The Gophers volleyball team (18-12, 11-9) has been hot lately, winning six of its last seven matches, but the visiting U couldn’t stay with No. 9 Wisconsin on Saturday.

The Badgers won three straight games. Which happens when the opponent, the Gophers in this case, has as many hitting errors (28) as kills (28). Ouch.

Even with the loss, the Gophers tied for third with Purdue (18-13, 11-9). The Boilermakers beat Northwestern 29-31, 30-21, 30-28, 30-24 on Saturday.

Michigan, which also could have tied for third with a victory last night, had a much tougher opponent in Penn State. The Nittany Lions beat the Wolverines (22-10, 10-10) in four games, 30-21, 30-22, 30-32, 30-21.

That probably puts Michigan on the bubble whether they make the 64-team field. It will be announced on ESPNU at 7 tonight.

The Gophers, who were led against Wisconsin by freshman Brook Dieter who had 10 kills, and Purdue should be in.

Also in, obviously, are Big Ten champion Penn State (28-2, 20-0) and runner-up Wisconsin (26-4, 17-3).

Can the Gophers, after losing seven in a row at midseason, make a run in the NCAA playoffs?

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 25th, 2007 at 1:49 am and is filed under Gophers volleyball. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.