The No. 7-ranked Gophers volleyball team rallied to edge host Iowa 18-25, 25-21, 25-18, 30-28 on Wednesday night for their seventh win in a row.
Taylor Morgan and Regan Pittman each had 16 kills for Minnesota (9-2, 3-0 Big Ten) while Stephanie Samedy and Adanna Rollins had 14 apiece. Rollins also had a team-high 16 digs.
As a team, the Gophers hit .323, the Hawkeyes .291.
Bayley McMenimen, in her second career start, had 50 assists for Minnesota.
Two Loons called up
Finland's national team called up Minnesota United's Robin Lod and Rasmus Schuller to play Euro 2020 qualifiers Oct. 12 at Bosnia and Herzegovina and home Oct. 15 against Armenia.
MLS condensed its regular season and will fit one of two autumn FIFA international breaks between Sunday's regular-season finale and MLS Cup playoffs that now don't begin until Oct. 19. Previously, that international break came in the middle of playoffs that didn't end until December. Now the MLS Cup is Nov. 10.
Expect United's Jan Gregus (Slovakia), Romain Metanire (Madagascar) and Kevin Molino (Trinidad and Tobago) to be recalled by their national teams as well. That international break complicates options for a United team that could have a home playoff game and a St. John's-St. Thomas football game played on Oct. 19 at Allianz Field's newly replaced grass field that weekend.
A MLS playoff game on Friday, Oct. 18 would be a better option if not for Loons players' international commitments during that FIFA window.
JERRY ZGODA
Etc.
• Mahmoud Abdelfattah, a former St. Cloud State men's basketball player and assistant coach. was recently named head coach of the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, the G League partner of the NBA's Houston Rockets.
• Gophers junior Angus Flanagan was named the Big Ten golfer of the week. He was the medalist at the Macdonald Cup in New Haven, Conn., shooting a 6-under 204 to lead Minnesota to the team title.
• Maggie Ewen of St. Francis had the second-best throw in Wednesday's qualifying heats of the women's shot put and advanced to Thursday's final at the world championships in Doha, Qatar.
Ewen won her heat on her first throw with a mark of 63 feet, ¼ inch, behind only Danniel Thomas-Dodd of Jamaica (63-4¾).
