The seventh-ranked Gophers volleyball team defeated Northwestern in four sets Sunday, winning 25-16, 25-17, 22-25, 25-22 at the Sports Pavilion.
The Gophers (19-4, 7-3) have not lost at home this season. They held on to sole possession of third place in the Big Ten. Northwestern dropped to 13-9 and 5-5.
The Gophers outhit Northwestern .291 to .140, had a 61-52 ratio in kills, added 17 blocks to the Wildcats' 11 and had 80 digs.
Minnesota had four with double-digit kills. Senior Ashley Wittman held a match-best 17 kills and a career-best 29 digs for her ninth double-double of the season. Adrianna Nora had her best performance as a Gopher, with 15 kills in 34 attempts (.324). Tori Dixon had 14 kills and hit .367, while Daly Santana had 12 kills and nine digs. Alexandra Palmer added a double-double when she had 41 assists and 12 digs.
The Gophers play road matches Friday at Purdue and Saturday at Indiana.
U soccer wins at Purdue
Two goals by Katie Thyken staked the Gophers to a comfortable lead and they went on to defeat Purdue 2-1 in women's soccer in West Lafayette, Ind.
Thyken opened the scoring in the first minute of play with her sixth goal of the season, assisted by freshman Simone Kolander. Thyken made it 2-0 in the second half, off another setup from Kolander, before the Boilermakers' Maddy Williams scored off a corner kick.
The victory moved the Gophers to 11-5-2, 4-4-2 in the Big Ten. Purdue is 8-9-1 and 4-6-0.
