The Gophers’ volleyball team is on a roll at the right time. The U won its fifthmatch in a row, and sixth out of seven on Friday, beating Illinois 26-30, 26-30, 30-23, 30-17, 15-10.

This was the first time they have come back from a two-game defecit since Dec. 4, 1999.

The victory pretty much assures they will be named as one of the 64 teams in the NCAA tournament this year. The field will be announced Sunday night at 7 p.m. on ESPNU.

The Gophers (18-11, 11-8), who lost seven conference matches in a row at one time, are now alone in third place going into tonight’s match at No. 9-rated Wisconsin, which is in second place.

Freshman left outside hitter Brook Dieter had 18 kills and 11 digs against Illinois while senior middle blocker Jessy Jones had 13 kills and 10 blocks.

The Gophers had a 21-5 advantage in blocks.

Coach Mike Hebert said earlier this week that if his team made the NCAA field it was playing well enough to make a run at least into the Sweet 16.

He has to be thrilled with a strong comeback like this one. He said his team had not been playing real badly, just losing key points. Looks like the Gophers have their confidence back and are getting some breaks at last.

Match point against the Illini was awarded to the U on an illegal substitution by the home team.

Hebert said there is even an outside chance Minnesota could be a host for an early round. What a turnaround of fortunes that would be.

This is a real young Gophers team, which was rated in the top 10 nationally early and then dropped out of the top 20. It might be a year away from being a power, but who knows?Maybe the Gophers will make some noise this year.They will have the opportunity at least.

How deep do you think the Gophers can go in the playoffs?

This entry was posted on Saturday, November 24th, 2007 at 1:24 am and is filed under All, Gophers volleyball. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.