The ninth-ranked Gophers volleyball team swept Middle Tennessee in three sets Saturday at the Marquette Challenge in Milwaukee, winning 25-12, 25-17 and 26-24.
U volleyball records sweep at Marquette
By NEWS SERVICES
Ashley Wittman led the Gophers (6-2) with 20 kills and a .576 hitting percentage. She also had two solo blocks and three block assists. Tori Dixon and Katherine Harms contributed 10 kills each, and Mia Tabberson had 43 assists.
Libero Jessica Grandquist had 16 digs.
The Gophers hit a blistering .571 in the first set and finished with a team hitting percentage of .433, with two aces and only three service errors.
The Gophers held the Blue Raiders to a .156 hitting percentage.
The Gophers will play host Marquette on Sunday in the team's final nonconference match. Marquette defeated Middle Tennessee 3-1 Friday night.
U freshman in singles final Gophers freshman Julia Courter won two matches Saturday and will play in the championship match in flight 2 at the Gopher Invitational tennis tournament at the Baseline Tennis Center.
Courter beat Kristin Kurer of Wisconsin-Milwaukee 6-1, 6-0 in the morning and then dropped Iowa's Katie Zordani 6-1, 6-3 in the afternoon to advance to the final against Iowa's Ellen Silver.
Minnesota's Magdalena Wiecha and Alexa Palen lost in the semifinals in the top doubles flight, 8-6 to Iowa's Sonja Molnar and Shelby Talcott.
Six Gophers are playing in the weekend tournament, which also includes players from Gustavus, Louisiana State, Bradley, Missouri, Iowa State and Wisconsin.
NSC Minnesota ties Tampa Brian Cvilikas' goal in the 54th minute was matched by FC Tampa Bay's Aaron King five minutes later, and the NSC Minnesota Stars played to a 1-1 tie in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Tampa Bay outshot the Stars 16-7.
The Stars hold a one-point lead over Montreal for the NASL's sixth and final playoff berth, with one match remaining next weekend at regular-season champion Carolina.
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Darius Taylor, who led the Gophers in rushing last season, missed the Aug. 29 opener and was questionable this week leading up to Saturday’s game.