Kelly Kinney had 10 kills and a career-high six blocks and Carly Gilk had eight kills to lead the No. 19 Gophers volleyball team to a 25-19, 25-21, 25-16 sweep of host Rutgers on Sunday.
It was the 14th sweep of the season for the Gophers (21-8, 11-7 Big Ten), who were playing their final road match of the regular season. The Gophers also swept the Scarlet Knights 25-22, 25-13, 29-27 on Sept. 28 at Maturi Pavilion.
“This is one of the most supportive teams I’ve ever been on,” said Kinney in a release from the Gophers athletic department. “We lean on each other so much both on and off the court and we have really been able to grow together this year.”
Lourdes Myers added seven kills and seven blocks, and Julia Hanson contributed six kills for the Gophers, who improved to 10-4 in road matches. Hanson, a senior from Prior Lake, now has 972 kills in her Gophers career.
Jordan Taylor added seven blocks for the Gophers, who outhit the Scarlet Knights (11-19, 2-16) .373 to .170.
“We had a hard time in Minneapolis with Rutgers on offense, so it was a big deal for us to have a better defensive performance tonight,” said Gophers coach Keegan Cook, per the school’s athletic department. “Now we get to go home and play two great Big Ten opponents with a lot on the line. I’m excited for our young group and hope we can make some more memories here this week.”
The Gophers will close out the regular season with two home matches this week: on Wednesday vs. No. 11 Purdue and on Friday vs. No. 10 Wisconsin. The NCAA tournament field will be announced next Sunday.
