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Big Ten Volleyball Squads Advance To NCAA Sweet Sixteen
Dec. 6, 2003
NO. 17 MINNESOTA GETS PAST NO. 16 NORTHERN IOWA, 3-1 No. 17 Minnesota advanced to the NCAA Regional Finals Saturday, with a 3-1 (30-25, 28- 30, 30-25, 30-23) victory over No. 16 Northern Iowa. Jessica Byrnes hit .652, and tied a career-high with 17 kills and three blocks. Cassie Busse, who tied with a match-high 18 kills, also had 11 digs, four assists and three blocks on the night. The Golden Gophers move to 24-10 on the year, while Northern Iowa finishes 28-6. Minnesota will now travel to Long Beach, Calif. for the regionals, and play No. 4 Pepperdine on Friday, Dec. 12. First-serve time will be announced later in the week. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PENN STATE ADVANCES TO SWEET SIXTEEN WITH 3-1 VICTORY OVER PITTSBURGH UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State earned a bid to the Sweet Sixteen Saturday, defeating Pittsburgh, 3-1, by the scores of 25-30, 33-31, 30-21, 30-21. Penn State will now play Kansas State on Dec. 12 in Gainesville, Fla. in the NCAA Regional Semifinals.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ILLINOIS BLANKS LOUISVILLE, 3-0 CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - In the second round of the NCAA tournament, No. 15 seed Illinois blanked Louisville, 3-0, in front of 1,514 fans at Huff Hall in Champaign Saturday night. The Fighting Illini advanced with scores of 30-26, 30-26, and 32-30. Illinois held a 60-47 advantage in kills over Louisville and outhit the Cardinals .281-to-.209. While Louisville had twice as many aces as Illinois (8-4), the Illini outblocked the Cardinals 9-6.
Illinois improves to 26-6 on the season and now advances to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 1998. The Orange and Blue will travel to Honolulu on Friday, Dec. 12, to face No. 2 seed Hawaii.
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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WISCONSIN FALLS TO NO. 16 SEED TEXAS A&M COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The Wisconsin Badgers fell to 16th-seeded Texas A&M Saturday, 3-0, and ended their 2003 campaign in NCAA second round tournament play. The Aggies topped Wisconsin, 30-22, 30-24, 30-18, to end the Badgers' season with a 22-11 overall record. On the night, Wisconsin struggled offensively, hitting just .178 percent. Texas A&M held the advantage in kills, 53-39, as Wisconsin only had two Badgers in double figures, with Jill Odenthal recording a match-high 12 kills and Sheila Shaw with 10. A&M also outblocked Wisconsin 8 to 4.5, and both teams recorded 62 digs on the night each. The loss marks the second-straight year that Wisconsin has lost in the NCAA second round. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MICHIGAN ENDS SEASON WITH LOSS AT NO. 8 CALIFORNIA BERKELEY, Calif. - Michigan fell in Saturday's action, 3-0, to No. 8 California at Haas Pavilion. The Wolverines lost to the Bears, 30-23, 30-23, 30-28. Junior Jennifer Gandolph led the Wolverines with 13 kills, while senior school-record holder, Erin Moore, finished with 11. Michigan ends the season with a 21-12 record, marking the most wins for the Wolverines since 1997. The 21 wins also marks the sixth 20-win season in the program's history. In addition, the Wolverines advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in five appearances. |
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