No. 19 Gophers Hold Off Bison 3-0 in NCAA First Round

MINNNEAPOLIS - No. 19-ranked Minnesota swept North Dakota State 25-17, 25-21, 26-24 in the first round of the NCAA Division I women's volleyball tournament Friday, Dec. 2, before a crowd of 1,664 at the Sports Pavilion.

Hailey Cowles had 13 kills, Ashley Wittman had 12 and Ariana Filho hit .688 with 11 kills for the Golden Gophers (19-11), who won their fourth straight and will face 11th-ranked Washington in the second round Saturday, Dec. 3.

Brynn Joki had 12 kills and three aces and Megan Lambertson added 10 kills for North Dakota State, which had its 10-match winning streak snapped and finished the season 26-9.

North Dakota State led by as many as three points late in the third set.  The Bison got a block by Chrissy Knuth and Janna Deyle to go up 19-16 and force Minnesota's first timeout.

Lauren Cammack's seven kill of the night gave NDSU set point at 24-23, but an attacking error, block and back-row violation won it for the Gophers.

Minnesota outhit NDSU by a .323 to .186 margin and had a 53-39 advantage in kills.  Mia Tabberson had 46 assists for the Gophers and Jennifer Lopez had 36 for the Bison.

Jessica Granquist led the Gophers with 19 digs and Wittman had 11. NDSU's Andrea Henning made 17 digs and Knuth finished with 10.

It was the third NCAA tournament meeting between the teams in four seasons.  Minnesota swept the first two meetings in 2008 and 2010 on the same court.