Nov. 28, 2009

Final Stats

Minneapolis, Minn. - The Illinois-Minnesota match had much the flavor of a late round NCAA Tournament tilt. It featured two teams ranked in the top 15 nationally in fifth-ranked Illinois and No. 13 Minnesota on a floor (UM's Sports Pavilion) that will host NCAA Sweet 16 and Elite Eight rounds in two weeks. In the end, the host Gophers won just enough points in each set to prevail 25-23, 25-23, 25-22.

Illinois ends the regular season at 24-5 overall and 16-4 in the Big Ten, good for second place. Minnesota, meanwhile, heads to the NCAA Tournament with a 24-8 overall record and finishes just behind Illinois in third in the conference at 15-5. The loss avenges an earlier three-set defeat for the Gophers in Champaign. The NCAA parings will be announced on Sunday between 2-2:30 pm CT on ESPN News.

"There were a few plays in each set that could have made the difference," said Illinois head coach Kevin Hambly. "We needed to take better care of the ball to win tonight."

There wasn't much difference statistically. Minnesota out-hit the Illini .244-.202 and led in blocks 6-4. The Gophers back row defense perhaps put them over the top, out-digging Illinois 63-54, led by one of the game's top liberos in Christine Tan, who tallied 23.

Minnesota used the hot hand of middle blocker Lauren Gibbemeyer, who scored from the middle and on the back slide. Gibbemyer had eight kills in the first set and six in the third en route to a match-high 18 kills while hitting a robust .500.

Illinois's left side attack was strong. Laura DeBruler led the Illini with 15 kills while hitting .237. The junior All-American was particularly tough in the second set, tallying eight kills while hitting .500. McCulley emerged as a force in the third set, hitting .313 with seven kills and finished the night with 14 kills. Freshman middle blocker Erin Johnson was in on all four of Illinois' blocks.

Minnesota won the serve-pass battle, forcing Illinois to have someone other than setter Hillary Haen to set balls in over half the attacks. When Haen was able to get those opportunities, the Illini put them away at 87.2 percent (34 of 39). Sophomore libero Rachel Feldman led three Illini in double figures in digs with 16. Haen and DeBruler added 11 and 10 apiece.

Each set had its pivotal moments.

In set one, the Gophers bolted to a 9-3 lead, getting the ball to Gibbemeyer, who was nearly unstoppable. Illinois rallied to cut the margin to 13-12 before Minnesota again went in front 21-17. The Illini closed the gap to one three times, before Gibbemeyer finally ended it with a kill.

In set two, DeBruler had a kill and an ace in a 3-0 run to put the Illini in front 19-17. After Minnesota tied the score, the Illini regained a two-point cushion 21-19 behind the arm of McCulley, but Minnesota scored four straights to go in front for good.

Set three looked like Minnesota was going to run away, as the Gophers dashed to a 13-7 lead. But behind the service arm of Haen, Illinois scored six straight points to tie it a 13-13. Haen tallied an ace and McCulley had three aces in the rally. Gibbemeyer, however ended a key 3-0 stretch as Minnesota went back in front 18-15. Johnson had a solo block and a kill to keep the Illini close at 21-20, but Minnesota scored four of the last six points of the set to win the match.

"There was a great atmosphere tonight, much the same that we are going to see in the tournament," Hambly said. "We didn't play great, but in reality missed out on 2 or 3 points here and there that could have changed the outcome. Minnesota is capable of going deep into the tournament so it shows us what we need to do to come out on top in these matches."