Minnesota Gophers: Weekend Preview

It’s another busy fall weekend with games in full swing. A pair of Gophers teams are on campus this weekend with more on the road. Here is a preview of the action and how you can watch either in person, or on your couch!

Thursday September 14th:

Volleyball Diet Coke Classic vs High Point 7 PM

The Gophers return home after two weekends on the road for their final two non-conference games of the season. Minnesota opens up their annual Diet Coke Classic at the Pav with their lone “easy” non-conference game of the season against High Point. Minnesota has never faced the Panthers who were picked by the Big South Coaches to win the conference for the fourth season in a row. They come into the match with a 6-3 record on the season. Dylan Maberry was voted as the Preseason Player of the Year and All-Conference team for the second year in a row and she currently heads the team with 4.42 kills per set. Minnesota will enjoy a slight break as they are just one of two teams this season—Stanford being the other to have played five of their first six games against teams ranked #15 or higher in the country. The Gophers moved up to #9 in this weeks AVCA national poll. The match will begin at 7 PM and will stream live on BTN+.

Friday September 15th:

Tennis—Baseline Invitational

The Gopher tennis team will get back to action for the first time since they canceled the remaining portion of their season last march due to not having enough healthy players. Minnesota will begin the 50th year as a program by hosting the Baseline Invitational Friday through Sunday at the Baseline Tennis Center on campus.

Minnesota’s roster has been fortified by the addition of sophomore transfers Anali Kocevar from Grand Canyon and Sofia Pinto from Texas A&M Corpus-Christi along with a pair of freshmen in Emma Belluomini and Mia Liepert. They join the returning trio of senior Zeyneb Sarioglan, and sophomores Sofia Pizzoni, and Aiva Schmitz.

This weekend will be the debut of the new Gopher tennis coaching staff as well. Mark Coyle hired Lois Arterberry away from St. Thomas to take over the program. A full schedule of this weekend’s tournament has not been released, but all matched can be streamed HERE for free.

Soccer @ #19 Michigan 6PM

The Gopher soccer team heads on the road to open up Big Ten play on Friday night with a trip to Ann Arbor to face the #19 ranked Michigan Wolverines. Minnesota enters Big Ten play with a 4-1-2 record and has not allowed a goal since August 24th in a 1-0 loss to Milwaukee.

Minnesota faced the Wolverines in St. Paul last season dropping a 1-0 game. The Wolverines come in this season with a 4-1-2 record , but are 3-0 at home on the season. Their lone loss was in the season opener to #22 USC and was a 1-0 tally. They have a win over #11 Notre Dame and a scoreless tie against #5 Virginia on their schedule so far this fall. Most recently they defeated Western Michigan 3-2 at home last weekend.

The match will kick off at 6PM and will stream on BTN+.

Saturday September 16th:

Football @ North Carolina 2:30 PM

The 2-0 Gophers face the toughest task on their schedule so far this season when they head to Chapel Hill for a faceoff against the 2-0 North Carolina Tar Heels. UNC is coming off a 40-34 double OT win at home over Appalachian State. Our full preview of the game is HERE. Kickoff is set for 2:30 PM on ESPN.

Volleyball Diet Coke Classic vs #14 Creighton

Minnesota’s one match reprieve from a top 15 opponent is done and gone as the #14 ranked Creighton Blue Jays come into the Pav on Saturday afternoon to close out the non-conference schedule. Minnesota is 6-0 all time against Creighton with their most recent win coming in the 2019 NCAA Tournament. Minnesota needed to fight off elimination down 2-1 and won the final two sets to advance to the Sweet 16 and then onward to the Final Four.

Creighton is the nine time defending Big East Champions. They enter the weekend with a 7-2 record with their two losses coming against Duke and at #4 Nebraska. They have a 3-0 win over #16 Purdue this season. The Blue Jays are led by Preseason Big East Player of the Year Nora Sis who is averaging 4.13 kills per set. She is surpassed only by fellow Big East Preseason honoree Ava martin who is averaging 4.18 kills per set. Junior setter Kendra Wait is the reigning Big East Player of the Week leading the Blue Jays to wins over Omaha and Iowa State. Match time is 4:30 PM and it will stream on BTN+.

Monday September 18- Tuesday September 19th:

Women’s Golf @ Leadership and Golf Invitational—Tacoma, WA

A week after the Gophers hosted the Annika Intercollegiate, they head back on the road to one of the nation’s best courses, Chambers Bay in Tacoma, Washington. Minnesota will compete along with future Big Ten foes Washington and USC, and 15 other teams in the event. Live scoring will be available HERE.