MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - Northwestern volleyball (7-7, 0-3 B1G) dropped a 3-0 match to No. 20 Minnesota (7-4, 1-2 B1G) on Thursday night in Minneapolis, falling 25-14, 25-11, 25-9 inside Maturi Pavilion.
Campbell Paris paced the offense, recording seven kills to lead all Wildcats. First-year Maya Stillwell recorded three blocks, while Lauren Dignan made it a twelfth straight match in double digits with a team-high 13 digs.
How It Happened
SET 1 | The Gophers scored three straight points to open the match before Mara Štiglic put the Wildcats on the board with her first kill of the evening. After a block from Štiglic, Minnesota went on a 4-0 run to expand their lead to five, 7-2. A pair of kills from Paris highlighted a brief Wildcat comeback, putting them within a point of the Gophers, but Minnesota bounced back to take a 15-6 lead by the midway point. Štiglic added two more kills and a block before the end of the set, but it wasn’t enough as the Gophers won 25-14.
SET 2 | Northwestern got on the board first in the second set, but its lead was short-lived, as Minnesota’s attackers locked in once again. The Gophers hit .684 in the set, recording 13 kills and zero attack errors en route to the 25-11 victory. Bella Bullington led the ‘Cats with four kills in the set, but Northwestern fell behind 2-0 in the match.
SET 3 | Set three was the most dominant for Minnesota, with the Gophers going on an early 6-0 run to more than double up the ‘Cats, 12-5. After an attack error finally ended the run, Minnesota got right back to it on the next point, scoring ten straight points to take a 22-6 lead. Bullington would add one more kill before the finish, but Minnesota wrapped up its 3-0 sweep with a 25-9 victory in the third set.
Game Notes
- Paris led the team in kills for the fourth time this season.
- Ellie Stiernagle recorded her 500th assist of the season, becoming the first Northwestern first-year to reach that number since Taylor Tashima in 2014.