Gophers volleyball team falls in four sets to Wisconsin

The No. 5 Wisconsin volleyball team beat the No. 9 Gophers 25-20, 25-20, 16-25, 25-23 on Saturday before an announced crowd of 7,229 at the Wisconsin Field House in Madison.

Sarah Franklin had 18 kills for the Badgers, who lost 3-0 when the teams met Sept. 25 at Maturi Pavilion. But the Badgers (17-3, 11-1 Big Ten) are on a 10-match winning streak now.

Taylor Landfair and McKenna Wucherer led the Gophers with 15 kills apiece, Rachel Kilkelly and Jenna Wenaas had 13 digs each, Carter Booth 10 blocks and Melani Shaffmaster 47 assists.

Minnesota actually outhit the Badgers as a team, .211 to .192, but Wisconsin attempted 30 more attacks.

The Gophers women's soccer team will play No. 6 Michigan State at 3 p.m. Sunday in East Lansing, Mich., in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tournament.

Minnesota (8-7-3, 4-4-2 Big Ten) is the eighth seed but has a five-game unbeaten streak (3-0-2). The Spartans (14-1-3, 9-0-1) won the conference regular-season title and are the top seed.

The Gophers are making their first tournament appearance since 2018, when they were the seventh seed and defeated Penn State in penalty kicks to win the Big Ten Tournament title. Against Michigan State in the postseason, Minnesota is 2-0 with a 1-0 win in 1994 and 2-0 win in 1997.

St. John's placed second with 59 points, Carleton third with 78.

Augsburg first-year runner Mohammed Bati won the individual championship, finishing the 8K race in 24 minutes, 27.4 seconds — more than 24 seconds than the next closest competitor. He had the fastest championship-winning time at the MIAC meet since 1969. St. Olaf's Will Kelly (24:48.9) and Logan Bocovich (24:52.0) finished second and third.

Carleton won the women's team title for the 12th time in program history and first time since 2019. The Knights had a final score of 27 with four runners finishing second to fifth. St. Olaf took second with 42 points, St. Benedict third with 88. Championship plaque.

Fiona Smith of the Bennies won her second consecutive individual championship with a record-breaking time of 21:14.6. Smith is the first women's runner to repeat as MIAC champion since Bethel's Marie Borner won three in a row from 2007-09. Carleton's Clara Mayfield (21:42.8) was second and Hannah Preisser (22:15.5) third.