The No. 1-ranked Gophers volleyball team lost its second match of the weekend, falling in four sets to No. 4 Stanford on Sunday in the Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge in Palo Alto, Calif. The scores were 23-25, 25-23, 17-25, 23-25.
The Gophers lost 3-1 to No. 18 Oregon in their first Challenge match Friday.
Minnesota (5-2) was led by freshman Adanna Rollins, who had 16 kills, did not commit an error and hit .571. Alexis Hart had 15 kills (.293), while Taylor Morgan and Stephanie Samedy each recorded nine kills. Samantha Seliger-Swenson had 45 assists, while CC McGraw had a team-best 12 digs.
Stanford (6-1) hit .358 to Minnesota's .285 and owned a 71-55 kill advantage and a 10-8 edge in blocks.
The Gophers, who fell to 0-9 all-time against Stanford, led 14-8 and 20-16 before the Cardinal rallied to take the first set. Stanford lost the second set after the Gophers fought back from a 15-11 deficit, and a .645 hitting percentage powered the Cardinal to victory in the third set. The Gophers took an early 8-4 advantage in the fourth set and held leads of 14-11 and 21-17 before Stanford closed with an 8-2 run.
Junior Kathryn Plummer led Stanford with 25 kills and a .438 hitting percentage. Cardinal junior setter Jenna Gray had a season-high 60 assists.
"Early matches are always hard to get into, but I'm really proud of how we came out," Gray said. "We handled their tempo."
Saints, KC in final
The St. Paul Saints will play for the American Association title for the first time since 2011, seeking their first championship since 2004, when they take on the Kansas City T-Bones in a best-of-five series this week.
Kansas City beat the Sioux City Explorers 4-2 on Sunday night in the deciding game of their semifinal playoff series.
The Saints will play host to the first two games of the championship series Tuesday and Wednesday night at CHS Field. The final three games will be Friday, Saturday and Sunday (the final two if necessary) at T-Bones Stadium in Kansas City, Kan.
Etc.
• The Gophers men's golf team was in ninth place, 13 over par, after two rounds of the 15-team Gopher Invitational at Windsong Farm Golf Club in Independence. Minnesota's Evan Long was tied for 12th at 1-over 143, after rounds of 71 and 72. Oklahoma and Texas shared the lead at 1 over, five shots ahead of third-place Iowa.
