MICHIGAN BROADCAST INFORMATION
No. 9 Minnesota vs. Michigan | 6:30 p.m. CT | B1G+
Friday, Nov. 4
Maturi Pavilion
Minneapolis, Minn.
Broadcasters: Bill Doleman (Play-By-Play) and Lori Thomas (Analyst)
Radio: Tanner Hoops (Play-By-Play)
MICHIGAN BROADCAST INFORMATION
No. 9 Minnesota at Illinois | 1 p.m. CT | B1G+
Sunday, Nov. 6
Huff Hall
Champaign, Ill.
Broadcasters: TBD
NUMBERS TO KNOW:
26 — The 2021 season marked the 26th year the Golden Gophers advanced to the NCAA tournament. Minnesota has also advanced to the tournament in seven-straight seasons and nine of 10 seasons under head coach Hugh McCutcheon.
19 — Of Minnesota’s 28 scheduled games are against 2021 NCAA Tournament teams. 12 of those matches are against teams that advanced to the Sweet 16 or further.
12 — Of Minnesota’s first 20 matches were versus ranked opponents. The Gophers are 6-6 in those contests.
9 — Minnesota’s rank in both the AVCA poll and in the NCAA’s top-10 released on Sunday, Oct. 30.
8 — Melani Shaffmaster now ranks 8th all-time in Minnesota history with 2,653 career assists.
7 — Of Minnesota’s eight non-conference matches were against teams that made the 2021 NCAA Tournament. Seven of the teams were ranked or receiving votes when Minnesota played.
7 — Of Minnesota’s last nine matches have been victories.
6 — Different Gophers have reached double figures in kills this year (Carter Booth, Naya Gros, Julia Hanson, Taylor Landfair, Jenna Wenaas, Mckenna Wucherer).
5 — Of the past eight matches, the Gophers have hit over .300 as a team. They’ve done so nine times this season, posting an 9-0 record in those contests.
4 — Graduate libero CC McGraw now ranks No. 4 all-time at Minnesota with 1,779 career digs. She passed Jessica Granquist (2008-11) for No. 4 all-time last Saturday. Dalianliz Rosado (1,870) ranks No. 3.
2 — Hugh McCutcheon became the second winningest coach in Minnesota history with last Sunday’s win over Michigan State, his 264th win at the helm of Minnesota.
ALUMNI NIGHT FRIDAY
• The Gophers will welcome back over 60 alumni on Friday night during the game vs. Michigan. The alumni will be honored in a ceremony between sets two and three. Also of note, the 2002 Big Ten Champion Gophers team will be recognized during the match as well.
LAST TIME OUT
• The Gophers continued their strong play with a sweep over Michigan State on Wednesday, Oct. 26. Landfair posted a team-best 13 kills while Carter Booth had eight and a team-high five blocks. CC McGraw had 15 digs in Minnesota’s 25-20, 25-14, 25-11 victory over the Spartans. Minnesota has won seven of its last eight.
• Minnesota fell in a hard-fought battle at No. 5 Wisconsin, 20-25, 20-25, 25-16, 23-25. Landfair and Wucherer had 15 kills each while Booth had 10 blocks. The Gophers outhit UW (.211 to .192), out-dug (69 to 59) and out-blocked (14 to 11), but were out-aced seven to one.
SCOUTING MICHIGAN
• UM is led by head coach Mark Rosen, who has won 674 matches during his historic coaching career. He’s spent the last 23 years at Michigan, making the NCAA Tournament 19 times.
• Michigan went 9-1 in the non-conference, with its only loss coming at Duke. The Wolverines best conference win of the season came in a sweep of then No. 9 Penn State on Sept. 24 on the road. Since starting 3-1 in league play, UM has gone 2-6.
• The Wolverines are No. 36 nationally and No. 4 in the Big Ten in hitting percentage at .256. Jess Mruzik ranks eighth in the B1G at 3.49 kills per set while Hannah Grant ranks second in digs (4.61 dps).
SCOUTING ILLINOIS
• Illinois is led by sixth year head coach Chris Tamas, who is 110-63 during his tenure in Champaign. He led the Ilini to the 2018 Final Four and a 32-4 record during his best season thus far there.
• The Illini are led by Raina Terry, who ranks fourth in the B1G with 4.11 kills per set. Setter Diana Brown ranks third in assists with 10.33 per set while Terry ranks second with 0.44 aces per set.
• UI went 0-3 vs. ranked teams in non-conference and is 1-6 against ranked teams in Big Ten play. They’ve beaten Maryland and Rutgers twice, Northwestern once and No. 11 Penn State once for their B1G wins.
HISTORY VS. MICHIGAN AND ILLINOIS
• All-time, Minnesota is 60-16 against Michigan. The ‘U’ has won 11 of the last 13 against the Wolverines, with the losses coming in 2014 and 2021. Under coach McCutcheon, the Gophers are 12-3 against UM. The Gophers beat Michigan in three sets on the road on Oct. 7 in Ann Arbor.
• The Gophers lead the all-time series vs. Illinois, 43-40-1, including a 14-2 record under Hugh. Minnesota has won seven in-a-row and 11 of the last 12 against the Illini. The lone loss in that stretch came in 2017. The Gophers defeated Illinois in three sets last year in Champaign and three sets this year in Minneapolis (Oct. 15).
LANDFAIR HAVING PROLIFIC THIRD SEASON
• The No. 1 overall recruit in the class of 2020, Taylor Landfair had an excellent true freshman season in the spring of 2021. She ranked second on the Gophers in kills per set and made First Team All-Big Ten and AVCA All-America honorable mention. Last fall wasn’t quite as fun for Landfair as she sat out most of the year (played just nine games) with an abdominal injury.
• She’s back and better than ever in 2022, leading the ‘U’ in kills with 4.50 per set. She’s also averaging over 1.6 digs and nearly 0.6 blocks per set, playing all six rotations. Landfair was named MVP of the Big Ten/Big 12 Challenge after leading all players in points and kills. She’s led Minnesota in kills 19 of 20 games in 2022.
• Landfair ranks second in the Big Ten and 12th nationally with 4.50 kills per set. Her 5.04 p/s ranks 13th.
• Landfair is one of just two players in the nation to have 10+ kills in every match this season.
MCGRAW MOVES HER WAY UP RECORD BOOKS
• CC McGraw now ranks No. 4 in Gophers history with 1,779 digs. CC is now 221 digs away from becoming just the 10th player in B1G Volleyball history and second Gopher ever to reach 2,000 in her career.
• McGraw ranks 22nd among active Division I players in digs and first in the Big Ten.
• In three of her four seasons, McGraw has made Minnesota’s top-20 list for most digs in the season. In 2018, she had 428 (18th), 450 (16th) in 2019 and a career-best 510 in 2021 (12th). She’s the second Gopher to have three-or-more seasons with 400-or-more digs. So far in 2022, McGraw has tallied 224 digs.
GOPHERS HEATING UP HITTING
• Minnesota is up to No. 2 in the Big Ten and No. 30 nationally in hitting percentage at .259 for the year. Only Wisconsin (.261) ranks ahead of the Gophers.
• During conference games, Minnesota leads the B1G in hitting at .270.
• The ‘U’ has hit .300-or-better eight times this year, and has done so in four of its past seven outings.
• The Gophers are up to fifth in the conference with 12.49 assists per set.
BLOCK PARTY IN MINNESOTA
• So far in 2022, Minnesota ranks No. 3 in the Big Ten and No. 4 nationally with 2.88 blocks per set.
• Carter Booth leads the Gophers and ranks 5th in the B1G with 1.40 blocks per set.
• Naya Gros ranks 8th with 1.38 blocks per set.
BOOTH BLOCKS OUT THE NOISE
• The No. 14 overall recruit in the class of 2022, middle blocker Carter Booth has made an immediate impact in the Gophers lineup. In her first collegiate match, she posted a Minnesota freshman record with 11 blocks against Baylor.
• She’s had blocks in 16 of 20 matches and ranks second on the ‘U’ with 81 (1.40 ps) thus far. She tallied her first double digit kill match with 12 on 9/17 against Washington State.
• Booth ranks fourth in the Big Ten and in the top-15 nationally in blocks per set (1.40). She’s one of just seven Big Ten players to tally double digit blocks in a match this year – she had 11 in the season-opener vs. Baylor and 10 at Wisconsin on Oct. 29. She’s the only Big Ten player with two-or-more 10+ block matches in 2022. She’s also the only freshmen to rank in the top-10 in the Big Ten in blocks per set this season.
DOUBLE DOUBLE QUEEN
• Melani Shaffmaster leads the Big Ten lead in double doubles (10+ assists and digs) with 10 on the season. Illinois’ Diana Brown is second with nine while Indiana’s Camryn Haworth has eight.
HUGH’S TEAMS AFTER A LOSS
• In his career at Minnesota, coach McCutcheon’s teams hold a 46-13 record coming off a loss. The Gophers are 5-1 coming off losses in 2022. They’ll get a chance to improve that mark Friday vs. Michigan.
UP NEXT
• Minnesota hosts Maryland on Friday, Nov. 11 at 6:30 p.m. CT before honoring its five seniors on senior day vs. Indiana on Sunday. Sunday’s matinee start is set for a 2 p.m. CT serve on B1G+.
