Gophers volleyball has 'room to grow' with Michigan, Penn State visiting

The Gophers volleyball team is 5-5 on the season and coming off a three-set loss at Nebraska. Senior Kylie Murr said, "There's still so much room to get better."

September 28, 2023 at 10:25PM
The Gophers’ Elise McGhie served against Texas on Aug. 29 before a packed house at Maturi Pavilion. (Carlos Gonzalez, Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

The No. 13 Gophers get a back-to-back dose of Big Ten volleyball during homecoming this weekend at Maturi Pavilion, with Michigan at 6 p.m. Friday and Penn State at 8 p.m. Saturday.

Coming off a three-set loss at No. 2 Nebraska, the Gophers are 5-5 overall, 1-1 in the Big Ten. This week, coaches and players said they can see the progress they want to be making as a team, but they are also angling to turn that into momentum.

"It's a good thing that we still have room to grow. We don't want to be at our peak right now," senior libero Kylie Murr said. "It's exciting, I like being on this end of it because there's still so much room to get better and for teams to worry about us."

Michigan (2-9, 0-2) has been struggling with injuries under first-year coach Erin Virtue, who is not with the Wolverines this weekend as she's coaching the U.S. Olympic team. The Nittany Lions (8-3, 2-0) are led by in-conference transfers Jess Mruzik (Michigan) and Mac Podraza (Ohio State), and their three losses this season have all come against ranked opponents.

about the writer

about the writer

Jeff Day

Reporter

Jeff Day is a Hennepin County courts reporter. He previously worked as a sports reporter and editor.

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