No. 10 Wisconsin’s well-oiled offensive machine crushed No. 18 Minnesota at Maturi Pavilion Friday night in straight sets, 25-18, 25-18, 25-17.

An all-encompassing first set win for the Badgers set the tone, and Wisconsin duplicated that dominance in sets two and three. Wisconsin overcame 14 service errors by outclassing Minnesota in the kills department, 52-26, and hit .385.

Cook said the Badgers were the more assertive team, and it led to Minnesota fighting an uphill battle from the first set.

“You’re either applying pressure or feeling it,” Cook said. “Their attacking made it difficult for us in transition. Their serving made it difficult for us to side out.”

The Gophers only led for a single point in the match, the first point of the second set, on a kill from freshman outside hitter Kelly Kinney.

Minnesota’s capacity crowd created a cacophony of noise to charge up the Gophers before a senior night “Border Battle.” Wisconsin arrived in Minneapolis on an eight-match win streak, one of those victories being a four-set home win over Minnesota on Nov. 5.

Badgers senior outside hitter Mimi Colyer opened the match with three kills on three swings and her back-to-back aces midway through Set 1 gave the Badgers a 15-10 edge.

Cook said the service pressure Wisconsin was able to apply was a big factor in the match.

“They were really aggressive from the service line, more than they were the first time we played them,” Cook said. “So, that (causes) some problems for us right away.”

The Badgers finished with eight aces compared to the Gophers’ three in the match.

Minnesota bounced back with a five-point scoring run out of its timeout. Senior outside hitter Julia Hanson registered two service aces in that stretch.

The visitors blasted through the Minnesota block and built a commanding lead late to snatch the first set. Wisconsin’s hitters teed off in Set 1, but four service errors allowed Minnesota to hang around in the first half of the set.

The Badgers posted 19 kills to Minnesota’s five in the first set, while Wisconsin hit .300 in a set they controlled from the first serve. It looked bleak for the Gophers as Wisconsin was 20-1 in matches they won the first set.

The second set mirrored Set 1 as Wisconsin jumped out to an early lead, but a 4-0 Gophers run with Hanson at the service line kept it tight. The Badgers followed suit with a 5-0 scoring run, leading to an eight-point advantage en route to a Set 2 win.

Wisconsin turned on cruise control in the third set as it decisively swept Minnesota. Badgers sophomore setter Charlie Fuerbringer put up a match-high 39 assists, and Colyer produced a team-high 13 kills and nine digs.

It was the first win for Wisconsin at Maturi Pavilion since 2021.

Cook said he told his team post-game that their best “moment” is still ahead of them.

“If we play the way that we are capable next week, I think we’ll be very happy,” Cook said. “I told them I’m looking forward to (coaching) them either at ‘The Pav’ or traveling with them on the road.”

Minnesota shifts its focus to the NCAA Tournament selection show at 5:00 p.m. on Sunday. The Gophers’ four-set win over No. 11 Purdue on Wednesday aided their quest to host the first two rounds, but being swept at home did not help the cause.

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Men’s basketball: Gophers fall to Stanford

Brace yourself, Gopher men’s basketball fans, the fast-approaching Big Ten schedule could be even more difficult than previously predicted.

With early league play starting next week, the Minnesota men’s basketball team fell to 4-4 in nonconference play after a 86-75 loss to Santa Clara on Friday in the Acrisure Invitational in Palm Springs, Calif.

Santa Clara, which is picked to finish fourth in West Coast Conference, never trailed and led by 31 midway through the second half. Minnesota’s 20-5 run over the final four minutes masked how bad the score had become.

“We knew going into (Friday) we were going to get pressured and pressed,” head coach Niko Medved said on the KFAN postgame show. “Obviously, it caused us a lot of problems early in the game. I thought they really, really wore us down. It  looked like fatigue had set in early. They were shooting it well. We just dug ourselves a hole really, really quickly.”

Minnesota, which was picked to finish 16th in the 18-team Big Ten, opens up early conference play with No. 25 Indiana at Williams Arena on Wednesday, followed by a trip to play No. 1 Purdue in West Lafayette, Ind., on Dec. 10.

The Gophers roster might be even more shorthanded next week.

On Friday, the Gophers were already down two starters, center Robert Vaihola (knee) and point guard Chansey Willis (foot). Willis was playing through a foot injury for a couple games, but it forced him to exit the 72-68 loss to Stanford on Thursday.

On top of those two, starting power forward Jaylen Crocker-Johnson injured his left ankle and didn’t return late in the second half. He got it re-taped, but the stage of the blowout might have influenced Medved not putting him back in the game.

Santa Clara went on a 14-4 run to lead 42-22 with four minutes left in the half. They were up 51-27 at the half, on the back of 62% from the field.

The Broncos shot 52% from 3-point range (16 of 31) to Minnesota’s 29% from deep (9 of 24).

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A federal judge this week dismissed former Minnesota state Sen. Justin Eichorn’s argument that he’s being unfairly prosecuted in a child solicitation case because of his status as a former lawmaker.

Eichorn, 41, was arrested in a Bloomington police sting operation on March 17 and resigned from the Senate on March 20 ahead of a vote to expel him. He pleaded not guilty on April 21 to federal charges of attempting to solicit a minor for prostitution.

The Grand Rapids Republican appeared in court in August, where his attorney Charles Hawkins argued that Eichorn shouldn’t be federally prosecuted. Hawkins said that of the 19 arrested in the March sting operation, four are being prosecuted federally. One of the four has a history of criminal sexual assault, whereas Eichorn has a criminal history of “failing to stop at a stop sign,” Hawkins said.

SMALL FILE — MAX. WIDTH FOR PRINT: 2.2 INCHES — March 20, 2025 courtesy photo of Justin David Eichorn. Eichorn, a former Minnesota state senator from Grand Rapids, was arrested on suspicion of soliciting a minor for sex in Bloomington on Monday, March 17, 2025. Eichorn and 13 other suspects were arrested this month in an undercover sex sting operation in which the suspects believed they were communicating with a 17-year-old girl. Eichorn resigned under fire Thursday, March 20, stepping down before the Senate could vote on whether to expel him. Eichorn was initially arrested on a state charge, but the Minnesota U.S. Attorney’s Office has taken up the case. Eichorn appeared in federal court in St. Paul Thursday afternoon on a federal charge of coercion and enticement of a minor. (Courtesy of the Sherburne County Sheriff’s Office)

Magistrate Judge Shannon G. Elkins dismissed that argument in her recommendation filed on Wednesday — advancing Eichorn’s federal prosecution and trial.

“The Government’s federal indictment of three other individuals involved in the same sting — who were not public officials — suggests that the Government was not motivated to prosecute only individuals holding public office or exercising their first amendment rights,” Elkins wrote in the Wednesday order.

“The Government was not required to ignore Mr. Eichorn simply because he happened to hold public office at the time he was caught in a sting that also caught several other individuals. And although the Government specifically argues Mr. Eichorn was not charged because he held public office, ‘political prominence’ is a legitimate consideration in charging decisions because it ‘may enhance the deterrent effect of the prosecution and maintain public faith in the precept that public officials are not above the law,’” Elkins continued.

The judge also granted in part a request from Eichorn for the government to disclose the undercover officer’s date of birth, but denied Eichorn’s request for her identity.

Hawkins argued in August that the identity of the undercover officer is necessary evidence because “one of the essential elements the government has to prove is that Mr. Eichorn believed this individual was under the age of 18,” he said.

The government agreed it would not use Eichorn’s post-arrest statements in trial, but the judge denied a motion from Eichorn to dismiss evidence from his truck upon his arrest, which included $129 in cash and a condom, according to the affidavit.

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The Gophers football program picked up a commitment from big Pennsylvania running back Niko Castillo on Friday.

The 6-foot-1, 235-pound athlete played linebacker and tailback at Schuylkill Haven, Pa., and had one other offer from Kent State. He does not yet have a star rating, per 247Sports.

Castillo averaged a whopping 11.8 yards per carry this fall, with 865 total rushing yards and 13 touchdowns. On defense, he had 66 tackles, 22 tackles for lost yards, 11 sacks and four forced fumbles. He helped lead Schuykill Haven to an undefeated record and to the District 11 2A Championship game.

The Gophers sought another running back after Jett Walker flipped his commitment to the Texas Longhorns last Sunday.

The Gophers have 29 total commitments for their 206 class, including two running backs: Ryan Estrada (El Paso, Texas) and Ezekiel Bates (Malvern, Pa.).

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