NCAA volleyball: Gophers rally to beat Western Kentucky in four sets

The Gophers volleyball team has lost only once in a first-round NCAA tournament game, but Thursday’s challenge was anything but easy.

Western Kentucky came into the match with a fifth straight Conference USA title and the nation’s longest winning streak, 24 games. So, it’s no surprise the Hilltoppers gave Minnesota everything they had.

In the end, though, Minnesota found a way, rallying from a 23-21 deficit in the fourth set to close out Western Kentucky in four sets (25-21, 25-20, 19-25, 25-23) on Thursday afternoon in Lexington, Ky.

After a kill and service ace by McKenna Wucherer tied the set, Julia Hanson — who finished with a set-high 39 attack points — gave Minnesota set point, 24-23, on her 13th kill.

After a Hilltoppers timeout, Lydia Grote and Calissa Minatee combined to block a spike attempt by Western Kentucky’s star attacker Kaylee Cox for the final point.

“Western Kentucky is a great team. They are awesome, they have everything together,” Hanson told ESPN after the game. “You can never count out the Gophers. … It’s just one point at a time.”

Sixth seed and 15th-ranked Minnesota (21-10) advanced to face the winner of the late game between No. 3 seed Kentucky and unseeded Cleveland State. The winner of that match will advance to the Sweet 16.

Minnesota is now 28-1 all-time in the first-round NCAA tournament games. The Gophers’ lone loss in program history was in 2007, a 3-1 loss to Sacramento State in Stanford, Calif.

Phoebe Awoleye hit a match-best .455 for Minnesota, and Zenyep Palabiyik led all players with 18 digs, many of them timely pancake saves. Teammate Melani Shaffmaster had 29 assists for the Gophers, and Grote finished with 12 kills.

Western Kentucky bowed out at 28-7 with their first loss since a 3-1 setback to Illinois on Sept. 14. Freshman outside hitter Alivia Skidmore led all players with 17 kills, and Cox finished with 12.

Minnesota was in control after wins in the first two sets, the second something of a rout. The Hilltoppers pulled within three points late, but Minnesota led by as many as eight.

A kill by Wucherer kill and Acevedo ace made it 13-6, and Minnesota went up 16-8 on a service error, net violation and service ace by Ace Zeynep Palabiyik. That lead ballooned to nine when three straight kills, the last by Hanson, made it 19-10.

The Gophers had three shots at match point before Lydia Grote’s spike went off the hands of a Hilltoppers defender and out of bounds to end the set 25-20.

Minnesota led for most of the third set but was never able to separate, and after Acevedo’s kill gave Minnesota a 19-19 lead, the Hilltoppers finished out with a 7-0 run that featured three kills by Cox and two — the last two — by Kenadee Coyle.