Gophers defeat Purdue in five sets in volleyball

It took five sets, but the Gophers volleyball team finally beat Purdue 17-25, 25-18, 25-23, 21-25, 15-9 in West Lafayette, Ind. on Friday night.

Senior outside hitter Ashley Wittman had 16 kills, including one on match point, and 18 digs as the No. 10-ranked Gophers (20-4, 7-3 Big Ten) ended the Boilermakers' four-match winning streak. Tori Dixon had 19 kills and Adrianna Nora 15 for the Gophers.

Val Nichol led No. 16 Purdue (15-7, 6-5) with 20 kills.

The Gophers hit .297 — peaking at .556 in the fifth set — and had 16 blocks; freshman Hannah Tapp had a career-high nine blocks. The Boilermakers hit .237 with seven blocks.

The Gophers women's basketball team will play Minnesota State Moorhead at 2 p.m. Saturday in its second exhibition game at Williams Arena.

Minnesota beat Winona State by 38 points Tuesday as redshirt freshman Amanda Zahui B. dominated with 28 points, 19 rebounds and four blocks. She is from Stockholm, Sweden.

"I was pleased with their defensive effort, until halfway through the second half," Gophers coach Pam Borton said after the game. "And our inside-outside game was good. Rachel [Banham] and Jo [Joanna Hedstrom] really controlled the tempo of the game. Our defense is coming."

The Gophers men's swimming team, ranked No. 7 in the nation, swamped Iowa 174-126 on Friday in Iowa City. The No. 14 U women's team also beat the Hawkeyes 194-101.

Luke Bushman and C.J. Smith both won two individual events to lead the Minnesota men (3-1, 2-0 Big Ten). Bushman took first in the 100 backstroke (1:47.39) and the 400 individual medley (3:46.43). Smith swept the 500 (4:29.49) and 1,000 freestyles (9:08.98).

The Gophers women (4-0, 3-0) won 15 of the 16 events. Tess Behrens swam on the winning 200-medley relay and won the 100 backstroke (55.98). Senior Maggie Keefer won the 1- and 3-meter diving events.

After going 7-0 in singles the first day of the Gophers Invitational, the home team was just 2-5 the second day of the tournament at the Baseline Tennis Center which runs through Sunday.

Juniors Jack Hamburg and Eric Frueh were the Minnesota players to stay unbeaten. Hamburg beat Dovydas Sakinis of Dartmouth 6-1, 6-3. Frueh edged Sam Todd of Dartmouth 6-4, 6-7 (3), 1-0 (4) on a tiebreaker.