No doubt about it, this match was going to be a battle. The Gophers and Baylor faced off to open up Minnesota’s season, and now Baylor had the opportunity to end it.

The first set gave fans exactly what was expected— a back-and-forth fight. Neither team was able to get more than a three-point lead, and both teams fought back whenever they were down.

Gophers’ trio of redshirt seniors Stephanie Samedy, Airi Miyabe and sophomore Jenna Wenaas fought on the offensive end accounting for all 16 kills. However, fifth-year Yossiana Pressley was dominant for Baylor and grabbed nine kills to lead her Bears to a 28-26 set win.

Minnesota ran into some trouble in the first set handling the serves and dealing with Baylor’s block.

With Samedy’s second kill of the match, she notched a huge milestone, becoming the first Minnesota player to record 2,000 career kills and over 1,500 career digs.

With her second kill of the game, @StephanieSamedy has reached 2,000 kills in her #Gophers career!

She is just the fourth to hit the mark and the FIRST to have 2,000 kills and 1,500+ digs in her career!

Congratulations, Stephanie! pic.twitter.com/YQHjDjAcE1

— Minnesota Volleyball (@GopherVBall) December 9, 2021

Unlike the first set, the Gophers were able to jump out infront of Baylor with a quick 3-0 run. They continued to be in control of the second set for the first half, extending their lead to as many as six before Baylor was forced to call a timeout.

The second set featured a lot of mistakes on the Bears’ side and allowed Minnesota to grow its lead. However, Baylor never went away and fought through the hole they dug themselves into.

That put some pressure on Baylor down the stretch, as the Bears were down as many as seven. The Gophers were able to hold out after Baylor came within two and took the second set 25-22 to even the match up.

Baylor had 10 attack errors and six service errors that greatly helped Minnesota take the second set.

It was Baylor who got off to an early lead in the third set, and as much as Minnesota tried to come back, the Bears continued to extend their lead whenever the Gophers got close.

Minnesota found itself down three multiple times, but a quick two-point run would pull them back within one. Unfortunately, the fast start by Baylor was too much for the Gophers to overcome as they dropped the third set 25-20.

The fourth set featured Minnesota playing from behind most of the set. That was until a 6-0 run gave the Gophers a 19-16 lead trying to force a fifth set. Baylor was able to retake the lead at 22-21 trying to spoil Minnesota’s season.

The Gophers weren’t ready for the end of the season and finished the fourth set on a 4-2 run to force a fifth set.

The match had an end that was all too predictable: a fifth-set battle between Baylor and Minnesota. The Bears got off to the early lead with a 4-1 run, but it was answered with a 5-0 run for Minnesota to retake the lead.

The Gophers held strong once they got the lead and forced a Baylor timeout leading 13-10. Minnesota held onto its lead and upset Baylor in five sets.

Miyabe finished with 18 kills, Samedy with 16 and Wenaas with 13. Samedy and Wenaas both notched a double-double with 16 and 15 digs, respectively.

Minnesota advances to the Regional Final to face the winner of the Wisconsin/UCLA game this Saturday.

Minnesota struggled from the field for the first time this season against No. 19 Michigan State in its first Big Ten game of the season. That didn’t stop the Gophers from giving the Spartans a fight to the end. Michigan State was able to hold out and take a 75-67 win.

“It’s tough, we’re playing the 19th rated team in the country, and obviously they’re really well-coached. When you gotta put all the energy to get back in the game, it’s hard and they don’t make many mistakes. You gotta capitalize when you can get a turnover or an open look,” head coach Ben Johnson said.

Even through their struggles, the Gophers never gave up. Minnesota trailed by as many as 19 at one point in the second half. Ultimately, the Spartans were able to hold out and end their undefeated season.

After a difficult first half for sophomore Jamison Battle, he was able to get the crowd electrified multiple times during the comeback. Battle scored just three points in the first half, but came alive for a couple stretches to end the night with 17 points.

Battle wasn’t alone, the Spartans made it a lot tougher on all of the Gophers. Minnesota came into Wednesday sitting at 7-0 and shooting 45.7% from the field and 36.2% from deep. The slow start was too much to shoot back into as Minnesota shot 39.7% from the field and 26.1% from deep.

Minnesota continued to settle for contested jumpers, and unlike the Spartans, they weren’t dropping for the Gophers. The Gophers also played a very clean game on the offensive side and turned the ball over just three times.

Unfortunately, the first half deficit proved to be too much to overcome after the Spartans went into the break up by 13. Outside of redshirt senior Eric Curry and senior Payton Willis, the only two players with experience against Big Ten opponents in The Barn, the offense struggled in the first half.

As a team, Minnesota shot just 30.3% from the field and 18.2% from deep in the first half with 17 of its 24 points coming from Curry and Willis. Curry led Minnesota with 10 points as Willis accounted for seven including one of the Gophers’ two made threes.

On the defensive side, the Gophers were the best team coming into the game at stopping the three ball. Teams averaged just 23.1% from deep when playing against Minnesota -that is, until the Spartans came to town.

Michigan State let it rain in the first half, hitting six three-pointers on its way to a dominant first half. The deep ball continued to fly for the Spartans as they made 10-21, and the four in the second half came at important times.

Besides the three-pointers, Minnesota played a relatively good defensive game. The Spartans were just a little better and were able to knock down contested shots. Whenever Minnesota seemed to be closing the gap, a Spartan three would quiet the crowd and put an end to the Gopher run.

Curry continued his dominance and scored a career-high 18 points against a tough Spartan defense. He was efficient in his night going 9-14 from the field while missing his lone three-point attempt.

“Man you’ve improved a ton… This kid, I’m happy for him. When guys can stick it out six years and go through what he went through, and he looked tougher, he looked way more aggressive tonight than I’ve seen him on film,” Spartan’s head coach Tom Izzo said on Curry’s play.

The Gophers made the game close, getting to within six at one point. The crowd continued to be on the Gophers’ back and Minnesota gave them plenty to cheer for in a tough loss.

“I thought the crowd was great, the crowd was awesome. The student section was big-time, [I] really appreciate them coming out. Our guys felt it, and I think their effort was a result of the energy they felt in the building,” Johnson said.

The Gophers will continue their Big Ten play against Michigan Saturday as Minnesota travels to Ann Arbor, Mich., to try and get its first conference win.

In the 26th appearance in the NCAA tournament, and ninth while under head coach Hugh McCutcheon, Minnesota went straight to work. The Gophers made quick work over South Dakota and swept the Coyotes 25-19, 25-22 and 25-17.

“We’re very happy with the win tonight and excited to advance in the tournament. We know that South Dakota’s a good team and we knew it was going to be a battle and we were very happy to come out on top so we’ll enjoy this for a little bit and onto the next one,” McCutcheon said.

First set

After surrendering the first point of the match, the Gophers went on a tear to open up to an 8-1 lead. Redshirt senior Katie Myers had three service aces during the 8-point run as Minnesota electrified the crowd.

The Coyotes didn’t back down. Immediately after Minnesota’s run, South Dakota went on a 6-0 run of its own and cut its deficit down to one at 9-8. It was a lot of back and forth between the Gophers and Coyotes as neither team could run away with the first set.

Minnesota never trailed after the first point of the set, and were finally able to regain a steady lead after a 5-0 run gave them a six-point lead at 22-16. Sophomore Jenna Wenaas was unstoppable at the end of the set. She accounted for five of the final six points for Minnesota, all off kills for a 25-19 win.

Second set

The two traded the first six points of the set before Minnesota opened the second set up with a 5-0 run for an 8-3 lead. Just like the first set, the Coyotes were not going away without a fight. South Dakota fought back and went on a 9-5 run to cut its deficit down to just one at 13-12.

The Gophers continuously were able to regain a lead once the Coyotes came close, but a 3-0 run from South Dakota tied the second set up at 17-17 for the first time since 3-3 and forced a McCutcheon timeout.

The Gophers were finally able to grab some breathing room late in the set. A 3-0 run gave them a four-point lead and put them in a great position to close out the second set. That’s exactly what they did, though South Dakota did give some fight. After the Coyotes brought it to within two, the Gophers closed out the second set 25-22 to go up 2-0.

Third set

South Dakota was able to grab an early 3-2 lead to open the set, but that was enough for McCutcheon and the Gophers. Minnesota went on an 8-2 run to take a five-point lead and force a timeout.

A 3-0 run cut the deficit to two, but Minnesota got its breathing room back. A 7-3 run put the Gophers back in the driver’s seat at 17-11 to force a timeout.

The lead continued to grow for Minnesota as they coasted past South Dakota in the third set. The Gophers completed the sweep with a 25-17.

The Gophers were able to settle down after a more sloppy first set.

“I mean this is an exciting time so I think if you’re not nervous, you’re not really into it so we were for sure nervous but once the match started and we got rolling, we were like ‘Yeah, we’re good. We’re in it,’” junior Ellie Husemannsaid on the nerves of playing in the tournament.

Senior CC McGraw did not play in the opening round, and instead junior Rachel Kilkelly was the go-to libero for the Gophers.

I’m not seeing CC McGraw in warmups before tonight’s #Gophers match. Looks like junior Rachel Kilkelly will be Minnesota’s libero tonight if CC is in fact out.

— AJ (@ajcondon_) December 4, 2021

“I think we went about our business how we normally would. We know Rachel [Kilkelly] filled the spot just as we knew she could and Airi [Miyabe] played the position just as again, we knew she should, and I think anyone – a lot of people on our team can play every spot if we need them to. I think we kept connecting as we normally do and it’s just another night of good volleyball for us,” sophomore Melani Shaffmaster said.

Redshirt senior Stephanie Samedy led the Gophers with 13 kills, Wenaas had 10 while redshirt senior Airi Miyabe had eight. As a team, the Gophers had 10 service aces.

Looking ahead

The Gophers will face Stanford Saturday night in hopes of reaching the Madison Regional Dec. 9-11. Minnesota and Stanford met once previously in the season where the Gophers took the match in four sets, winning 3-1 as part of the Big 10/Pac-12 challenge.

Stanford took care of Iowa State in four sets right before the Gophers’ match. Redshirt Caitie Baird led the Cardinals with 22 kills in the win to go along with two service aces. Junior Kendall Kipp came in second with 20 kills, but also gave Stanford its lone double-double with 11 digs.

Senior Luke Loewe’s first basket of the game was the biggest shot of the night for Minnesota. With two seconds left, Loewe put back a missed layup for the game-winning basket. Panthers forward John Hugley was unable to be stopped for the majority of the game, but it wasn’t enough.

The Gophers behind sophomore Jamison Battle and senior Payton Willis combined for 31 points en route to a 54-53 win. Battle led the team with 16, with Willis close behind with 15.

After a slow start to the second half, Battle got Minnesota out of its funk and hit back-to-back threes to climb back to within two. A mid-range pullup from Battle tied the game at 42.

In the final stretch of the game, neither team could really pull away.

Minnesota found themself in a hole, continuously getting fouls on defense and allowing offensive rebounds. It wasn’t until the five-minute mark of the second quarter that the Gophers shot their first two free throws, which Battle split.

Hugley, the 6-foot-9 sophomore, exploded for 15 points in the first half, including a three-pointer to close out the half. His night was far from over. He accumulated a double-double with 25 points and 14 rebounds, including five on the offensive side.

Minnesota didn’t help themselves much in the game with plenty of scoring droughts in both halves.

In the first half, it took nearly four minutes for either team to score a bucket, while the second half was just under two and a half minutes. Fortunately for Minnesota, Pittsburgh also struggled to start the game.

Redshirt senior Eric Curry forced two travels within the first nine minutes of the game but ran into foul trouble, which limited his minutes.

Minnesota is on the road again on Sunday against Mississippi State before opening up Big Ten play against Michigan State Wednesday night at the Barn.

The Gophers traveled to North Carolina to participate in the inaugural Asheville Championship over the weekend. Minnesota defeated Western Kentucky in the opening round 73-69, and held on in double overtime over Princeton 87-80 Sunday night for the championship win.

Minnesota opened the weekend up Friday night against Western Kentucky. The Gophers were firing on all cylinders in the first half to give themselves a 12-point lead heading into the half. They used the early start to their advantage and never trailed.

Sophomore Jamison Battle led the Gophers once again in scoring with a season-high 20 points. He also grabbed six boards to go along with two assists and one steal. Minnesota had three other double-digit scorers in seniors Payton Willis and Eylijah Stephens and redshirt senior Eric Curry.

Willis was second on the team with 19 points, as he also had six boards, to go along with an assist and two steals. Stephens had 18, and also had two steals as he grabbed five rebounds. Curry had 11 points and led the team with seven rebounds.

The Gophers ran into some trouble in the second half as they allowed Western Kentucky to shoot 50% from the field and close the gap. The Gophers were outscored 46-38 in the second half and saw a 14-point lead disappear in four minutes.

The Gophers were able to hold on and advanced to the championship with a 73-69 win.

Championship

Minnesota found itself in a double-overtime battle against Princeton, largely due to their problem at the free throw line. The Gophers again got off to a hot start and had an eight-point lead heading into the half. Down the stretch, the Gophers were unable to put the game away as their struggles at the line continued.

As a team, the Gophers shot 15-29 at the charity stripe, with Willis being the lone-Gopher to shoot above 50%. Willis scored a career-high 29 points in the win and came up big in both overtimes. Willis also had his first double-double of the season with 10 boards.

Battle also had his first double-double in the Maroon & Gold with 24 points and a team-leading 11 rebounds. Battle and Willis both came up big for Minnesota and accounted for almost 61% of the team’s points.

The game shouldn’t have gone into overtime, let alone two overtimes, but came out on the right side. Senior Sean Sutherlin gave the Gophers an important 14 points off the bench in his 20 minutes of play.

Minnesota is back in action at The Barn Friday night when they host Purdue Fort Wayne and look to stay undefeated.

The No. 8 Gophers volleyball team lost in four sets to No. 9 Purdue Sunday afternoon at the Pav. Minnesota was riding a 6-game win streak heading into a top-10 Big Ten match-up but struggled against a well-rounded Boilermakers team.

The first set wasn’t too friendly for the Gophers who found themselves down six points early. Head coach Hugh McCutcheon called a timeout with his team down 9-3. Minnesota held strong over the next 16 points, but Purdue was able to extend its lead to eight at 18-10.

McCutcheon called his second timeout of the set in hopes of getting a late push from the Gophers. That didn’t do much as the Boilermakers ended the set on a 7-2 run and took the first set 25-12.

Minnesota woke up in the second set and did to Purdue what they did to Minnesota in the first. The Gophers opened up with a 7-2 run to get the momentum on their side. Purdue called a timeout down six at 10-4. After a small pushback by the Boilermakers, Minnesota went on a 5-0 run to open things back up.

Purdue failed to make things closer the rest of the second set and Minnesota tied the match up at 1-1 with a 25-14 win.

The Gophers got off on the right foot to start the third set as they grabbed an early 8-4 lead. It was looking good for Minnesota, but a 4-0 run by Purdue tied the third set. Purdue went on to score seven of the next 12 points to take a lead into the media timeout.

The Boilermakers extended their lead to four before McCutcheon burned a timeout. That didn’t stop the bleeding and Purdue continued to extend its lead. A 13-3 run to close out the third set left Minnesota trailing 2-1 after a 25-16 win for Purdue.

With their backs against the wall, the Gophers gave Purdue a fight in the fourth set, but they came up short.

It was Purdue who got off to an early lead courtesy of a 5-2 run to break away from a 4-4 tie. McCutcheon burned a timeout, which the Gophers used to regroup and go on a 6-3 run to tie the fourth set at 12-12.

The Gophers finally grabbed a lead at 16-15 and would retake the lead 19-18 after Purdue went on a 3-1 run. The Gophers even grabbed a two-point lead at 22-20 trying to force a fifth set. The Boilermakers scored the next five points to close out the set and the match 25-22.

Minnesota is back in action Friday when they host Rutgers at home looking to bounce back.