The Gophers volleyball team used an extra hit of resilience to win its first five-set match of the season, defeating Illinois 25-15, 16-25, 25-19, 23-25, 15-13 Sunday in Champaign, Ill. It was the Gophers' ninth victory in their past 11 matches.

Minnesota (15-7, 10-4 Big Ten) looked in control in the fourth set, leading 20-16, but the Illini (11-13, 6-8) used a 6-0 run to swing the momentum and force a fifth set.

Luckily for the Gophers, their attack was pristine when it mattered most, with 10 kills on 21 attempts in the fifth — including three apiece from Taylor Landfair and Jenna Wenaas and two crucial kills from setter Melani Shaffmaster.

Landfair kept up her dominant run of late, tallying a team-high 19 kills on 55 attempts (.218 hitting percentage) to go along with four digs. Wenaas did a little bit of everything with 14 kills on 32 attempts (.344) and nine digs. Shaffmaster had 43 assists and Carter Booth and Arica Davis anchored the middle leading the Gophers to 11 blocks in the match.

But Illini standouts Brooke Mosher and Raina Terry did not make life easy for the Gophers as they tied for the game-high in kills with 21.

The Gophers won both matches this past week and will return to Maturi Pavilion for their final two home matches of the regular season: vs. Maryland (Friday, 6:30 p.m.) and vs. Indiana (Sunday, 2 p.m.).

The team has six matches remaining in the regular season, but the Hoosiers match will be coach Hugh McCutcheon's final Big Ten home contest for the Gophers before he resigns at the end of the season. However, given their play of late, it seems increasingly likely Minnesota will get to play host to the first two rounds of NCAA tournament play.

U, Huskies meet in Andover

The Gophers women's hockey team plays St. Cloud State in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Museum Women's Face-Off Classic on Monday night at the Andover Community Center.

The annual game, which is sold out, raises awareness for the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Museum in Eveleth, Minn., and raises funds for Youth First Community of Promise.

During the second intermission, U.S. Hockey Hall of Famers Natalie Darwitz, Buzz Schneider, Karyn Bye, Reed Larson, Phil Housley, and Lefty Curran will be introduced. 2016 Spirit of Life Award recipient Matt Olson is also scheduled to be at the game.

The Gophers (9-0-1) are coming off a two-game sweep of Minnesota Duluth, while the Huskies (6-6-0) are coming off a sweep of Bemidji State. The game is a nonconference game for the WCHA rivals.

Bemidji State wins

Erin Becker broke a scoreless tie with a penalty kick in overtime, Sara Wendt also scored and Bemidji State beat Minot State 2-0 in Mankato to win the NSIC women's soccer tournament. Alyssa Stumbaugh made four saves for the Beavers.