The Minnesota Golden Gophers volleyball team knew their season opening pair of games against ranked opponents in Sioux Falls in the State Farm Women’s College Volleyball Showcase would be tough, and sure enough it was. Then #14 Minnesota was swept 3-0 by #13 Arizona State in Friday’s season opener before the Gophers returned the favor to #12 Creighton on Saturday picking up a 3-0 sweep of their own.
In their season opener against Arizona State, the Gophers knew they would still be shorthanded as they slowly worked in their four starters who all missed large chunks of the season a year ago with injuries. Two of the four in McKenna Wucherer and Zeynep Palabiyik returned to action this past weekend while Minnesota still missed middle blocker Calissa Minatee and outside hitter Alex Acevedo. The Sun Devils had opened their schedule the weekend before with an upset win over #2 Texas 3-1.
The opening set was a back and forth affair with the two teams going through 11 ties and five lead changes before ASU took the set, 26-24. Minnesota led 22-20 but the Sun Devils would run off four of the next five points to take control.
In only went downhill from there for Minnesota. ASU jumped on the Gophers in the second set and won 25-17. ASU took an 8-2 lead out of the gate and while Minnesota would make several runs to cut the lead to just three points at multiple points, ASU would run off a 6-1 run to close the set for the win.
Minnesota showed signs of life in the third set, but once again could not hold a late 20-19 lead as ASU would win 26-24. Sun Devils star Una Vajagic finished of the match with back to back kills, two of her match high 20.
The Gophers got some positive play from the return of Wucherer. She led the Gophers with 18 kills, hit .421 and had two aces, two blocks and three digs. Sophomore Kelly Kinney was also in double-figured with 10 kills on the night. It was the Gopher debut for a pair of freshmen in Elena Hocke and Makenna Crosson.
The Gophers were right back in action the following afternoon against #12 Creighton. The Blue Jays had opened up their season the night before with a 3-2 win over #9 Purdue. It looked like Creighton took the momentum from their win on Friday into Saturday as they jumped on the Gophers early 4-0. Minnesota would work their way back and took their first lead at 8-7 on a block from Hoecke and Stella Swenson. Minnesota slowly increased their lead as the set went on running off a 4-0 run to make it 17-13 on kills from Wucherer and Carly Gilk and a pair of Creighton errors. The Blue Jays never got closer than five points and a Swenson ace closed out the 25-19 opening set win for Minnesota.
Set two was a back and forth affair. Minnesota stretched their lead to five late in the set, but a 5-0 Creighton run tied the set at 21 all. Minnesota would score three of the last four points on a pair of kills by Wucherer and a Gilk kill and would take a 25-23 set win to go up 2-0.
That seemed to take the air out of the Blue Jays sails as the Gophers would run away with the third set. Minnesota trailed 4-2 before going on a 12-2 run and never again relinquished the lead. The Gophers did not commit an error in the third set and capitalized on 11 kills on 17 attempts in running away with the 25-12 win and clinching the sweep. Wucherer again led Minnesota with 10 kills. Kinney and Hoecke both added 7 for Minnesota. Hoecke also added five blocks in making her first career start.
After the wekeend Minnesota moved up to #1 in the most recent AVCA poll. They now head to Madison for a pair of games in the inaugural Big Ten/SEC Volleyball Challenge. The 2026 Allstate Big Ten/SEC Volleyball Challenge Week will feature all 34 teams across the two conferences, 18 from the Big Ten, 16 from the SEC, competing head-to-head Sept. 1-6. Throughout the week, various campus sites will also serve as hosts to two Big Ten teams and two SEC teams.
Minnesota will play their games in Madison along with the host Badgers against #17 Florida and Auburn. Minnesota will take on the Gators on Tuesday night at 8 PM on BTN. Florida enters the contest with a 1-0 record after a sweep of Stony Brook. Florida was predicted to finish in 4th place in the SEC by the conference coaches. They return a very talented core group including Preseason All-SEC Jordyn Byrd and Alec Rothe. Byrd was a Second Team All-SEC selection last season and led Florida’s offense in 23 matches and posted a team-best total of 425 kills. Rothe started in all 28 matches while leading the team with 111.0 blocks, averaged 2.48 points per set and 1.91 kills per set. Also returning is Lily Hayes, who led the team in digs (391, 3.62 dps), was named to the SEC All-Freshman team and the Southeast Region Freshman of the Year.
Minnesota is 6-3 all time against Florida. Minnesota last played the Gators in 2023 when Florida defeated the Gophers, 3-0 in Gainesville. It marks the first time these two teams will meet on a neutral court since 2019 as the Gophers advanced to the Elite Eight with a 3-2 win in the Austin, Texas region.
Wednesday Minnesota will take on Auburn at 5 PM on FS1. The Tigers went 3-0 this past weekend at the Buccaneer Classic hosted by Eastern Tennessee. They were predicted to finish seventh in the SEC Preseason Coaches poll. Auburn returns three starters from last years squad including All-SEC performer Lauren Dreves, who is also a 2026 Preseason All-SEC. Dreves had 376 kills, averaged 3.80 kps and 421 points. Tigers’ top blocker Kate Mansfield also returns who averaged 1.24 kps and 1.44 blocks per set.
Minnesota is 2-2 all time against Auburn most recently facing each other in 2024. The Gophers won the last battle3-0 at the Gophers Diet Coke Classic.
The Gophers return home September 11th to open the home season against Miami, Florida at the Pav.
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