What a flashy regular-season finish.
Playing No. 8 Ohio State in Columbus and No. 5 Nebraska in Lincoln on back-to-back nights, the Gophers volleyball team beat both Big Ten powers convincingly.
First the Buckeyes fell 3-1. And then, even more impressively, Minnesota swept the Cornhuskers 25-22, 25-23, 25-22 on Saturday night.
With NCAA tournament selections coming out Sunday (6:30 p.m., ESPNU), the No. 9 Gophers, already a lock for an at-large bid, could not have done much more to improve their seeding.
Taylor Landfair led Minnesota (20-8, 15-5) with 15 kills, six digs and five blocks. Jenna Wenaas had eight kills and eight digs, Carter Booth had seven kills and eight blocks.
The victory enabled the Gophers to tie Ohio State for third in the loaded Big Ten, behind Wisconsin and Nebraska. The Cornhuskers (24-5, 16-4) had never ended a season with two straight losses at home.
The Gophers trailed 14-8 in the third set, but ... "We still felt like we were in control," Gophers libero CC McGraw said on a postgame interview on the Big Ten Network. "We 100 percent wanted this win."
McGraw, who had 13 digs, said her team handled two pressure-packed matches well and "we got this momentum" for the NCAA tournament.
Indeed.
The Gophers outhit the Cornhuskers .243 to .153, outblocked them 10-5 and had fewer attack errors 13-22.
Wisconsin beat Nebraska 3-1 Friday to clinch its fourth consecutive conference title and an automatic NCAA tournament spot. And on Saturday, the Badgers beat Ohio State 25-22, 25-17, 19-25, 27-25 for their 18th straight win.
Those four top 10-ranked Big Ten teams should get high seeds in the NCAA tournament and the chance to host the first two rounds.
Two other Big Ten teams — No. 11 Penn State and No. 19 Purdue — are also in the American Volleyball Coaches Association's latest Top 25 and should get at-large national tournament bids.
Eight conference teams made the NCAA field last year and Wisconsin edged Nebraska 3-2 in the title match in Columbus, Ohio.
This will be the eighth consecutive season — and 27th overall — the Gophers advance to the NCAA tournament and the 10th time in coach Hugh McCutcheon's 11 seasons.
