Volleyball Falls at No. 8 Minnesota

Friday, November 24

Minneapolis, Minn.

8 PM

Rutgers University

5-26, 0-19Big Ten

Minnesota

26-4, 15-4Big Ten

Rutgers

Minnesota

Nov 24 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (Nov. 24, 2017) – Rutgers volleyball continued its string of four straight Top 15 opponents to close out the season with a straight-set loss at No. 8 Minnesota on Friday evening at Maturi Pavilion.

The Golden Gophers (26-4, 15-4 B1G) hit .500 with 47 kills while out-digging Rutgers 40-21. The Scarlet Knights (5-26, 0-19) countered with a .181 attack clip and matched Minnesota in the block department with six stuffs apiece. It was the fifth match this season Rutgers has tied or out-blocked a Big Ten opponent.

Sophomore middle blocker Stasa Miljevic tied a career high for blocks in a Big Ten match with five, while reaching five kills in a match for the 15^th time this season, finishing with six on a .267 hitting percentage. Junior outside hitter Sahbria McLetchie paced the Scarlet Knights in kills for the 13^th time in 2017 with eight against Minnesota. Sophomore setter Megan Sharkey made her return from a three-match absence with 25 assists, a kill, three digs, a block and two service aces.

Set 1 | Minnesota 25, Rutgers 18
The opener saw seven tie scores and five lead changes before Minnesota eventually took control. Sharkey started the match off with an ace, then passed out assists on kills by freshman opposite hitter Beka Kojadinovic and McLetchie. Kojadinovic added an ace while McLetchie and freshman Kamila Cieslik combined on a block during a 4-0 run to give Rutgers a 7-5 lead. Minnesota broke away with a 7-0 spurt to lead 18-11. RU picked up another ace and a block down the stretch, and Cieslik ran her kill total for the opening set to four, but the Gophers' lead held strong.

Set 2 | Minnesota 25, Rutgers 8
The Gophers used an early 7-1 run to pull away after Rutgers got on the board with kills by freshman outside hitter Yana Kamshilina and Miljevic. Leading 10-3, Minnesota had their run broken by another Cieslik kill, but quickly regained momentum with another run of 6-0 to go ahead 16-4 before closing out the frame with eight straight points.

Set 3 | Minnesota, Rutgers
Miljevic had a strong hand in an early RU 3-1 lead, as the sophomore assisted on two blocks and bounced a kill from Sharkey's set. Three separate 3-0 runs by Minnesota put the home team up 14-8. The Scarlet Knights managed one more run of two points around McLetchie's eighth kill, but the Golden Gophers took five of the final six points to complete the sweep.

Up Next: The 2017 season concludes on Saturday, Nov. 25 at No. 11 Wisconsin at 8 p.m. ET.

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