Senior outside hitter Julia Hanson, playing in her final home match, had 23 kills to lead the Gophers volleyball team to a 25-22, 25-21, 25-14 sweep of Iowa State in the second round of the NCAA tournament on Saturday at Maturi Pavilion.
The Gophers (25-9) advanced to the Sweet 16 next weekend, where they face host Pittsburgh in the regional semifinals. Pitt, which has reached the Final Four in each of the past four seasons, beat Michigan 25-23, 25-23, 25-18 on Saturday.
Hanson, who surpassed 1,000 career kills in the Gophers’ first-round victory over Fairfield on Friday, dominated the first two sets with 20 kills.
“It’s been an amazing four years here at Minnesota,” Hanson told reporters at Maturi Pavilion. “With the crowd and every team I’ve been a part of, I knew I was going to go out strong. I played hard and my teammates had my back the entire time.”
Hanson had nine kills as the Gophers built a 16-10 lead in the first set. Her 11th kill of the first set gave the Gophers a 23-18 lead. The Cyclones (23-8) pulled within 24-22, before the Gophers closed out the set on an Iowa State attack error.
In the second set, the Gophers used a 7-2 run to open a 14-9 lead, but the Cyclones responded with a 6-0 run to take the lead, 15-14.
With the Cyclones leading 19-18, Hanson’s kill tied it 19-19. A kill by former Mayer Lutheran standout Lilly Wachholz gave the Cyclones a 20-19 lead.
Kelly Kinney tied it for the Gophers before Hanson had three consecutive kills to give the Gophers a 23-20 lead. Leading 24-20, Hanson’s 20th kill of the match clinched the set.
