Krista Chin (7:10:41 PM): A long rally to start off the night ending with a Hartmann one-handed set to Gibbemeyer.
Mark Heise (7:13:21 PM): Minnesota is off to a quick start, jumping out to a 6-1 lead on Hailey Cowles’ serving spree. Illinois takes a time out. What did you see in these first few points, Krista?
Krista Chin (7:14:38 PM): Minnesota is playing some great defense, getting up every ball as well as they can. Gibbemeyer is getting up fast in transition which seems to be causing some problems for the Illini.
Krista Chin (7:16:28 PM): Brook Dieter with a kill on the right side, over the top of Illinois’ two blockers. Minnesota up 10-4
Mark Heise (7:18:35 PM): But Illinois quickly comes back, taking advantage of some overpasses, 10-8.
“Krista Chin” (7:20:24 PM): Illinois made a comeback by serving tough and throwing off the Gophers’ blockers. Abby Nelson had a huge kill on the slide, and Minnesota only had one blocker up. Mark Heise (7:20:31 PM): Roehrig pounds home her first kill of the night, putting the Gophers up 14-9. Lauren Gibbemeyer has been the big hitter so far for the Gophers, collecting three kills early in the set
Krista Chin” (7:21:12 PM): Illinois is serving tough, forcing Minnesota out of system.
Mark Heise (7:22:35 PM): Timeout number two comes quickly, with a Gibbemeyer block putting Minnesota up 17-11 against the 16th-ranked Illini
Krista Chin” (7:22:56 PM): The Gophers continue to gain more and more momentum is this first set. Hailey Cowles is serving her tough jumper, and Gibbemeyer is showing the fearless competitor she is by putting up a huge wall for the Illini to hit against.
Mark Heise (7:25:51 PM): Roehrig hits the ball off the block on the left side for a point, and comes back to collect another kill on the right side. The Gophers lead 22-17.
Krista Chin” (7:27:24 PM): She is mainly hitting on the left side in one rotation in order to make it easier for the front row players to transition and get to their positions faster. When DeBruler is in the front row, Roehrig is keeping her eyes on her.
Mark Heise (7:29:37 PM): A passing error hands Illinois a point, and the Illini close to 23-20, forcing Minnesota to take a timeout. So far, the Gophers are spreading the ball around evenly with the exception of Gibbemeyer, who has 5 kills to lead the team.
Mark Heise (7:30:19 PM): And Dieter finishes the set with the cross-court kill, Minnesota wins set one, 25-20
Krista Chin (7:31:22 PM): Illinois continues to serve tough, but when Minnesota is out of system, they are doing a good job of putting the ball away on first ball attack, trying to put an end to the rally before counterattack needs to be used
Mark Heise (7:33:20 PM): The Illini are serving well, and made just two serving errors in the set. But Minnesota is hitting well, with a .333 hit percentage as a team. Pamela Luiz has four kills with a .571 hit percentage, and Roehrig and Dieter each have three. Tan leads the Gophers with 7 digs.
Mark Heise (7:34:39 PM): Luiz collects a solo block to begin set two, and Tan adds a service ace, and the Gophers quickly take a 3-1 lead.
Krista Chin (7:35:23 PM): DeBruler has taken 14 swings for six kills in the first set. Look for her number of attempts to increase as the night goes on.
Mark Heise (7:36:58 PM): Hartmann dumps the ball over for the kill. She did that quite a bit last night, and it seems like teams just aren’t expecting it from her lately. 5-5 tie
Krista Chin (7:38:10 PM): In the past two years, Hartmann has never been too much of an offensive weapon. Coach Mike Hebert has always tried to encourage her to be more selfish and attack the ball more, but she would rather give the ball to her hitters.
Mark Heise (7:39:59 PM): Luiz collects another kill. her move to the left side has done wonders for her so far. But Illinois leads 8-10.
Krista Chin (7:42:11 PM): Luiz has limited experience on the left side, but she is making good adjustments. It is tough to make that switch to the left side since you are taking a number of more swings and are involved in the offense quite a bit more.
Mark Heise (7:42:26 PM): Hartmann is continuing to set Gibbemeyer on the slide, as it has worked well so far this match. Lauren collects her 8th kill, and Minnesota now trails 11-12
Krista Chin (7:43:54 PM): The slide seems to work well for Gibbemeyer often. I’m surprised to see the Illini not making quicker adjustments to take her out of the offense.
Mark Heise(7:44:01 PM): 12-16, as Illinois collects yet another block. Minnesota will take a time out.
Mark Heise(7:48:03 PM): Illinois is getting a double block on just about everything, and has expanded its lead to 13-20. When the Illini don’t get a block, the back row is eating up the Gophers’ kill attempts.
Krista Chin” (7:50:56 PM): Adjustments need to be made quickly here or Illinois could take this set from the Gophers. Minnesota needs to identify Illinois’ patterns faster and more efficiently.
Mark Heise (7:51:23 PM): Luiz collects her seventh kill of the match, but an untimely service error gives Illinois an 18-23 lead late in the set.
19-24, Illinois timeout
Mark Heise (7:54:20 PM): Illinois finishes with a right side kill, and the Gophers lose set two 25-21
Krista Chin (7:58:23 PM): Gibbemeyer continues to be the bright spot for the Gophers as she has put away 9 kills with a .467 hitting percentage. Look for Illinois to key more on Gibbemeyer and try to take away her slide.
Mark Heise (7:59:21 PM): Luiz has added 7 kills and a .545 hit percentage, and Roehrig collected 4 kills in the first two sets. Hartmann, Schmidt and Dieter each have three kills. Minnesota hit just .226 in the second set, while allowing the Illini to hit .345. Illinois is also out-blocking the Gophers, 5-4. Defensively, Tan leads the way with 9 digs, while Jessica Granquist has added 7.
Krista Chin (8:00:59 PM): The back row attack was working well for Illinois in that second set. They may definitely use it more in the next two sets. Minnesota may make some adjustments and try to consistently put up a double block or even try to get three blockers up. This would force the defense to play scrappier and keep them on their toes.
Krista Chin (8:06:28 PM): I think we can also look for Dieter and Roehrig to step up in the second half of play.
Mark Heise (8:09:13 PM): Dieter and Roehrig collect kills early in the third, like Krista said. Minnesota takes a 5-2 lead.
Mark Heise (8:10:48 PM): 6-2, and Illinois will take a timeout. The Illini are committing a lot of errors on their side of the net to start the set.
Mark Heise (8:12:56 PM): Gibbemeyer collects her 10th kill of the game on a slide, and Schmidt contributes with a block, putting the Gophers up 8-4 early
Mark Heise (8:15:12 PM): Hartmann dumps one over, and Cowles adds a back-row kill, 10-6 Gophers.
Krista Chin (8:16:00 PM): Schmidt’s blocking has come a long way early in the third set, as she has already collected two blocks.
Mark Heise (8:16:43 PM): The Gophers’ blockers are getting a lot more touches this set, but Illinois is hanging around, Minnesota leads 11-10
Krista Chin (8:18:21 PM): Illinois is playing some good defense and also getting good touches on the block, allowing their backcourt to put the ball in a place the setter can distribute it easily.
Mark Heise (8:19:43 PM): Gibbemeyer knocks down a pair of kills,, and Dieter adds one more, Minnesota is holding that small lead, 15-14
Krista Chin (8:20:47 PM): Dieter needs to step up her play and start hitting with more authority in order to help lead this team to a victory tonight. Gibbemeyer is playing well, but she can’t do it alone with Illinois having two players in double figure kills.
Mark Heise (8:22:22 PM): Illinois takes its first lead of the set at 18-17, on a tip-kill to the back-right corner. And with a blocked shot extending the lead to 19-17, Minnesota will take a timeout to talk it over
Krista Chin (8:24:15 PM): Illinois continues to do a good job of taking Roehrig out of the game, as they have held her to only five kills and a .133 hitting percentage. She is having some difficulties hitting around the Illini block.
Mark Heise (8:25:01 PM): Dieter collects the kill and a service ace, immediately re-tying the game at 19
Krista Chin (8:26:03 PM): Roehrig is blocking on the right, and it seems as though Minnesota is relying on her to block some balls or at least get some good touches. She is really trying to take away DeBruler’s cross-court shot by lining up at the antennae and diving into the court, but DeBruler continues to find ways of hitting around Roehrig.
Mark Heise (8:28:10 PM): Minnesota came out of that timeout hot, and grabs a 23-21 lead on a pair of Gibbemeyer kills. Illinois calls a timeout.
Mark Heise (8:30:12 PM): Hartmann dumps over the last kill of the set, and Minnesota takes a 2-1 lead with the 25-23 win
Krista Chin (8:31:35 PM): Even though Illiniois was keying on Gibbemeyer’s slide, she still found a way to hit over the top of the blockers and put the ball away in that third set.
Krista Chin (8:32:07 PM): DeBruler and MyCulley continue to hit outrangous numbers heading into this third set, as they have taken over half the teams swings, yet again.
Mark Heise (8:33:05 PM): For the Gophers, Gibbemeyer once again led the way, collecting five kills in the third set, three of which coming in the last 10 points. Dieter added four kills.
Mark Heise (8:35:40 PM): Gibbemeyer puts one down on an open net, Minnesota trails early in the fourth, 2-4.
Mark Heise (8:37:22 PM): After disappearing from the stat sheet in the third set Luiz puts down a kill, followed by consecutive kills from Gibbemeyer and Dieter. Minnesota ties the game at five.
Krista Chin (8:37:49 PM): Hartmann is doing a very nice job of distributing the ball evenly to her hitters. There have been a number of times that Minnesota has been one on one in the third and fourth set.
Mark Heise (8:41:35 PM): Dieter collects her fourth kill of the set, but it remains tied at 9, as the teams are just trading points
Mark Heise (8:42:16 PM): And now the Gophers grab a lead, as Schmidt comes through with a block, then adds a kill. 12-9 Minnesota, and Illinois calls timeout.
Krista Chin (8:43:18 PM): Schmidt and Dieter have stepped up quite a bit in this fourth set, keeping the momentum on the Gophers’ side of the net. Still looking for some action from Roehrig, as she has one kill in this set.
Mark Heise (8:45:56 PM): Illinois rattles off 6 straight points out of the timeout, and at 12-15, Minnesota will take a timeout of their own.
Krista Chin (8:46:57 PM): Illinois is serving tougher and Minnesota is having some difficulties controlling the ball off serve receive. A few overpasses have resulted in kills for the Illini.
Mark Heise (8:48:55 PM): Luiz with another kill, and Minnesota ties the set at 16.
Krista Chin” (8:50:08 PM): Luiz is stepping up on the left side, and adds another one putting down her third kill of this set.
Mark Heise (8:52:25 PM): Gibbemeyer finishes off her 18th kill of the match on yet another slide, but the Gophers trail 19-22 late in the fourth set. Timeout Minnesota
Mark Heise (8:56:11 PM): Minnesota loses set four, 25-21
Mark Heise (8:58:54 PM): After four sets: Gibbemeyer 18 kills .429 hit percentage, 4 blocks. Dieter 11 kills .209 hit percentage, 10 digs. Luiz 10 kills, .529 hit percentage, 6 digs. Tan 23 digs, Cowles 14 digs, Granquist 12 digs
Krista Chin(8:59:32 PM): Both Minnesota and Illinois are playing great defense with dig numbers at 73 and 74 respectively. Mark Heise (9:00:18 PM): Attack error Illinois, and a kill from Roehrig. Minnesota leads 2-0. Dieter adds a kill, 3-0 Minnesota, Illinois timeout.
Mark Heise (9:03:01 PM): Dieter adds another kill, this time from the right side. Dieter then comes up with her second ace of night, 5-1 Minnesota.
Luiz with a kill down the line, 6-2 Gophers. Illinois with a pair of kills, 6-4 now.
Krista Chin” (9:04:53 PM): Minnesota came into this fifth set with a chip on their shoulder. The look on their faces show the fight they are going to bring to this match. However, don’t look for the Illini to let up any time soon. They have rallied back to within one. 6-5 Minnesota.
Mark Heise (9:06:30 PM): Minnesota leads 8-6 at the side-switch
9-8, Gibbemeyer with a kill, but Illinois answers back
Cowles kill, but a service error makes it 10-9
Dieter kill, 11-9
Krista Chin” (9:09:30 PM): Both teams are hitting huge numbers in this fifth set. Illinois hitting .400 and Minnesota .462. Every kill is being put away with determination.
Mark Heise (9:09:56 PM): 12-9, Illinois Timeout
Another attack error from Illinois, 13-9. and a Schmidt/Roehrig block makes it 14-9
Luiz puts down another kill, Minnesota wins 15-10, and takes the match.