Gophers return favor

MINNEAPOLIS – No. 13 Minnesota avenged a three-set loss to No. 5 Illinois with a sweep of its own Saturday night in a Big Ten volleyball regular season finale.

And much like the first meeting of the season, each set was a battle. This time, the Gophers prevailed 25-23, 25-23, 25-22.

The Illini, who already had clinched second place, finished the conference race with a 16-4 record. It was Illinois' most Big Ten wins since 1992, when it went 19-1 to share the title with Penn State.

Senior outside hitters Laura DeBruler and Kylie McCulley led the Illini attack with 15 and 14 kills, respectively.

Illinois (24-5) was outblocked 6-4 and had little luck slowing Gophers middle blocker Lauren Gibbemeyer. The junior had 18 kills and hit .500 in 30 swings. It marked the 18th time this season that Gibbemeyer hit better than .400 in a match. She also finished with five blocks.

Libero Rachel Feldman had a match-high-tying 16 digs and was one of three Illini to attain double figures in that category. Setter Hillary Haen (11) and DeBruler (10) were the others. Minnesota outdug Illinois 63-55.

The loss halted a four-match winning streak for Illinois and was its second defeat in the last 17 matches. The other was against No. 1 Penn State.

Third-place Minnesota (24-8, 15-5) won for the seventh time in eight matches.

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