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Athlon Sports
No. 18 Minnesota volleyball loses in 5 sets vs. TCU
By Tommy Wiita,
6 hours ago
The 18th-ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers volleyball team lost in five sets against TCU on Saturday night, the second match loss in the Big Ten/Big 12 Challenge this weekend.
The Gophers (1-3 overall, 0-0 Big Ten) lost the first two sets 21-25 and 24-26 but stormed back to win the next two 25-21 and 25-23. It wouldn't be enough as they lost a tough fifth set 18-20 as the Horned Frogs (2-2, 0-0 Big 12) won their second match of the season.
Melani Shaffmaster led the way for Minnesota, recording a triple-double with 10 kills, 21 digs, and 47 assists. She's the first Gopher to achieve the feat since Sarah Wilhite did so in 2014. Wilhite was inducted into the "M Club" Hall of Fame on Friday night.
Julia Hanson had a career-high 23 kills and Mckenna Wucherer had 16 on the night.
Defensively, Zeynep Palabiyik recorded 24 digs and Phoebe Awoleye had six blocks.
The Gophers fell behind early in the first set and got within six points but failed to ever lead, tying it up four times before TCU took over and sealed it.
In the second set, Minnesota had to crawl back down seven and did so but failed to overcome TCU's attack, down 2-0 heading into the third set.
The third set was far from easy to overcome as Minnesota and TCU had 13 ties and seven lead changes. No team had a bigger lead than four during the set. However, the Gophers were able to weather the pressure and survive to reach the fourth set.
The fourth set featured 10 TCU attacking errors that the Gophers took advantage of. The set remained close throughout but once the Gophers took a 10-9 advantage they never gave up the lead and sent it to a fifth set.
Minnesota led the final set by as much as a 9-4 advantage and had three chances to finish it off at match point but failed to do so.
The Gophers will next face St. Thomas on Tuesday at 7 p.m. for its home opener.
The Minnesota Golden Gophers volleyball team celebrates against TCU on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024.
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