Gophers volleyball sweeps Penn State

After losing to Penn State 3-2 on the road in early October, the Gophers volleyball team got its revenge Saturday night.

No. 3 Minnesota swept the No. 10 Nittany Lions 25-17, 25-20, 25-18 at the Sports Pavilion. Sarah Wilhite led the Gophers with 15 kills and just one error, hitting .359. Hannah Tapp had 10 kills and zero errors, hitting .556, and four blocks.

The Gophers (17-4, 9-3) hit .374 as a team in improving to 8-0 at home. Penn State (17-6, 9-3) hit .195 despite Simone Lee's 17 kills. She hit .306 and had 11 digs.

This was only the Gophers' 10th victory ever over Penn State, a perennial conference power, in 56 meetings.

The No. 11 Gophers soccer team will play Indiana at 2 p.m. Sunday at Robbie Stadium in one of the four Big Ten tournament quarterfinals.

Minnesota (13-3-3, 7-1-3) tied for the conference title with Northwestern and Penn State but is the tournament's No. 1 seed based on tiebreakers. The Gophers also have a six-game unbeaten streak (4-0-2).

Indiana (7-8-3, 4-4-3) is the eighth seed. One of the Hoosiers' losses was 3-0 to the Gophers on Sept. 23 in Bloomington, Ind.

Michigan is the defending men's champion. The Gophers' Obsa Ali was 14th last year. Teammate Matt Welch is also a threat to finish high for Minnesota. He was the runner-up in the Griak Invitational on the same course last month.

Penn State is the defending women's team champion.

Former Gophers basketball player Ray Cronk, of Red Wing, died unexpectedly at his home Wednesday. He was 76, Kronk led the Gophers in rebounds from 1960 to '62 and was the team MVP in 1962. Cronk was drafted by the New York Knicks in 1964 and played with the Minnesota Muskies in 1968. He was a three-sport athlete at Bemidji High School.

• Gophers women's hockey senior Lee Stecklein was honored as the Patty Berg Legacy Award recipient and senior wrestler Brett Pfarr as the Henry L. Williams Award winner when the Golden Gopher Fund hosted its annual Scholarship Banquet last week. These awards recognize individuals who excel in athletics and academics while representing the values of the athletics department.

• Individual winner Joe Coffey led St. Olaf to its fifth consecutive MIAC men's cross-country title at Como Golf Course in St. Paul. St. Thomas beat three-time defending champion Carleton 50-67 for the women's title. Senior Taybri Irving of Augsburg won the individual title.