MINNEAPOLIS -- The No. 12 Minnesota Golden Gophers defeated the Stanford Cardinal in three sets, 25-20, 25-18, 25-17 on Saturday night at Maturi Pavilion in the second round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament.
"It's fantastic to be able to come away with a win tonight against a very good Stanford team," said head coach Hugh McCutcheon. "It could of went either way in that first set when we were tied at 16, but we continued to battle and put some really nice swings on the ball."
The Golden Gophers (22-8, 15-5 Big Ten) were paced by sophomore outside Jenna Wenaas, who had 14 kills and a match-high 16 digs. Redshirt senior opposite Stephanie Samedy posted 16 kills and five digs while Airi Miyabe reached double figures with 11 kills.
With the win tonight, Minnesota advances to its 19th Regional Semifinal in program history, including the eighth under head coach Hugh McCutcheon.
As a team, Minnesota hit .339 with 48 kills, three aces, 51 digs and 10 blocks. Stanford (19-10, 13-7 Pac-12) hit .164 with 37 kills, one ace, 44 digs and ten blocks. Kendall Kipp led Stanford with 15 kills.
Set Breakdown:
Set 1: Minnesota started off strong, holding an early 5-3 lead after a pair of aces from Shaffmaster and kills from Miyabe and Wenaas got the offense going. Stanford would battle back to tie the match four different times in the middle of the set before a 3-1 Gophers run gave the home team a 15-13 lead at the media timeout. Wenaas, Miyabe and Samedy combined for 12 kills through the first 15 Minnesota points. The Cardinal would go on a 3-1 run to tie the match up at 16, capitalizing on a pair of errors from the Gophers. The 'U' would answer with a 3-0 run of its own to go up 19-16 and force a timeout from the visitors. Minnesota would extend its lead to as many as six at 22-16. The Cardinal would get no closer than four the rest of the set as the 'U' closed it out, 25-20. The Gophers hit a scorching .395 in set one while Stanford hit a paltry .316. Wenaas (6 kills), Miyabe (5) and Samedy (5) paced the offense.
Set 2: The two teams split the first six points of the set before a 5-1 Minnesota run forced the visitors into taking a timeout with the Gophers leading, 8-4. The timeout failed to stop the Minnesota momentum as the home team continued its run, scoring seven of the next 11 points to go up 15-8 and force another timeout from the Cardinal. An ace from Katie Myers and two kills from Miyabe continued the stellar run of play from the 'U'. A kill from Stanford's Kendall Kipp cut the lead to 15-9 before a 5-0 Minnesota run broke the second set open completely. Two kills and a block from Ellie Husemann and a kill from Samedy put the Gophers lead up to 20-9. The Cardinal refused to go away lightly, scoring seven of the next eight points to cut the lead to just six at 22-16. Kills from Samedy and Miyabe and a service error from Stanford would eventually end the set, 25-18, as Minnesota took a 2-0 lead. The Gophers hit .278 in set two and held the Cardinal to just .028. Wenaas paced the team with a set-high five kills and six digs.
Set 3: Minnesota led from the outset, getting kills from Shaffmaster, Miyabe and Samedy en route to an early 5-2 lead. Stanford would cut the lead to two at 6-4 and 9-7 before kills from Wenaas and Samedy put the 'U' up 11-7 and forced a timeout from the Cardinal. Stanford cut the lead to 11-9 before a 3-0 Gophers run gave Minnesota some mid-set separation. The 'U' extended its lead out to as many as eight at 20-12 after kills from Samedy and Wenaas. The Cardinal would get no closer than six the rest of the way and Minnesota finished off set and the match with a 25-17 victory. Minnesota hit .343 for the set with 15 assists and 18 digs.
Notable:
-Under head coach Hugh McCutcheon, Minnesota is now 23-8 in the NCAA Tournament, including a 16-0 record in first and second round matches.
-Stephanie Samedy had 16 kills and five digs. She's now at 1,998 career kills and needs just two more to become the fourth Gopher ever to reach 2,000.
-Minnesota has now won three of the last four matches against Stanford. It's the first time in program history the Gophers have swept the Cardinal.
-Samedy played her 143rd career match Saturday night, which ranks No. 1 in Gophers history.
-Jenna Wenaas tallied her 23rd double digit kill match of the year with 14 kills and a team-high 16 digs.
-It's the 14th time this season Miyabe, Samedy and Wenaas all had double digit kills in a match.
-Melani Shaffmaster totaled a match-high 36 assists with five digs.
-Ellie Husemann led the Gophers defense with four blocks. She tallied 12 on the weekend.
-Rachel Kilkelly started at libero for Minnesota and posted 10 digs.
-CC McGraw (medical reasons) did not play.
Up Next:
No. 12 Minnesota will play No. 5 Baylor in the Regional Semifinal on Thursday, Dec. 9 in Madison, Wis.
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Minnesota Sweeps Stanford; Advances to Sweet 16 - University of Minnesota Athletics - GopherSports.com
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