Gophers Face Familiar Final 4 Test In Stanford

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Final Four -- it has a nice ring to it. For the University of Minnesota volleyball team, they've been there before.

In fact, the Gophers were there a year ago. But what still escapes them is their first national championship. That task begins Thursday night in Columbus, Ohio, facing Stanford in a national semifinal at 6 p.m.

No. 1-ranked Nebraska faces Texas in the other national semifinal, with the winners playing for the national title on Saturday.

The Gophers steamrolled their way into the Final Four with an impressive pair of wins in the NCAA regionals at the Sports Pavilion on Friday and Saturday, finishing off UCLA 3-0 in their final home match.

Stanford will provide a stern challenge. The Gophers played them in Palo Alto, Calif., in their second match of the season, losing 3-1. They are 0-7 in their history against the Cardinal.

The Gophers are playing at the top of their game, led by senior outside hitter Sarah Willhite of Eden Prarie and a great supporting cast. Wilhite said scouting Stanford will get a fresh update.

"Yeah I'm sure we'll look more at what they've been doing recently because it was our second game of the season and so I think they've changed a lot," Wilhite said. "We've made a lot of changes also and so we'll probably look at the film a little bit from when we played them but mostly just what they're doing now."