Former Prior Lake standout and junior outside hitter Julia Hanson, who tied Wucherer with a team-high 14 kills against Stanford, led the Gophers by tying her career-high with 19 kills and 13 digs Monday.
The Gophers opened the fifth set with a 5-0 lead and never looked back, but that confidence built after battling Texas to 11 ties and seven lead changes in the first set before falling 25-22.
In the third set Monday, Hanson scored three of Minnesota’s last four points to seal the 25-20 win. She looked forward to having a bigger role this season after making an impact primarily as a reserve in 2023. There were glimpses of her potential last year, including a career-high 19 kills against Indiana.
That breakout match for Hanson against the Hoosiers came during a critical stretch for the Gophers, who won 10 of their last 14 regular season matches. They were trending the right direction before falling to Creighton in the NCAA tournament second round.
Cook told his team during Monday’s match to have a nothing-to-lose mentality.
Minnesota’s players succumbed to some nerves in front of 14,000 fans in Sunday’s loss to Stanford with an uncharacteristic 23 service errors. The Gophers still had 14 serve errors against Texas, but they showed just how much better they are in other phases in Cook’s second season.