University of Minnesota Athletics
Sunday, September 14
Minneapolis, MN
3:00 PM
University of Minnesota
8-1,0-0Big Ten
3
vs
1
South Dakota State
5-2,0-0Summit League
1
2
3
4
F
South Dakota St.
23
28
18
20
1
Minnesota
25
26
25
25
3
Team Stats
SDSU
MINN
Kills
55
55
Errors
32
24
Attempts
172
158
Hitting %
.134
.196
Points
70.0
77.5
Assists
51
47
Aces
4
5
Blocks
11
17.5
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
16
Aces
1
Blocks
1
Kills
12
Aces
0
Blocks
5
Kills
9
Aces
0
Blocks
7
Kills
6
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Players Mentioned
Outside
/ Volleyball
Libero/DS
/ Volleyball
Outside
/ Volleyball
Setter
/ Volleyball
Setter
/ Volleyball
Libero/DS
/ Volleyball
No. 13 Minnesota Downs SDSU in Four Sets
9/14/2025 5:58:00 PM | Volleyball
The Gophers finished the Diet Coke Classic 3-0
MINNEAPOLIS -- The No. 13 Minnesota volleyball took down the South Dakota State Jackrabbits in four sets on Sunday afternoon. The set scores were 25-23, 26-28, 25-18, 25-20. Minnesota has won eight straight since losing to No. 9 Texas A&M in its opener.
Alex Acevedo led the Gophers with a career-high 16 kills while Julia Hanson had 12. Lourdes Myers went for seven kills and tied a career-high with seven blocks. Stella Swenson posted 36 assists, 15 digs, six blocks and five kills.
The Gophers (8-1, 0-0 Big Ten) outhit the Jackrabbits (5-2, 0-0 Summit) .196 to .134, tallying 55 kills. The 'U' had a season-high 17 blocks while the Jacks had 11. SDSU and Minnesota had the same number of kills (55) and digs (70) and were one off on aces (five to four).
Sylvie Zgonc led South Dakota State with 18 kills while Rylee Martin had 46 assists and eight digs.
The No. 13 Gophers went 3-0 in this weekend's Diet Coke Classic while SDSU finished 2-1. RV South Florida went 1-2 and RV Dayton went 0-3.
How It Happened
SET 1 | SDSU scored three of the first four before the 'U' went on a 6-0 run, forcing a timeout. The 'U got kills from Acevedo and Crowl combined with a solo block from Minatee in the spurt. The Jackrabbits responded with a 5-2 run, cutting the lead to one at 9-8. Kills from Hanson and Acevedo combined with a block from Myers and Swenson made it 12-8. This forced SDSU into their final timeout. SDSU tallied three straight before a 4-0 Gophers run put the home team up 16-11. Acevedo and Hanson had kills while Georgia Lee tallied her first ace. The 'U' would lead by as many as six at 22-16 before two SDSU points made it 22-18, forcing a Gophers timeout. Minnesota would get to set point at 24-19 before three straight Jacks points led to another timeout. Minnesota ended up closing set one, 25-23. Acevedo led the way with five kills while Hanson had four in the frame.
SET 2 | SDSU was the aggressor in set two, coming out hot with an 8-3 lead before Minnesota called timeout. The Gophers would fight back, scoring seven of the next nine to tie it up at 10-10. SDSU called timeout to try and stop the momentum. Two straight blocks from Myers and Swenson made it 12-10, Minnesota. Kills from Acevedo and Myers made it 14-12 before four straight SDSU points gave them a 16-14 lead, forcing another Gophers timeout. The Jacks would go up as many as four at 23-19 before Minnesota made a run. Three SDSU errors and two Minnesota blocks made it 24-23, Minnesota. A kill from SDSU tied it up at 24 to stop the 5-0 run. The two teams went back and forth to the finish before SDSU closed out the frame with a 28-26 win.
SET 3 | The Jacks came out hot once again, scoring seven of the first 11 points. Minnesota would respond with a 7-1 run to go up 10-8, forcing an SDSU timeout. Kate Thibault had an ace while Acevedo and Swenson had key kills in the spurt. Minnesota didn't slow down after the break, getting kills from Swenson, Myers and Acevedo to go up 13-9, forcing SDSU into another timeout. A 4-1 SDSU spurt cut the lead to one at 14-13, leading to a Minnesota timeout. Minnesota would respond by scoring the next six to take a commanding 20-13 lead. They had three blocks in the run. The 'U' would go up 22-15 after kills from Hanson and Kinney before three straight points from the Jacks made it 22-18, forcing a Gophers timeout.
SET 4 | SDSU scored three of the first four points but after that neither team could separate for the first third of the frame. No one led by more than one until the Gophers took a 13-11 lead following a block from Kinney and Taylor. Minnesota took a 15-13 lead into the media break. Two more points after the break from the 'U' gave them a set-high four point lead at 17-13, leading to an SDSU timeout. Minnesota would take a five point lead at 19-14 before three straight from the Jacks cut it to two at 19-17, leading to a timeout from the home team. After an ace from SDSU, Minnesota scored two of the next three to go up 21-18. SDSU took their final timeout trailing 22-20. The Gophers would score the last three, getting a couple errors from the visitors combined with an overpass kill from Taylor to win, 25-20.
Diet Coke Classic All-Tournament Team
OH: Kamryn Hunt (Dayton)
OH: Alex Acevedo (Minnesota) - MVP
S: Stella Swenson (Minnesota)
L: Samiha Foster (South Florida)
MB: Madison Burr (South Dakota State)
MB: Lourdes Myers (Minnesota)
OH: Sylvie Zgonc (South Dakota State)
Game Notes
» Saturday's match was the fourth ever between Minnesota and SDSU, including the first since 1977. Minnesota is 4-0 all-time in the series.
» The Gophers (17) tallied 10+ blocks for the fourth time this season. The 17 was a season-best.
» Alex Acevedo posted a career-best 16 kills.
» Georgia Lee had an ace for the fifth straight match and seventh time this season.
» Lourdes Myers tallied a career-best seven blocks this afternoon.
» Stella Swenson posted 36 assists. She also had career-highs with six kills, six blocks and 15 digs for a double double, the third of her season.
» McKenna Garr had 19 digs, her sixth match of the season and fifth straight with 10+ digs. The digs were a career-high.
» Kate Thibault had 14 digs, her fourth match of the year with 10+. She also had a career-high with two aces.
» Julia Hanson had 15 kills for Minnesota. It was her eighth time in nine matches with 10+. It was her second double double of the year.
Up Next
Minnesota plays at Loyola Chicago (3-6, 0-0 A-10) on Friday at 6 p.m. and Marquette (4-2, 0-0 BIG EAST) on Sunday at 5 p.m.
Alex Acevedo led the Gophers with a career-high 16 kills while Julia Hanson had 12. Lourdes Myers went for seven kills and tied a career-high with seven blocks. Stella Swenson posted 36 assists, 15 digs, six blocks and five kills.
The Gophers (8-1, 0-0 Big Ten) outhit the Jackrabbits (5-2, 0-0 Summit) .196 to .134, tallying 55 kills. The 'U' had a season-high 17 blocks while the Jacks had 11. SDSU and Minnesota had the same number of kills (55) and digs (70) and were one off on aces (five to four).
Sylvie Zgonc led South Dakota State with 18 kills while Rylee Martin had 46 assists and eight digs.
The No. 13 Gophers went 3-0 in this weekend's Diet Coke Classic while SDSU finished 2-1. RV South Florida went 1-2 and RV Dayton went 0-3.
How It Happened
SET 1 | SDSU scored three of the first four before the 'U' went on a 6-0 run, forcing a timeout. The 'U got kills from Acevedo and Crowl combined with a solo block from Minatee in the spurt. The Jackrabbits responded with a 5-2 run, cutting the lead to one at 9-8. Kills from Hanson and Acevedo combined with a block from Myers and Swenson made it 12-8. This forced SDSU into their final timeout. SDSU tallied three straight before a 4-0 Gophers run put the home team up 16-11. Acevedo and Hanson had kills while Georgia Lee tallied her first ace. The 'U' would lead by as many as six at 22-16 before two SDSU points made it 22-18, forcing a Gophers timeout. Minnesota would get to set point at 24-19 before three straight Jacks points led to another timeout. Minnesota ended up closing set one, 25-23. Acevedo led the way with five kills while Hanson had four in the frame.
SET 2 | SDSU was the aggressor in set two, coming out hot with an 8-3 lead before Minnesota called timeout. The Gophers would fight back, scoring seven of the next nine to tie it up at 10-10. SDSU called timeout to try and stop the momentum. Two straight blocks from Myers and Swenson made it 12-10, Minnesota. Kills from Acevedo and Myers made it 14-12 before four straight SDSU points gave them a 16-14 lead, forcing another Gophers timeout. The Jacks would go up as many as four at 23-19 before Minnesota made a run. Three SDSU errors and two Minnesota blocks made it 24-23, Minnesota. A kill from SDSU tied it up at 24 to stop the 5-0 run. The two teams went back and forth to the finish before SDSU closed out the frame with a 28-26 win.
SET 3 | The Jacks came out hot once again, scoring seven of the first 11 points. Minnesota would respond with a 7-1 run to go up 10-8, forcing an SDSU timeout. Kate Thibault had an ace while Acevedo and Swenson had key kills in the spurt. Minnesota didn't slow down after the break, getting kills from Swenson, Myers and Acevedo to go up 13-9, forcing SDSU into another timeout. A 4-1 SDSU spurt cut the lead to one at 14-13, leading to a Minnesota timeout. Minnesota would respond by scoring the next six to take a commanding 20-13 lead. They had three blocks in the run. The 'U' would go up 22-15 after kills from Hanson and Kinney before three straight points from the Jacks made it 22-18, forcing a Gophers timeout.
SET 4 | SDSU scored three of the first four points but after that neither team could separate for the first third of the frame. No one led by more than one until the Gophers took a 13-11 lead following a block from Kinney and Taylor. Minnesota took a 15-13 lead into the media break. Two more points after the break from the 'U' gave them a set-high four point lead at 17-13, leading to an SDSU timeout. Minnesota would take a five point lead at 19-14 before three straight from the Jacks cut it to two at 19-17, leading to a timeout from the home team. After an ace from SDSU, Minnesota scored two of the next three to go up 21-18. SDSU took their final timeout trailing 22-20. The Gophers would score the last three, getting a couple errors from the visitors combined with an overpass kill from Taylor to win, 25-20.
Diet Coke Classic All-Tournament Team
OH: Kamryn Hunt (Dayton)
OH: Alex Acevedo (Minnesota) - MVP
S: Stella Swenson (Minnesota)
L: Samiha Foster (South Florida)
MB: Madison Burr (South Dakota State)
MB: Lourdes Myers (Minnesota)
OH: Sylvie Zgonc (South Dakota State)
Game Notes
» Saturday's match was the fourth ever between Minnesota and SDSU, including the first since 1977. Minnesota is 4-0 all-time in the series.
» The Gophers (17) tallied 10+ blocks for the fourth time this season. The 17 was a season-best.
» Alex Acevedo posted a career-best 16 kills.
» Georgia Lee had an ace for the fifth straight match and seventh time this season.
» Lourdes Myers tallied a career-best seven blocks this afternoon.
» Stella Swenson posted 36 assists. She also had career-highs with six kills, six blocks and 15 digs for a double double, the third of her season.
» McKenna Garr had 19 digs, her sixth match of the season and fifth straight with 10+ digs. The digs were a career-high.
» Kate Thibault had 14 digs, her fourth match of the year with 10+. She also had a career-high with two aces.
» Julia Hanson had 15 kills for Minnesota. It was her eighth time in nine matches with 10+. It was her second double double of the year.
Up Next
Minnesota plays at Loyola Chicago (3-6, 0-0 A-10) on Friday at 6 p.m. and Marquette (4-2, 0-0 BIG EAST) on Sunday at 5 p.m.
Highlights: Gophers 3, SDSU 1
Sunday, September 14
Highlights: Gophers 3, Dayton 0
Saturday, September 13
Highlights: Gophers 3, South Florida 0
Friday, September 12
Cinematic Recap: A Sweep in Nashville
Friday, September 12