Gophers volleyball team ready for NCAA Tournament opener Friday night

The No. 2-seeded Minnesota Gophers (20-8, 15-5 Big Ten) are set to participate in their 27th NCAA Tournament in school history this weekend. The Gophers will host SE Louisiana (25-7, 13-5 Southland) on Friday night at 7 p.m. Central time.

Minnesota, if they win, will next play the winner of No. 7 Florida State and Northern Iowa on Saturday night at 7 p.m. 

Head coach Hugh McCutcheon and players CC McGraw, Melani Shaffmaster, and Jenna Wenaas met with reporters this week to preview the NCAA Tournament.

***Click the video box above to watch the news conference***

The Gophers had a monumental weekend last weekend, taking down No. 8 Ohio State in four sets on Friday and No. 5 Nebraska in a sweep on Saturday. It was the first time Minnesota had taken down top-10 opponents in consecutive games on the road this season. In other words, the Gophers are heading into the tourney playing their best volleyball.

Under McCutcheon, Minnesota is 26-9 in the tournament, including a perfect 17-0 record in first and second round matches. All of those have come at Maturi Pavilion besides the spring of 2021,  when they played in the bubble in Omaha, Neb. All-time, Minnesota has made the Final Four six times (2003, 2004, 2009, 2015, 2016, 2019), including three times under McCutcheon.

McCutcheon announced earlier this season that when the tourney run ends, he’s stepping down as coach. That’s added motivation for the players to send him out on a high note.