After a 3 set sweep on Friday, the Gophers defeated Northwestern again on Saturday, this time in 4 sets. The Gophers lost tonight’s first set 21 -25. Hard to say if this was the Gophers coming out over-confident, or the Wildcats playing inspired on Senior Night, but the best team won this first set.
The Gophers roared back to dominate the 2nd and 3rd sets, wining each 25 -15. Northwestern came out strong in the 4th set, taking an early lead, but the Gophers resumed control and finished the match with a 25 – 20 (I think) win. For the weekend, the Gophers dominated 4 of 7 sets, won two competitive sets, and lost one.
The sweep of Northwestern brings the Gopher season/Big 10 record to 15 & 2, with a pair of matches at home vs Iowa (not a top team) to finish the season. (Assuming no make-up matches, which at this point seem unlikely.) The Gophers are currently ranked #4 in the country, and if they can avoid a loss to Iowa are likely to stay at #4 going into the seedings for the NCAAs.