The #13 ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers volleyball team opens up the home portion of their schedule this weekend in the annual Diet Coke Classic. Minnesota will face the Miami Hurricanes on Friday night before hosting St. Thomas on Sunday afternoon. Miami and St. Thomas will face one another on Saturday.
Minnesota enters the weekend with a 2-2 record. They split an opening pair of games to start the season in Sioux Falls falling to then #12 Arizona State before defeating then #11 Creighton. Last week Minnesota headed to Madison for the Big Ten/ SEC Challenge where they dropped a 3-1 result to then #17 Florida before defeating Auburn by the same 3-1 score. For her performance in the two matches Gopher outside hitter McKenna Wucherer was named the Big Ten Player of the Week. In those two matches vs. Florida and Auburn, Wucherer produced back-to-back 21-kill nights, which tied a career high. She finished with 42 kills, averaged 5.25 kills per set and hit .350. She also had six aces, 20 digs and five blocks.
Miami comes to the Pav looking for their first win on the season with an 0-5 record. Minnesota will be the fourth Big Ten squad Miami has faced in the non-conference. The Hurricanes opened the season at Michigan State with a five-set loss to the Spartans. Miami also played at Michigan and fell, 3-0. The Hurricanes hosted the UCLA Bruins in back-to-back matches Sept. 4-5 and dropped both in three-set decisions, and most recently were swept by Florida. Miami was predicted to finish seventh in the ACC by the conference coaches. Miami’s Ariana Rodriguez was named Preseason All-ACC Team for the second consecutive season. She was named All-ACC First Team, and All-American Honorable Mention honors. She led the nation in aces with 77, sitting fourth overall nationally in aces per set (0.60), a mark that led the ACC. Additionally, her 1,265 assists were second-best in the conference.
St. Thomas enters the weekend with a 1-4 record. They opened the 2026 campaign vs. Texas Tech and dropped a 3-2 decision. The Tommies hosted a four-team tournament last weekend and earned their first win of the season against Montana State, while dropping two matches to Illinois-Chicago, 3-2, and Milwaukee, 3-1. UST was predicted to finish tied for second place in the Summit League. Morgan Kealy and Anya Schmidt were selected as Summit League’s Players to Watch. Kealy earned Summit League Setter of the Year honors and was named the Summit League Tournament MVP. Schmidt enters her sophomore season after becoming the first Tommie to earn Summit League Freshman of the Year honors.
Minnesota has played Miami just once back in 1981 and picked up a 2-0 win. Minnesota is 3-0 all-time against the Tommies with wins at the Pav in 2021, 2024 and 2025.
The Diet Coke Classis has been played annually since 1996 with two exceptions for 9/11 and Covid. Since the start of the tournament, Minnesota is 61-9 all-time in Diet Coke Classic play. Minnesota is 4-10 all-time in home openers with their last loss coming to #1 Texas in 2021.
Both matches this weekend will stream on B1G+. Friday’s first serve is slated for 6 PM with a 1 PM start on Sunday.
