Balanced Gophers defeat Rutgers in four sets in volleyball

The No. 7 Gophers volleyball team defeated Rutgers 25-17, 25-20, 19-25, 25-12 on Saturday night at the Maturi Pavilion for its ninth consecutive victory.

Regan Pittman had 14 kills, Taylor Morgan 13, Adanna Rollins 12 and Stephanie Samedy 10 for the Gophers (10-2, 4-0 Big Ten). Rollins also had 12 digs.

Jasmine Stackhouse led Rutgers (6-9, 0-4) with 12 kills.

Redshirt junior Alec Basten of Green Bay, Wis., broke the Gophers' 8-kilometer record in his season debut on Saturday to pace the Gophers at Lehigh's Paul Short Run in Bethlehem, Pa. He finished third in the gold race in 23 minutes, 26.7 seconds.

Teammate Jack Manderscheid placed 10th (23:40.4) to help the Gophers finish fifth out of 44 teams with 223 points. His time ranks seventh best all-time at Minnesota.

Owen Hoeft (35th, 24:04.0) and Jordan MacIntosh (65th, 24:20.0) also set personal records for the Gophers.

"Our front end was really good today, and we took a step forward as a program this weekend. It was a good performance for us," Gophers coach Steve Plasencia said.

The Gophers men's hockey team will open its season against Mount Royal University at 5 p.m. Sunday in an exhibition game at 3M Arena at Mariucci.

The visiting Cougars of Calgary, Alberta, lost 5-2 at Minnesota State Mankato on Saturday night. They are an all-Canadian team except for forward Keegan Iverson of St. Louis Park.

• The Gophers women's golf team is 14th out of 15 teams after two rounds of the Princess Anne Invitational in Virginia Beach, Va. Joanne Free is the top Minnesota golfer, tied for 22nd with a 4-over 144 total.

• Gophers boats took the top four places in the women's collegiate 8+ in the Head of the Mississippi Regatta and the top three places in the women's collegiate 4+.

• No. 7 Concordia (St. Paul) defeated No. 15 Wayne State 25-17, 25-12, 23-25, 19-25, 15-10 in Wayne, Neb. Jasmine Mulvihill set career highs with 23 kills and 21 digs for the Golden Bears (11-3, 5-1 NSIC).