The University of Minnesota volleyball program opened the spring season of 2021 with a 3-0 win over the state of Michigan, tonight at the Maturi Pavilion.
Minnesota was led by Adanna Rollins with 15 deaths and a score of 0.519, followed by Taylor Landfair with 10 (hit .450) and Stephanie Samedy with nine. Regan Pittman and Katie Myers each had four blocks, while CC McGraw led the team with 13 excavations. Melani Shaffmaster had 29 assists, four deaths, two aces and six digs.
As a team, the Gophers had 46 deaths, hitting .384, had eight blocks, two aces and 44 digs. Michigan had 38 deaths, six aces, a block, 39 digs and was limited to 15% strokes.
Minnesota and Michigan State will play again at 3pm tomorrow. The match will be on BTN + and FOX 9 +.
NOTABLES
–Taylor Landfair and Melani Shaffmaster made their high school debut tonight. Landfair was the number one recruitment in the national ranking last year. Shaffmaster was ranked No. 16. Both signed up in January 2020 and saw their first action today.
-It was Minnesota’s first action game in 401 days. The Golden Gophers last played on December 19, 2019 in the NCAA National Semifinal.
-Minnesota is now 56-19 all the time against the Spartans
Sep 1: tied at 14-14, Minnesota made a 5-0 run towards the 25-18 win. After a death by Landfair in 15-14, Pittman left in a four-point service race for the 19-14 lead. Minnesota pushed the lead to 20-16 from one Samedy death and another death at point 22-17. Rollins added a kill on the set point and a 24-17 lead, while an MSU attack error gave Minnesota a 1-0 lead. The Gophers reached 0.333 that set with Rollins posting six deaths.
Set 2: Minnesota returned from a 12-20 handicap to win the set, 26-24 to take a 2-0 lead. After an MSU service error on 13-20, Minnesota made a 10-2 run. In 16-22, Shaffmaster returned to the service line and the Gophers scored seven consecutive points. Minnesota took the lead with 23-22 in one Samedy death and rose 24-23 with another Samedy death. Samedy again produced a death at the set point (25-24) and again at 26-24) to go up, 2-0. The Gophers hit .359 in the second for a 2-0 advantage.
Sep 3: Minnesota led from the third point 3-2 and won the match, with a 25-16 win. Minnesota went up, 10-4, in a Shaffmaster death. The Gophers rose 10 from Pittman’s death to the 17-7 point. A Pittman block gave the Gophers a 20-12 lead, while a Landfair block put the score at 22-13. Myers added a kill on 23-14 while Landfair pushed for match point later on 24-16. Myers added a solo block at 25-16 for the set and the match win.