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Gophers volleyball team loses opening match in five sets to No. 5 Stanford in Milwaukee
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Gophers volleyball team loses opening match in five sets to No. 5 Stanford in Milwaukee

The Gophers were also eager to see improvement from their middle blockers.

Phoebe Awoleye, a former graduate transfer from Loyola Marymount, and sophomore Calissa Minatee showed growth in the middle, combining for 13 blocks.

Stanford’s scoring trio was too much to keep up with: Elijah Rubin, Sami Francis and Jordyn Harvey combined for 45 kills.

However, the Gophers didn’t appear as out of place as their ranking suggested in a charged event that saw No. 1 Texas defeat No. 3 Wisconsin 30-28, 23-25, 25-15, 25-11 in the first match.

“Stanford is one of the best programs in the country,” Cook said. “They’re a great benchmark and we’ve competed with them in many phases. From where we were last year to where we are now is a big difference.”