What happened?
After playing seven of their first 10 matches away from home, the No. 16 Gophers were anticipating a big-time opening Big Ten match Wednesday night against No. 7 Wisconsin in front of a sellout crowd at Maturi Pavilion.
It lived up to the hype. The atmosphere was electric. The volleyball was played at a championship level.
The Gophers picked up their first win in the series since 2022 with the 19-25, 25-15, 25-27, 25-15, 18-16 upset.
Students lined up around the block decked in gold to pack the arena seats filled with gold pom poms. Athletes from other teams came to show support in force.
Drawing from the crowd’s energy, the Gophers sent the match into a fifth set for the fifth time this season. They hadn’t won in that fashion since the upset vs. No. 1 Texas but persevered to get a seventh straight win.
“Just unforgettable,” Gophers coach Keegan Cook said. “Felt a lot of gratitude to be here. It’s nice to give back to this community that stood by us through a tough year last year. The kids who stayed and the staff continue to move this thing in the right direction.”
Senior Lydia Grote came alive with a season-high 17 kills and a career-high 16 digs to lead four players in double digit kills. Junior Julia Hanson kept up the best season of her career with 15 kills. Redshirt freshman Alex Acevedo recorded a career-high 12 kills in place of the team’s second-leading hitter Mckenna Wucherer, who was nursing an injury.