Gophers knock off Hawkeyes, near second place in Big Ten

By NEWS SERVICES

Last update: November 14, 2009 - 12:33 AM

The 13th-ranked Gophers volleyball team defeated Iowa in three sets Friday by scores of 25-13, 25-13, 28-26 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

With the victory and an Illinois loss to Penn State, the Gophers (20-7, 11-4) moved to within one match of second place in the Big Ten. Iowa fell to 12-16, 4-12.

Gophers freshman Tabitha Love hit .500 with 15 kills and two blocks. Junior middle blocker Lauren Gibbemeyer hit .364 with 10 kills and three blocks. Gibbemeyer became the 21st player in school history to collect 1,000 career kills at 4-1 in the first set.

U announces signees

Bree Blanchette and Sara Moulton have each signed national letters of intent to compete for the Gophers softball team, beginning next fall. Blanchette and Moulton are from Eagan High School, and they are fresh off a state consolation championship and fifth-place finish at the Minnesota 3A playoffs.

• Gophers women's hockey head coach Brad Frost announced that Bethany Brausen (Little Canada), Sarah Davis (Paradise, N.L.), Baylee Gillanders (Kyle, Saskatchewan), Amanda Kessel (Madison, Wis.), Kelly Terry (Whitby, Ontario) and Elizabeth Turgeon (Cherry Hills Village, Colo.) have signed national letters of intent and will join the Gophers in the fall of 2010.

• Brian Dailey-Arndt of Cretin-Derham Hall has signed a letter of intent to compete in men's swimming for the Gophers. Dailey-Arndt won the 100 backstroke and was the runnerup in the 100 butterfly at the 2009 state meet.

• The Gophers wrestling team, which opens its season today at the Bison Open at North Dakota State, has six new members for the 2010-11 season. Signing with Minnesota were Dylan Ness of Bloomington Kennedy, whose brother Jayson is a current Gopher All-America; Joel Bauman of Kerkhoven-Murdock; twins Chris and Nick Dardanes of Oak River, Ill.; Seth Lange of Sturgis, S.D., and Tyler Lehmann of Fargo, N.D.

U women's hockey tops MSU

The Gophers women's hockey team improved to 9-2-0 overall with a 4-1 victory over MSU Mankato.

The Gophers started the final period up 3-0, but MSU's Emmi Leinonen scored a power-play goal at 1:07 in the third. Sarah Erickson capitalized on a rebound attempt to put the game at 4-1 for good, with assists by Brittany Francis and Megan Bozek.

Gophers host Grand Prix

The Gophers had at least two swimmers finish in the top eight in three of five final events in the USA Swimming Minnesota Grand Prix at the University Aquatic Center.

That included junior Ivan Gutesa, who finished third in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 55.91; junior Kevin Baseheart, who took fourth place in the 100 butterfly with 49.35; and Curt Carlson, who finished the 100 butterfly in fourth at 1:38.40.

NCAA men's soccer

Sophomore forward Corey Hertzog scored three goals to lead the Penn State men's soccer team (12-6-2) to a 3-0 victory over Michigan State (11-7-2) in the Big Ten tournament semifinal.

Penn State will face Ohio State (11-4-4), which earlier defeated No. 4 seed Indiana 4-2. The teams will face off for the title at 2 p.m. Sunday at the host Hoosiers' Bill Armstrong Stadium. The showdown will be televised live on the Big Ten Network.

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