The Golden Gophers traveled east this past weekend, taking on the two Michigan schools in the Big Ten conference. They played their first game on Friday in Ann Arbor against the Wolverines. They took on the Spartans in East Lansing on Sunday.

Oct 7. vs Michigan

The Gophers kicked off the first game of the weekend with a back-and-forth battle, but a kill from Taylor Landfair with blocks from Naya Gros and Mckenna Wucherer sparked a Gophers point run, putting them ahead 11-5.

Wucherer shortly after threw down her first kill of the night to put the Gophers up 17-6. From there, it was smooth sailing for Minnesota as they closed out the set with a 25-12 victory.

Set two was far more intense. After an early 4-2 Michigan lead, no team led by more than one point until a kill from Wucherer, followed by blocks from Gros and Shaffmaster put the Gophers up 17-14. An ace from Michigan’s Kendall Murray cut the Gophers’ lead to two points, putting the game at 22-20. The Gophers narrowly escaped with the victory after a kill from Landfair sealed the score 25-22.

Much like the first set, Minnesota largely dominated the third set. The Gophers had an early 6-3 lead that was later built on by two kills and a solo block from Landfair, putting the Gophers up 10-5. Minnesota ended the set with a six-point scoring run that was capped off with a Gros kill bringing the final set score to 25-13.

This game brought Minnesota to a 60-16 record against Michigan and a 12-3 record under head coach Hugh McCutcheon. Landfair hit double digits in kills for the 13th time this season and 31st time in her career. This was also her 12th time getting 15+ kills in a match.

Oct 9. vs Michigan State

After a sweep in Ann Arbor on Friday, the Gophers headed to the Breslin Center in East Lansing to take on the Michigan State Spartans.

After two kills from Jenna Wenaas and three Spartan attack errors, Minnesota took an early 5-2 lead in the first set. After a four-point Gophers scoring run, the Spartans managed to get within three points of the Gophers’ lead, putting the score at 11-8.

Two kills from Landfair and one each from Gros and Shaffmaster helped the Gophers lead by six points at 20-14. After a late push from Michigan State, Minnesota was able to close out the set 25-19.

Blocks from Gros and Wenaas, along with a kill and ace from Wenaas, put the Gophers up 11-5 in the second set. Minnesota was on fire the rest of the set and closed it out at 25-15 with a solo block from Gros.

Much like the last set, the Gophers built a strong early lead by scoring eight of the first nine points in the third set. Michigan State put up two more points to bring them within six points of the Gophers, but Minnesota would quickly recover to put its lead at 19-8. It closed out the set 25-14: Minnesota’s second sweep of the weekend.

The Gophers were led by Shaffmaster, who had 33 assists and seven digs. Gros led the team in blocks with five over the course of the match. This is also her third time this year with five or more blocks.

Minnesota returns to Maturi Pavillion on Wednesday to take on No. 6 ranked Ohio State at 7 p.m.