University of Minnesota Athletics
Thursday, December 11
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6:00 PM
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Photo by: Brad Rempel
No. 4 Seeded 'U' Set for Sweet 16 at No. 1 Seeded Pitt
12/10/2025 3:30:00 PM | Volleyball
The match is set for 6 p.m. CT tomorrow night
PITTSBURGH. Pa. -- The No. 4 seeded Minnesota Golden Gophers (24-9, 12-8 B1G) are getting set to play the No. 1 seeded Pittsburgh Panthers (28-4, 18-2 ACC) in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. The match is set for 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT on ESPN2. Anne Marie Anderson, Gophers alumnae Nicole Branagh and Shelby Coppedge will be on the call. Tanner Hoops will be on play-by-play for Gopher Sports Radio.
The two teams are meeting for the fourth time in the history of the two programs and for the first time since the spring 2021 season. In that season, unseeded Pitt took down the No. 1 seeded Golden Gophers in five sets in the NCAA Tournament in Omaha, Neb.
MATCH INFORMATION
No. 4 Minnesota at No. 1 Pittsburgh
Thursday, Dec. 11
7 p.m. CT/6 p.m. CT
Petersen Events Center
Pittsburgh, Pa.
TV: ESPN2 - Anne Marie Anderson (Play-By-Play), Nicole Branagh (Analyst) and Shelby Coppedge (Sideline Reporter)
Radio: GopherSports.com - Tanner Hoops (Play-By-Play)
Live Stats
HEADING INTO THE MATCH
Minnesota Trails Pittsburgh, 2-1
First Meeting: 1990
Last Meeting: 2021
NOTES TO KNOW
1,033 -- Career kills for Julia Hanson.
260 -- Keegan Cook won his 260th career match as a head coach on Dec. 6 vs. Iowa State.
59 -- Minnesota is 59th nationally and sixth in the Big Ten with 1.69 aces per set.
44 -- The Gophers are 44th nationally (4th B1G) with 196 aces.
30 -- This year is Minnesota's 30th ever NCAA Tournament appearance. That is the 11th most of any program in the country.
26 -- Julia Hanson has 26 matches with 10+ kills this year in 30 chances (missed Loyola Chicago match).
24 -- Minnesota ranks 24th nationally (3rd B1G) with 2.63 blocks per set.
21 -- Minnesota will be playing in its 21st regional semifinal on Thursday. The Gophers are 10-10 in regional semifinal matches.
16 -- Sweeps in 33 matches for the Golden Gophers. They've won seven matches in four sets (1-2 in five).
15 -- Minnesota ranks 15th nationally (4th B1G) in hitting % (.286).
14 -- Times this season Minnesota posted 10+ blocks as a team. They're 11-3 when going for 10-or-more blocks (losses at Oregon, Purdue, Wisconsin).
14 -- Minnesota is 14-4 at home this season. Only losses were to UCLA, USC, Nebraska and Wisconsin.
11 -- 2025 is Minnesota's 11th straight NCAA Tournament. They've made 26 of the last 27 (missed 2014).
8 -- Gophers head coach Keegan Cook is 8-26 against AVCA Top-25 ranked opponents in three seasons. (Wins vs. No. 15 Baylor, No. 5 Oregon, No. 1 Texas, No. 7 Wisconsin, No. 11 Purdue, No. 23 Iowa State, No. 23 Indiana and No. 24 Penn St.). They've made three Final Fours, four Sweet 16s and an Elite Eight since 2015.
6 -- Jordan Taylor ranks seventh in the Big Ten with 1.24 blocks per set, a team-best. That mark leads all Big Ten freshmen.
6 -- Minnesota ranked 6th in average attendance at 4,488 per match (avg.). They ranked fourth overall (80,779 total fans).
5 -- Minnesota ranked fifth in the Big Ten with 183 service aces.
5 -- During Big Ten play, Julia Hanson ranked fifth in the league in kills per set with 4.02.
5 -- 20+ kill matches for Julia Hanson in 2025. She last had 20+ on Saturday vs. Iowa St. (23).
5 -- Julia Hanson is fifth in the B1G with 4.69 points per set.
5 -- Gophers were named to the AVCA All-Northwest Region Team (Hanson - Player of the Year, Gilk, Swenson, Myers and Taylor). Coach Cook was named Region Coach of the Year.
4 -- Julia Hanson is fourth in the Big Ten with 4.13 kills per set.
4 -- Minnesota is 4-6 against its 10 ranked opponents this season.
4 -- Minnesota lost four starters to season-ending injuries in OH Alex Acevedo and Mckenna Wucherer, MB Calissa Minatee and L Zeynep Palabiyik.
4 -- 4-2 NCAA Tournament record at Minnesota for head coach Keegan Cook, now in his third year.
3 -- Gophers earned All-B1G honors in 2025. Julia Hanson (1st), Stella Swenson (2nd, Freshmen) and Carly Gilk (All-Freshmen). Swenson and Gilk are the first Gophers to make All-Freshmen since 2022.
3 -- Straight 20+ kill matches for Julia Hanson in the Illinois, USC and Wisconsin matches. She's the first Gopher to do so since Stephanie Samedy ('21). She's hit 10+ in 11 of the last 13 matches.
2 -- The Gophers rank second in the B1G in total blocks with 305.5. That figure is 20th nationally.Â
2 -- During B1G play, the Gophers ranked second with 1.77 aces per set. They had 129 aces (2nd in B1G).
LAST TIME OUT
• The then No. 17 Minnesota volleyball team went 2-0 at home against Fairfield (25-12, 25-7, 15-13) and No. 23 Iowa State (25-22, 25-21, 25-14) to advance to the Sweet 16. Julia Hanson had 13 kills vs. Fairfield as the team hit a school-record .582 for the match. Minnesota also posted 11.5 blocks as a team. On Saturday vs. ISU, Hanson took her game to a new level, going for 23 kills on .488 to lead the Gophers to a sweep. Stella Swenson had 35 assists and eight digs as Minnesota made its first Sweet 16 since 2022.
GOPHERS IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
• The 2025 season marked the 30th year the Gophers advanced to the NCAA tournament. With an at-large bid, the Gophers advanced to the tournament for the 11th straight season and 26th in the last 27 seasons.
• In the first round of NCAA Tournaments, Minnesota is 29-1 all-time. In round two, Minnesota is 22-7.
• The Gophers all-time record in NCAA Tournaments is 64-29. Minnesota has made the Final Four six times (2003, 2004, 2009, 2015, 2016, 2019), and the national title game once (2004).
• The program has had 31 straight winning seasons, dating back to 1995. The 'U' has won 10-or-more Big Ten games in every season except for one dating back to 1999. The program has finished in the top six of the B1G standings every year since 2015.
GOPHERS IN THE RANKINGS
• The 'U' entered the 2025 season with a No. 11 ranking in the Preseason AVCA poll (finished 18th in 2024).
• At the end of regular season, the 'U' moved up to No. 17, going up one spot from the previous week.
COACH COOK IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENTÂ Â
• Keegan Cook is 21-10 as a head coach in the NCAA Tournament. He led his Washington teams to one Final Four, three Elite Eights and two Sweet 16s. Both of his first two years at Minnesota, the 'U' went to the Round of 32. This is his first Sweet 16 appearance as a Gopher.
STRONG SCHEDULE PREPS 'U' FOR POSTSEASON
• The Gophers have gone 4-6 vs. ranked opponents in 2025. Minnesota was one of nine Big Ten teams to make the 2025 NCAA tournament. Of the Gophers 11 non-conference opponents, seven made the NCAA Tournament. Six of Minnesota's opponents will play in the Sweet 16, including Cal Poly, Indiana, Nebraska, Purdue, Texas A&M and Wisconsin. Minnesota went 3-4 against those teams.
• The 'U' entered the postseason with a top-15 RPI and earned the No. 13 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
• In all, the Gophers faced 15 teams that make up the field of 64. Against teams that made the postseason, Minnesota posted a 9-8 record this season.
SCOUTING PITTSBURGH
• Pittsburgh (28-4, 18-2 ACC) is led by 13th-year head coach Dan Fisher. Under his guidance the Panthers have made four straight Final Fours since the 2021 season. Prior to that, Pitt made a regional final in 2020-21 and four straight second rounds of the NCAA Tournament before that.
• The Panthers lost their first two matches of the season vs. No. 1 Nebraska and then No. 16 Florida, but have won 28 of their last 30 since, only falling at No. 18 Miami and at No. 5 Stanford.
• Pitt is led by 2024 National Player of the Year Olivia Babcock, a three-time All-ACC First Team player and the ACC Player of the Year. She averages 5.06 kills per set on .329 hitting. Bre Kelly paces the defense with 1.49 blocks per set while setter Brooke Mosher leads the offense with 9.86 assists per set.
MINNESOTA'S HISTORY VS. PITTSBURGH
• Minnesota is 1-2 all-time vs. Pittsburgh, including 0-1 in the NCAA Tournament. The Panthers took down Minnesota in the Spring 2021 NCAA Tournament, also in the Sweet 16. It was a five-set thriller (25-21, 23-25, 25-20, 21-25, 11-15). Stephanie Samedy had 23 kills to lead the 'U' during the match.
• They also played in 1990 in Minneapolis, a 3-0 sweep for Pitt, and in 1999 in Hawai'i, a 3-0 win for Minnesota.
STREAKS TO WATCH
• Julia Hanson has tallied 10+ kills in 26 of her 32 matches this year, including 13 of 15 with 10+.
• McKenna Garr has totaled 10+ digs in 23 of her 32 matches, including 21 of 28 as starting libero.
• Lourdes Myers has multiple blocks in 29 of her 33 matches, including 17 matches with four-or-more.
• Stella Swenson has hit 30+ assists in 22 of 33 matches on the year. She also has eight double-doubles after tallying a career-best 58 assists and 10 digs at Iowa on Nov 16.
FIVE GOPHERS EARN AVCA ALL-REGION HONORS, COOK, HANSON WIN COACH AND PLAYER OF THE YEAR
• Senior outside Julia Hanson was named AVCA Northwest Region Player of the Year while head coach Keegan Cook was named region Coach of the Year. It was Hanson's first region player of the year and Cook's fourth region coach of the year (first at Minnesota).
• Joining Hanson on the AVCA All-Northwest Region First Team were freshman opposite Carly Gilk and redshirt freshman setter Stella Swenson. Redshirt senior middle blocker Lourdes Myers and freshman middle blocker Jordan Taylor both earned All-Region Honorable Mention.Â
LAST TIME A NO. 4 SEED OR LOWER BEAT A NO. 1 SEED
• The spring 2021 NCAA Tournament, when unseeded Pittsburgh defeated No. 1 seed Minnesota (No. 3 seed overall) in the Sweet 16. The match was played in Omaha and went five sets.
• The 2019 NCAA Tournament, when unseeded Louisville defeated No. 1 seed (No. 2 overall seed) Texas in the Sweet 16 in Austin. Before that, it was when No. 4 seed Oregon (No. 15 overall) beat No. 1 seed Minnesota (No. 2 overall) in the 2018 Sweet 16 in Minneapolis.
YOUNGEST TEAM IN NCAA TOURNAMENT
• Of all 16 teams remaining in the NCAA Tournament, Minnesota is by far the youngest group. Of the seven starters, five are freshmen and two are seniors. Only Indiana (4) starts three-or-more freshman of the Sweet 16 teams. Pitt, SMU, Louisville, Stanford and Texas all start two freshmen.
UP NEXT
If they are victorious, Minnesota will take on the winner of No. 2 SMU and No. 3 Purdue on Saturday, Dec. 13. The match time and channel are TBD. Â
The two teams are meeting for the fourth time in the history of the two programs and for the first time since the spring 2021 season. In that season, unseeded Pitt took down the No. 1 seeded Golden Gophers in five sets in the NCAA Tournament in Omaha, Neb.
MATCH INFORMATION
No. 4 Minnesota at No. 1 Pittsburgh
Thursday, Dec. 11
7 p.m. CT/6 p.m. CT
Petersen Events Center
Pittsburgh, Pa.
TV: ESPN2 - Anne Marie Anderson (Play-By-Play), Nicole Branagh (Analyst) and Shelby Coppedge (Sideline Reporter)
Radio: GopherSports.com - Tanner Hoops (Play-By-Play)
Live Stats
HEADING INTO THE MATCH
Minnesota Trails Pittsburgh, 2-1
First Meeting: 1990
Last Meeting: 2021
NOTES TO KNOW
1,033 -- Career kills for Julia Hanson.
260 -- Keegan Cook won his 260th career match as a head coach on Dec. 6 vs. Iowa State.
59 -- Minnesota is 59th nationally and sixth in the Big Ten with 1.69 aces per set.
44 -- The Gophers are 44th nationally (4th B1G) with 196 aces.
30 -- This year is Minnesota's 30th ever NCAA Tournament appearance. That is the 11th most of any program in the country.
26 -- Julia Hanson has 26 matches with 10+ kills this year in 30 chances (missed Loyola Chicago match).
24 -- Minnesota ranks 24th nationally (3rd B1G) with 2.63 blocks per set.
21 -- Minnesota will be playing in its 21st regional semifinal on Thursday. The Gophers are 10-10 in regional semifinal matches.
16 -- Sweeps in 33 matches for the Golden Gophers. They've won seven matches in four sets (1-2 in five).
15 -- Minnesota ranks 15th nationally (4th B1G) in hitting % (.286).
14 -- Times this season Minnesota posted 10+ blocks as a team. They're 11-3 when going for 10-or-more blocks (losses at Oregon, Purdue, Wisconsin).
14 -- Minnesota is 14-4 at home this season. Only losses were to UCLA, USC, Nebraska and Wisconsin.
11 -- 2025 is Minnesota's 11th straight NCAA Tournament. They've made 26 of the last 27 (missed 2014).
8 -- Gophers head coach Keegan Cook is 8-26 against AVCA Top-25 ranked opponents in three seasons. (Wins vs. No. 15 Baylor, No. 5 Oregon, No. 1 Texas, No. 7 Wisconsin, No. 11 Purdue, No. 23 Iowa State, No. 23 Indiana and No. 24 Penn St.). They've made three Final Fours, four Sweet 16s and an Elite Eight since 2015.
6 -- Jordan Taylor ranks seventh in the Big Ten with 1.24 blocks per set, a team-best. That mark leads all Big Ten freshmen.
6 -- Minnesota ranked 6th in average attendance at 4,488 per match (avg.). They ranked fourth overall (80,779 total fans).
5 -- Minnesota ranked fifth in the Big Ten with 183 service aces.
5 -- During Big Ten play, Julia Hanson ranked fifth in the league in kills per set with 4.02.
5 -- 20+ kill matches for Julia Hanson in 2025. She last had 20+ on Saturday vs. Iowa St. (23).
5 -- Julia Hanson is fifth in the B1G with 4.69 points per set.
5 -- Gophers were named to the AVCA All-Northwest Region Team (Hanson - Player of the Year, Gilk, Swenson, Myers and Taylor). Coach Cook was named Region Coach of the Year.
4 -- Julia Hanson is fourth in the Big Ten with 4.13 kills per set.
4 -- Minnesota is 4-6 against its 10 ranked opponents this season.
4 -- Minnesota lost four starters to season-ending injuries in OH Alex Acevedo and Mckenna Wucherer, MB Calissa Minatee and L Zeynep Palabiyik.
4 -- 4-2 NCAA Tournament record at Minnesota for head coach Keegan Cook, now in his third year.
3 -- Gophers earned All-B1G honors in 2025. Julia Hanson (1st), Stella Swenson (2nd, Freshmen) and Carly Gilk (All-Freshmen). Swenson and Gilk are the first Gophers to make All-Freshmen since 2022.
3 -- Straight 20+ kill matches for Julia Hanson in the Illinois, USC and Wisconsin matches. She's the first Gopher to do so since Stephanie Samedy ('21). She's hit 10+ in 11 of the last 13 matches.
2 -- The Gophers rank second in the B1G in total blocks with 305.5. That figure is 20th nationally.Â
2 -- During B1G play, the Gophers ranked second with 1.77 aces per set. They had 129 aces (2nd in B1G).
LAST TIME OUT
• The then No. 17 Minnesota volleyball team went 2-0 at home against Fairfield (25-12, 25-7, 15-13) and No. 23 Iowa State (25-22, 25-21, 25-14) to advance to the Sweet 16. Julia Hanson had 13 kills vs. Fairfield as the team hit a school-record .582 for the match. Minnesota also posted 11.5 blocks as a team. On Saturday vs. ISU, Hanson took her game to a new level, going for 23 kills on .488 to lead the Gophers to a sweep. Stella Swenson had 35 assists and eight digs as Minnesota made its first Sweet 16 since 2022.
GOPHERS IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
• The 2025 season marked the 30th year the Gophers advanced to the NCAA tournament. With an at-large bid, the Gophers advanced to the tournament for the 11th straight season and 26th in the last 27 seasons.
• In the first round of NCAA Tournaments, Minnesota is 29-1 all-time. In round two, Minnesota is 22-7.
• The Gophers all-time record in NCAA Tournaments is 64-29. Minnesota has made the Final Four six times (2003, 2004, 2009, 2015, 2016, 2019), and the national title game once (2004).
• The program has had 31 straight winning seasons, dating back to 1995. The 'U' has won 10-or-more Big Ten games in every season except for one dating back to 1999. The program has finished in the top six of the B1G standings every year since 2015.
GOPHERS IN THE RANKINGS
• The 'U' entered the 2025 season with a No. 11 ranking in the Preseason AVCA poll (finished 18th in 2024).
• At the end of regular season, the 'U' moved up to No. 17, going up one spot from the previous week.
COACH COOK IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENTÂ Â
• Keegan Cook is 21-10 as a head coach in the NCAA Tournament. He led his Washington teams to one Final Four, three Elite Eights and two Sweet 16s. Both of his first two years at Minnesota, the 'U' went to the Round of 32. This is his first Sweet 16 appearance as a Gopher.
STRONG SCHEDULE PREPS 'U' FOR POSTSEASON
• The Gophers have gone 4-6 vs. ranked opponents in 2025. Minnesota was one of nine Big Ten teams to make the 2025 NCAA tournament. Of the Gophers 11 non-conference opponents, seven made the NCAA Tournament. Six of Minnesota's opponents will play in the Sweet 16, including Cal Poly, Indiana, Nebraska, Purdue, Texas A&M and Wisconsin. Minnesota went 3-4 against those teams.
• The 'U' entered the postseason with a top-15 RPI and earned the No. 13 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
• In all, the Gophers faced 15 teams that make up the field of 64. Against teams that made the postseason, Minnesota posted a 9-8 record this season.
SCOUTING PITTSBURGH
• Pittsburgh (28-4, 18-2 ACC) is led by 13th-year head coach Dan Fisher. Under his guidance the Panthers have made four straight Final Fours since the 2021 season. Prior to that, Pitt made a regional final in 2020-21 and four straight second rounds of the NCAA Tournament before that.
• The Panthers lost their first two matches of the season vs. No. 1 Nebraska and then No. 16 Florida, but have won 28 of their last 30 since, only falling at No. 18 Miami and at No. 5 Stanford.
• Pitt is led by 2024 National Player of the Year Olivia Babcock, a three-time All-ACC First Team player and the ACC Player of the Year. She averages 5.06 kills per set on .329 hitting. Bre Kelly paces the defense with 1.49 blocks per set while setter Brooke Mosher leads the offense with 9.86 assists per set.
MINNESOTA'S HISTORY VS. PITTSBURGH
• Minnesota is 1-2 all-time vs. Pittsburgh, including 0-1 in the NCAA Tournament. The Panthers took down Minnesota in the Spring 2021 NCAA Tournament, also in the Sweet 16. It was a five-set thriller (25-21, 23-25, 25-20, 21-25, 11-15). Stephanie Samedy had 23 kills to lead the 'U' during the match.
• They also played in 1990 in Minneapolis, a 3-0 sweep for Pitt, and in 1999 in Hawai'i, a 3-0 win for Minnesota.
STREAKS TO WATCH
• Julia Hanson has tallied 10+ kills in 26 of her 32 matches this year, including 13 of 15 with 10+.
• McKenna Garr has totaled 10+ digs in 23 of her 32 matches, including 21 of 28 as starting libero.
• Lourdes Myers has multiple blocks in 29 of her 33 matches, including 17 matches with four-or-more.
• Stella Swenson has hit 30+ assists in 22 of 33 matches on the year. She also has eight double-doubles after tallying a career-best 58 assists and 10 digs at Iowa on Nov 16.
FIVE GOPHERS EARN AVCA ALL-REGION HONORS, COOK, HANSON WIN COACH AND PLAYER OF THE YEAR
• Senior outside Julia Hanson was named AVCA Northwest Region Player of the Year while head coach Keegan Cook was named region Coach of the Year. It was Hanson's first region player of the year and Cook's fourth region coach of the year (first at Minnesota).
• Joining Hanson on the AVCA All-Northwest Region First Team were freshman opposite Carly Gilk and redshirt freshman setter Stella Swenson. Redshirt senior middle blocker Lourdes Myers and freshman middle blocker Jordan Taylor both earned All-Region Honorable Mention.Â
LAST TIME A NO. 4 SEED OR LOWER BEAT A NO. 1 SEED
• The spring 2021 NCAA Tournament, when unseeded Pittsburgh defeated No. 1 seed Minnesota (No. 3 seed overall) in the Sweet 16. The match was played in Omaha and went five sets.
• The 2019 NCAA Tournament, when unseeded Louisville defeated No. 1 seed (No. 2 overall seed) Texas in the Sweet 16 in Austin. Before that, it was when No. 4 seed Oregon (No. 15 overall) beat No. 1 seed Minnesota (No. 2 overall) in the 2018 Sweet 16 in Minneapolis.
YOUNGEST TEAM IN NCAA TOURNAMENT
• Of all 16 teams remaining in the NCAA Tournament, Minnesota is by far the youngest group. Of the seven starters, five are freshmen and two are seniors. Only Indiana (4) starts three-or-more freshman of the Sweet 16 teams. Pitt, SMU, Louisville, Stanford and Texas all start two freshmen.
UP NEXT
If they are victorious, Minnesota will take on the winner of No. 2 SMU and No. 3 Purdue on Saturday, Dec. 13. The match time and channel are TBD. Â
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Cinematic Recap: Gophers Reach Sweet Sixteen
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NCAA Postgame Reaction
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Highlights: Gophers 3, Iowa State 0
Saturday, December 06