Two U volleyball players get top Big Ten honors

Gophers senior outside hitter Sarah Wilhite was named the Big Ten Player of the Year in volleyball and sophomore Samantha Seliger-Swenson the Setter of the Year, the conference announced Tuesday.

Those two and senior middle blocker Hannah Tapp earned spots on the All-Big Ten team. Junior middle blocker Molly Lohman received honorable mention and outside hitter Alexis Hart made the all-freshman team.

Wilhite, who played for Eden Prairie High School, is averaging 4.14 kills per set and hitting .294.

Seliger-Swenson, of Hopkins High School, was the 2015 Freshman of the Year. She ranks ninth nationally with 11.45 assists per set and earned a team-high 12 double-doubles.

Nebraska coach John Cook was named Big Ten Coach of the Year.

The Gophers are the No. 2 national seed in the NCAA tournament after finishing tied for second in the Big Ten standings with a 17-3 conference record and are 25-4 overall. They host North Dakota, Southern California and Hawaii at the Sports Pavilion for the first and second rounds this weekend. The Gophers face North Dakota at 7 p.m. Friday. Tickets went on sale Tuesday.

JASON GONZALEZ

The team's 34-game schedule was set Tuesday; its 17 home games are at the X while Target Center is renovated.

The 2016 WNBA runners-up will play three times on ESPN2 (May 18 at New York, July 6 vs. Los Angeles and Aug. 8 at Atlanta).

Defending league champion Los Angeles, which beat the Lynx 3-2 in the finals, is also at the X on Aug. 11.

KENT YOUNGBLOOD

•Gophers senior forward Vinni Lettieri was named the Big Ten's second star of the week in college hockey. Another Minnesota, Grant Besse of Wisconsin, was the third star.

• The Gophers Brett Pfarr, a senior from Le Seur-Henderson, was picked the Big Ten Wrestler of the Week.

• Gustavus guard Mikayla Miller, a junior from Goodhue, Minn., was named the U.S. Basketball Writers Association Division III National Player of the Week.

• Southwest Minnesota State's Taylor Reiss was named to the Division II Conference Commissioners' Association all-Central Region's Player of the Year in volleyball and was a first team all-region selection at outside hitter.