MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin — The No. 18-seeded Minnesota women’s volleyball team lost 3-2 (28-26, 23-25, 25-16, 13-25, 13-15) to the No. 5-seeded Stanford Cardinal on Sunday afternoon at the State Farm Women’s College Volleyball Showcase.

“It felt like a bit of a nervous match to start, we had some service errors and some hesitation in defense,” said the head coach Keegan Kok“I ask them to be more themselves in the future.”

Before the match, Minnesota was hitting .302 to Stanford’s .222, but the Gophers had 23 service errors. The Gophers had 53 kills to Stanford’s 61 and nine aces to SU’s 12. Minnesota blocked the Cardinal 14 to four, but Stanford had 67 digs to the ‘U’ 46.

Mckenna Wucherer And Julia Hanson led the team with 14 kills while Melanie Shaffmaster posted 40 assists, eight digs, three aces and two blocks. Zeynep Palabiyik posted a career-best 11 digs in her debut in the Libero jersey while Calissa Minatee went for a personal record of seven blocks.

For the Cardinal, Elia Rubin had 19 kills and 13 digs, while Kami Miner totaled 47 assists and 17 digs.

HOW IT HAPPENED
SET 1 | The Golden Gophers emerged victorious in a thrilling first set, winning 28-26 in a stanza that featured 14 ties and seven lead changes. Minnesota also bolstered their offense with three aces in the opening set.

SET 2 | Minnesota lost set two 25-23 to tie the score at 1-1. The Golden Gophers came up short in a back-and-forth set, losing in a frame that featured four lead changes and 12 ties. Neither team led by more than four points.

SET 3 | Minnesota put their second set loss behind them and took a 2-1 lead with a set three victory. The Golden Gophers won the set 25-16 thanks to a strong offense. Minnesota posted a .481 offense percentage with 14 kills in the set win. The Gophers finished strong, extending their lead to the largest point of the set to close out the set. Minnesota’s offense also got a boost with three aces, two of which came from Shaffmaster to end it. Mnesota’s front row had a solid defensive performance, blocking four Stanford attacks.

SET 4 | The Cardinal forced a fifth set with a 25-13 victory. The Gophers lost the set despite a strong offensive performance. Minnesota still recorded a .346 offensive percentage with nine kills in the set loss.

SET 5 | Stanford outscored Minnesota 15-13 in the fifth set to win the match. The ‘U’ won set five until the very end, but could not pull out the win. SU led 6-2 before a 6-1 run by the Gophers gave them the lead at 8-7. Minnesota led 9-8 and tied it at 12-12, but the Cardinal scored three of the last four points to win the set and the match.

Game Notes
» Minnesota fell to 42-11 all-time in season openers, losing its first season opener since 2021 (3-1 to No. 11 Baylor).
» The Gophers went 1-5 all-time in season openers against opponents ranked in the top five.
» Stanford now leads the overall series 13-3 against the ‘U’.
» Minnesota’s forwards collectively hit .302 in the game.
» The Gophers had 14 blocks, which tied their season record from last season (14 against Michigan St. on Oct. 22).
» Calissa Minatee had a team- and career-high seven blocks, along with four kills.
» Mckenna Wucherer recorded 14 kills and 10 digs for her fifth career double-double.
» Julia Hanson had a team-high 14 kills for Minnesota, marking her third career double-digit win.
» Minnesota got a career-high 12 digs from Zeynep Palabiyik.
» Minnesota’s forwards were helped by a team-high 40 assists. Melanie Shaffmasterwho surpassed 4,000 career assists with her 27th of the game (eighth all-time at the ‘U’). She also had a team-high three aces.

NEXT
Minnesota (0-1, 0-0 Big Ten) takes on No. 1 Texas (1-0, 0-0 SEC) tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. ET on FS1 to complete the State Farm Women’s College Volleyball Showcase.