Gophers volleyball team regains footing with win over Michigan

Gophers junior outside hitter Julia Hanson knew her volleyball team left a lot to be desired the last time it played at home, so Sunday was the perfect opportunity to show fans the group’s true colors.

The No. 16 Gophers entered the afternoon on a three-match slide, but Hanson’s career-high 24 kills led them to a four-set win against Michigan, 25-8, 24-26, 25-17, 25-15.

“I was just very confident out there,” Hanson said. “That came from great passes and Melani [Shaffmaster] locating the ball really well. I knew I was scoring a bunch, but I don’t tend to look at the stat sheet until after to see how it went.”

Hanson, who had double-digit kills for her ninth straight match, was relatively quiet in the second set Sunday, but that only woke up another monster performance. It was her second straight match with 20-plus kills for the Gophers (17-9, 10-6 Big Ten), who were coming off a four-set loss at No. 2 Nebraska.

“I think it all started with us playing against Nebraska,” Hanson said about her team’s attitude change. “How can we be a team and play as hard as we can, no matter the outcome? I think that really translated into today’s game.”

The previous high for Hanson, a former Prior Lake standout, was 23 kills in a five-set loss at TCU on Sept. 7. Sunday’s match started off one-sided, with Hanson’s seven kills spearheading the first set.

Entering Sunday on a six-match losing streak, Michigan (16-11, 6-10) didn’t appear much of a challenge at first against an upper-tier Big Ten opponent on the road. The first set went heavily in Minnesota’s favor.

Gophers fans seemed shocked when the match got tied 1-1 after the Wolverines stole the second set thanks to uncharacteristic Minnesota errors.

But Hanson came alive again with three straight kills during a decisive rally in the third set. She swung hard with success for most of the match, but the turning point came with assistance.

In the third set, Michigan pulled within 12-10 after three straight points, but junior Mckenna Wucherer stopped the run. The Wolverines weren’t finished, cutting the margin to 13-12, but Wucherer’s dig kept a play alive that ended with a big block from Lydia Grote and Calissa Minatee. The Gophers kept the momentum and won the set.

“They went on a few runs, but we still continued to be a team and connected throughout the whole match,” Hanson said.

Freshman Alex Acevedo had a career-high seven aces Sunday. Grote made 16 kills, Wucherer 10. Shaffmaster added 47 assists.

In back-to-back losses at Maturi Pavilion last week, the Gophers only managed to win once in six sets. That included being swept by Oregon. There was also the first match against coach Keegan Cook’s former Washington program after taking over at the U. The players were a bit too emotionally charged, he said.

It wasn’t that long ago, though, that the Gophers had won four matches in a row. But three of those victories were on the road, including a sweep against the Wolverines in Ann Arbor on Nov. 3.

Cook was encouraged to see Hanson and his Gophers showcase exactly why they’re still in the running to host the NCAA tournament’s first two rounds with four matches left in the regular season.

“You’re watching someone come into their own in real time,” Cook said of Hanson. “Growth is the most enjoyable part of this process. She continues to learn, and we continue to coach her. She can’t get enough. It’s been fun to watch.”