Gophers sweep Michigan State in Big Ten volleyball

The No. 3 Gophers volleyball team swept another Big Ten opponent on Friday night.

This time it was Michigan State, in East Lansing. Minnesota won 25-22, 25-23, 25-15 to improve to 17-2 overall and 11-0 in the Big Ten. Nine of those conference wins have come on sweeps.

Alexis Hart had 12 kills for the Gophers, Regan Pittman 11 and Stephanie Samedy 10. Pittman hit .667 to lead the Gophers, who outhit the Spartans .311 to .196. Samantha Seliger-Swenson had 39 assists for Minnesota.

Maddie Haggerty led Michigan State (15-9, 3-8) with nine kills and eight digs.

Senior April Bockin of the Gophers was named the Big Ten Forward of the Year as well as to the All-Big Ten first team as chosen by the league's 14 coaches.

Bockin, of Eden Prairie, leads or is tied for the lead among the Big Ten players in goals (10), points (25), points per game (1.39) and shots (60). She has three game-winning goals, and five assists.

Two of her teammates also were honored. Senior midfielder Molly Fiedler, of Eagan, was named to the All-Big Ten third team and forward Patricia Ward, of Newport News, Va., to the all-freshman team.

The Whitecaps sit atop the league standings with eight points. Four of their players are among the NWHL's top five scorers, led by Jonna Curtis (seven points). Curtis and teammate Hannah Brandt are tied for the league lead in goals with three apiece, and defenseman Lee Stecklein has a league-high six assists.

Buffalo's roster includes three Minnesota natives: Corinne Buie, Jordyn Burns and Dani Cameranesi.

Saturday's game will be livestreamed via Twitter. It is sold out.

The No. 3 Gophers women's hockey team will play No. 1 Wisconsin at LaBahn Arena in a weekend series. The first game will be at 2 p.m. Saturday, the second game at 2 p.m. Sunday.

The Gophers (6-1-1, 4-1-1 WCHA) are coming off their first loss of the season, 3-2 to Ohio State. The Badgers (8-0, 2-0) remain unbeaten and last season won five of six games against Minnesota. The Gophers beat Wisconsin 3-1 in the WCHA title game before the Badgers ended Minnesota's season with a 4-0 win in the NCAA quarterfinals.