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PURDUE BROADCAST INFORMATION
No. 8 Minnesota vs. No. 11 Purdue | 7 p.m. CT | BTN
Friday, Sept. 23
Holloway Gymnasium
West Lafayette, Ind.
Broadcasters: Larry Puteney (Play-By-Play) and Grace Loberg (Analyst)
WISCONSIN BROADCAST INFORMATION
No. 8 Minnesota vs. No. 6 Wisconsin | 7 p.m. CT | BTN
Sunday, Sept. 25
Maturi Pavilion
Minneapolis, Minn.
Broadcasters: Connor Onion (Play-By-Play) and Emily Ehman (Analyst)
Radio: Tanner Hoops (Gopher Radio Network)
NUMBERS TO KNOW:
260 — Minnesota head coach Hugh McCutcheon holds a 260-68 (.800) collegiate coaching record and has led Minnesota to two Big Ten Championships, three Final Fours, nine trips to the Sweet 16 and five to the Elite Eight. He joins Mike Hebert (1996-2011; 381-136 (.737)) and Stephanie Schleuder (1982-1994; 263-173 (.603)) as the third coach in Minnesota history to win 250 matches. Hebert also led the ‘U’ to three Final Fours.
26 — The 2021 season marked the 26th year the Golden Gophers advanced to the NCAA tournament. Minnesota has also advanced to the tournament in seven-straight seasons and nine of 10 seasons under head coach Hugh McCutcheon.
19 — Of Minnesota’s 28 scheduled games are against 2021 NCAA Tournament teams. 12 of those matches are against teams that advanced to the Sweet 16 or further.
16 — 16 of the Gophers’ 28 games are versus teams that finished in the AVCA Top-25. Seven of those matches are against teams that finished in the top-10.
10 — Minnesota is 10-0 all-time in Big Ten home openers under head coach Hugh McCutcheon. That mark will be put to the test when the ‘U’ hosts defending national champion Wisconsin to open its conference home slate. The Gophers have also won all 10 Big Ten openers overall under Hugh.
5 — Fifth-year senior libero CC McGraw ranks No. 5 all-time at Minnesota with 1,647 career digs. She’s just 353 away from becoming the second Gopher and 10th Big Ten player all-time to reach that mark.
4 — Transfers were added to the mix in 2022. Arica Davis (MB, Ohio State), Elise McGhie (S, Kansas), Miranda Wucherer (S/RS, N. Kentucky) and Naya Gros (MB, Michigan State) are the additions.
3 — Gophers earned All-Big Ten honors last season. Five-time First Team All-Big Ten honoree Stephanie Samedy departed, but CC McGraw (first team) and Jenna Wenaas (second team) returned.
2 — Conference opponents Minnesota plays twice: Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Purdue, Wisconsin.
1 — Conference opponents Minnesota plays once: Indiana, Maryland, Nebraska Northwestern, Penn State, Rutgers.
LAST TIME OUT
• The Gophers fell for the second straight game on Thursday night against No. 22 Pepperdine in the Diet Coke Classic. Taylor Landfair tallied 16 kills and 10 digs to lead Minnesota but Pepperdine outhit the Gophers .279 to .204 and outdug, 61-55.
• Minnesota responded with a four set win in an inspired performance on Saturday vs. Washington State. Freshman Mckenna Wucherer set a new career-high with 15 kills in her second game as a Gopher.
• The Gophers improved to 23-1 in the Diet Coke Classic under Hugh. Landfair tallied her eighth straight 10+ kill match and Carter Booth set a new career-high with 12 kills.
SCOUTING PURDUE
• The No. 11 Purdue Boilermakers are coming off an Elite Eight NCAA run under legendary head coach Dave Shondell. Shondell is in year 21 as the man in charge in West Lafayette.
• Purdue ranks No. 14 nationally in kps (14.06) and No. 23 in hitting percentage (.281). Purdue is 9-1 but lost their lone ranked matchup of the season against No. 3 Louisville in three sets.
• Freshman Eva Hudson leads the Boilers with 4.55 kills per set, a feat that also leads the Big Ten and ranks No. 8 nationally.
SCOUTING WISCONSIN
• The No. 6 Wisconsin Badgers are the defending national champions and they have been to three consecutive Final Fours. Led by Kelly Sheffield, UW is looking to advance to its third straight National Semifinal.
• The Badgers have had to replace AVCA National Player of the Year Dana Rettke along with first team All-Americans Lauren Barnes and Sydney Hilley from the 2021 team. Despite that, they rank No. 3 nationally in blocks per set (3.10) and No. 4 in opponent hitting percentage (.127).
• Wisconsin has played a difficult schedule, losing ranked matchups to Baylor and Florida. They took down a top-10 Kentucky team on the road for their best win of the non-league slate.
HISTORY VS. PURDUE AND WISCONSIN
• Minnesota is 56-32 all-time against Purdue, including a 13-4 record under Hugh McCutcheon. The Gophers have won nine of the last 11 in the series, with the losses coming in 2017 and then last year at the Pav. The Gophers won twice in five sets at Purdue in the spring of 2021.
• Minnesota is 52-36 against Wisconsin all-time, including 11-9 record under Hugh McCutcheon. The Gophers had won eight in-a-row against UW from 2015-18 but the Badgers have won six straight in the series. At the Pav, Minnesota is 6-3 vs. Wisconsin under Hugh.
MINNESOTA’S HISTORY IN BIG TEN OPENERS
• Minnesota is 28-13 in B1G openers, including a perfect 10-0 under coach McCutcheon.
• Minnesota is 10-0 all-time in Big Ten home openers under coach McCutcheon.
LANDFAIR LEADS GOPHERS IN THIRD YEAR ON CAMPUS
• The No. 1 overall recruit in the class of 2020, Taylor Landfair had an excellent true freshman season in the spring of 2021. She ranked second on the Gophers in kills per set and made First Team All-Big Ten and AVCA All-America honorable mention.
• Last fall wasn’t quite as fun for Landfair as she sat out most of the year (played just nine games) with an abdominal injury.
• She’s back and better than ever in 2022, leading the ‘U’ in kills with 4.48 per set so far this year. She’s also averaging 1.97 digs and 0.58 blocks per set, playing all six rotations. Landfair was named MVP of the Big Ten/Big 12 Challenge after leading all players in points and kills. She’s led Minnesota in kills 5/6 games in 2022.
• Landfair ranks second in the Big Ten and 19th nationally with 4.35 kills per set. Her 4.87 p/s ranks 24th.
MCGRAW MOVES HER WAY UP RECORD BOOKS
• CC McGraw ranks No. 5 in Gophers history with 1,647 digs. CC is now 353 digs away from becoming just the 10th player in B1G Volleyball history and second Gopher ever to reach 2,000 in her career.
• In three of her four seasons, McGraw has made Minnesota’s top-20 list for most digs in the season. In 2018, she had 428 (18th), 450 (16th) in 2019 and a career-best 510 in 2021 (12th). She’s the second Gopher to have three-or-more seasons with 400-or-more digs.
RECORD WATCH
• CC McGraw ranks No. 5 in Minnesota history with 1,647 digs. She’s behind only Paula Gentil (2002-05) 2,791, Christine Tan (2006-09) 1,927, Dalianliz Rosado (2014-17) 1,870 and Jessica Granquist (2008-11) 1,737.
• McGraw ranks in the top 30 at Minnesota in matches played (110). She is 23 games away from being inside the top 20 all-time.
• Melani Shaffmaster now ranks 10th all-time at Minnesota in assists (2,196).
GOPHERS IN BIG TEN PLAY
• Under Hugh McCutcheon, Minnesota is 146-42 (.777) in Big Ten competition. In his 10 seasons in charge, the Gophers have had nine seasons above .500 in conference play. In all nine of those seasons, the ‘U’ went 15-5 or better in conference play, with the best being 19-1 in 2018.
• The Gophers won Big Ten titles in 2016 and 2018 and have finished either first, second or third in nine of the last 10 seasons, including this season.
BLOCK PARTY IN MINNESOTA
• In 2021, the Gophers ranked No. 7 in the B1G and No. 40 nationally in blocks with 289.5 and 2.47 per set.
• Ellie Husemann ranked seventh in the conference with 1.27 blocks per set while incoming transfers Naya Gros (1.31) and Arica Davis (1.28) ranked fifth and sixth, respectively. Those three and freshman Carter Booth will look to form one of the most lethal blocks in the Big Ten this fall.
• So far in 2022, Minnesota ranks No. 6 in the Big Ten and No. 51 nationally with 2.47 blocks per set.
MCKENNA WUCHERER MAKING AN IMMEDIATE IMPACT
• A 2021 AVCA and Under Armour First Team All-American and the Wis. Gatorade Player of the Year, the 6-foot-1 outside hitter from Brookfield, Wis., comes to Minnesota as one of the most decorated players in Wisconsin prep history. She was the consensus No. 1 overall recruit in the class of 2022.
• Wucherer concluded her prep volleyball career with 2,028 kills and 1,076 digs, compiling 444 kills and 210 digs this past season, leading the Lancers (35-12) to the Division 1 state semifinals.
• She did this even though she missed 19 matches during the season while winning a bronze medal at the Under-18 World Championships in Mexico with the U.S. Under-18 Women’s National Team.
• Wucherer missed the first six games of the season with an injury but made her debut on Sept. 15 vs. Pepperdine with 13 kills. She followed that up with 15 kills and three blocks vs. WSU on Saturday.
Follow along with the Gophers this season on Twitter (@GopherVBall), Instagram and TikTok (@gophervball).
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