The Gophers (8-1) will play another hot team in their first game of the Gopher Invitational this weekend. They play Texas Christian University at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Sports Pavilion.

The Horned Frogs (9-1) are off to their best start in school history. They started the season with nine victories until losing to Oklahoma 23-25, 25-15, 25-21, 25-17 in Texas Tech’s tournament in Lubbock.

Lauren Otto is TCU’s top hitter. She has 92 kills, an average of 3.41 per set. Otto also has four double-doubles this season in kills and digs.

 There is also a Minnesota connection on the roster. Setter/defensive specialist Jess Menden is a 5-8 freshman who played at Shakopee High School a year ago. She has 82 assists, seven kills and two aces in nine matches. Menden has started once.

TCU plays New Mexico at 7 p.m. Wednesday in Fort Worth, Texas, before making the trek to Minneapolis.

On Saturday, the Gophers play Winthrop (3-6) at 12:30 p.m. and North Carolina (4-4) at 7:30 p.m.

One of Winthrop’s players has a familiar name. Sophomore Kaley Viola, a 6-foot outside hitter, is the daughter of ex-Twins pitcher Frank Viola. He will be here for the tournament.

Kaley Viola had 48 kills, 70 digs and 11 blocks. She averages 1.6 kills per game.

“North Carolina is typically seen as one of the top teams in the ACC,” Gophers coach Mike Hebert said. “… TCU may have been 22-10 last season. There is nobody coming here that is a slouch team, that is for sure. But they will not be of the caliber of the field we just had last week.”

BERG TO BE HONORED 

Former Gophers volleyball player Lindsey Berg, who played on the U.S. team which earned a silver medal in the Beijing Olympics, will be honored Saturday night in between the second and third set of the Gophers vs. North Carolina match.

Several of Berg’s family members will be here, too. Her older sister Erin Lindsey is an assistant coach for North Carolina. Her father, Dennis Berg, will be at the tournament, too.

 ”Dennis Berg, Lindsey’s dad, and I were teammates back at UCSB [the University of California-Santa Barbara] in the stone age,”  Hebert said, “so there will be three Bergs in the building. And Frank Viola is going to be here. His daughter plays for Winthrop, so it will be a nice gathering.”

Viola will sign autographs after the TCU-Winthrop match at 5 p.m.; Berg after the Gophers-North Carolina match.

MORE U NOTES

Want more on the Gophers fast start? Here you go:

* When the Gophers beat California last Friday, it was the fourth time in school history they have beaten a team rated No. 4 in the country. They beat No. 4 Pepperdine on Dec. 12, 2003 in an NCAA regional semifinal, No. 4 Florida on Sept. 11, 2004 in the Diet Coke Classic and No. 4 Penn State on the road on Oct. 2, 2004.

The Gophers have never beaten a team rated in the top three, but they might have two chances next month. Defending NCAA champion Penn State, currently rated No. 1, plays the Gophers at Williams Arena on Oct. 11. The U plays at Penn State on Oct. 31.

* Senior outside hitter Kyla Roehrig had the 1,000th kill of her career in the third set against Cal.

 * The Gophers have outblocked every opponent this season. Their 8-1 start is the best since Minnesota began the 2005 season 10-1.

* The Gophers have beaten three ranked teams so far, No. 21 LSU, No. 4 Cal and No. 16 Cal Poly. All of those teams have dropped in the rankings since then. Minnesota’s lone loss was to No. 7 Hawaii in the Rainbows’ invitational. 

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