Minnesota Scene: Gophers No. 5 in volleyball poll, Wisconsin No. 1

The Gophers volleyball team, which won two five-set matches with Purdue at the weekend, moved up one spot to No. 5 in the AVCA poll.

Wisconsin is No. 1, followed by Texas, Kentucky and Nebraska.

Gophers senior Stephanie Samedy was named Big Ten player of the week after racking up 48 kills, 36 digs and seven blocks in a sweep of Purdue. Freshman Melanie Shaffmaster was named the conference's setter of the week (113 assists, 27 digs, six kills, four blocks).

The Gophers play host to No. 8 Penn State on Saturday and Sunday.

The Gophers men's hockey team fell three spots to No. 5 in the latest USCHO.com national poll after getting swept by Wisconsin by a combined score of 12-2.

Boston College remained No. 1 in the latest rankings, followed by North Dakota, Minnesota State Mankato and Minnesota Duluth. St. Cloud State dropped two spots to No. 6, and Wisconsin moved up four spots to No. 7.

• In women's hockey, Wisconsin remained No. 1, and the Gophers No. 2 in the USCHO.com poll after the Badgers earned a win and a tie at Ridder Arena. Minnesota won an extra point in the WCHA standings with the shootout win on Saturday.

The NCHC announced plans to hold its 2021 postseason tournament entirely in Grand Forks, N.D., March 12-16 because of the pandemic. It will be a single-elimination format with all eight teams playing at Ralph Engelstad Arena.

For its first seven seasons, the NCHC held best-of-three quarterfinal series on campus sites, with the Frozen Faceoff at Xcel Energy Center.

JOE CHRISTENSEN

Gophers senior Lexy Ramler was named co-gymnast of the week by the Big Ten for the second week in a row and 14th time overall. She shares this week's award with Penn State's Cassidy Rushlow.

Ramler won the all-around at Iowa with a score of 39.575. Ramler is ranked No. 2 in the nation in the all-around and is tied for No. 4 on bars, No. 6 on beam and No. 10 on vault.