eight seasons, “U” went 15-1 or better in conference games, and the best was 19-1 in 2018.
• The Gophers won the Big Ten title in 2016 and 2018 and have placed either first, second or third in the last eight of the nine seasons.

GOOD HUGHVEMBER

• Now under 10 years old Hugh McCutcheon, Minnesota has been a team that is constantly improving throughout the season. Under Hugh, the Gophers are 53-16 (.768) in November. As of 2015, Minnesota has a 34-7 (.829) record in November, including a 19-3 (.863) record at home and a 15-4 (.798) road.

SAMEDY TAKES ITS GAME TO THE SECOND LEVEL IN 2021

• Stephanie Samedy currently sixth among NCAA active leaders in career kills (1,828), eighth in total attacks (4,783), 24th in matches played (134), and 52nd in excavations (1,405). He also ranks 18th in the series-specific kills (3.81).
• In 2021, Samedy will rank 14th in points per set (5.18), 12th in the number of kills (4.70) and 11th in the number of attacks per set (12.34). He leads the Big Ten series in each attack category.

SAMEDY AND WENAAS COMBINE TO MEET

• Opposite Minnesota Stephanie Samedy and outside Jenna Wenaas are a total of 583 Minnesota 1,023 kills (.569). They have achieved double-digit kills a total of 31 times this season, while Samedy has reached the 20 kill limit in nine of their 19 matches. Statistically, they are the best offensive duo in the Big Ten Conference.

TEN LARGEST ATTACKS DUE (% OF CLOSE MEETINGS; as of November 1)

1. Samedy / Wenaas (MINN) – 583/1023 (.569)
2. Paige Jones / Jess Mruzik (MICH) – 524/975 (.537)
3. Caitlyn Newton / Grace Cleveland (PUR) – 532/1943 (.531)
4. Sam Csire / Paula Neciporuka (UMD) – 530/1024 (.525)
5. Courtney Buzzerio / Addie VanderWeide (Iowa) – 478/943 (.507)
6. Temi Thomas-Ailara / Hanna Lesiak (NW) – 586/1163 (.504)
7. Mady Saris / Breana Edwards (IND) – 517/1047 (.493)

TIME TO DRAW IT OUT

• Gophers lead the Big Ten series and rank 21st nationally in excavations per series (16.92). CC McGraw leads the team (4.55), while Samedy (3.81) and Melanie Shaffmaster (2.84) are about four and three per set.
• CC McGraw ranks fourth in the conference in excavations (346) and second in excavations per series (4.55).
• The Gophers had a seasonal record of 107 excavations on Saturday in Nebraska. They had the most excavations since February 5, 2021 in Purdue 108. 107 wells were the peak of the Big Ten match of the season.

WHILE THE SCHEDULE LOOKS FORWARD TO THE END OF 2021

• The 11th-ranked Gopheres once again face a challenge. In addition to playing 20 conference games on the ever-difficult Big Ten list, they played eight out-of-conference matches, five against AVCA’s top 25 teams.
• Minnesota is scheduled to host seven teams ranked in the top 10 of the AVCA early season (second in the country in the top 10). Gophers has 13 opponents on schedule for 28 matches.
• In his last 12 matches this season, the Gophers will face eight ranked opponents. So far in 12 games, Minnesota is 3-1 with two ranked wins (Ohio State, Nebraska).

WHAT NEXT

• Minnesota will play in Iowa on Thursday, Nov. 11 at 6 p.m., B1G +.