A thriller of a match ended the wrong way Friday night for the Wisconsin volleyball team and its fans at the Field House.

In front of 5,644 fans, the Badgers fell short against 15th-ranked Minnesota -- 18-25, 25-18, 25-27, 31-29, 19-17. Wisconsin dropped to 16-11 overall and 6-9 in the Big Ten Conference while Minnesota improved to 21-6, 11-4.

"Well, it certainly was an exciting match," UW head coach Pete Waite said. "I thought our kids played hard, played with a lot of heart, some great intensity, some great plays. I wish, obviously, we would have come out on top so they would have been rewarded for their efforts and gotten a win here tonight because that was a big one against a very good team. I was proud of the effort. When it goes to extra points, you know it was a battle out there."

Four Badgers finished with double-digit kills, led by junior Brittney Dolgner's match-high 27 kills. Junior Caity DuPont had 14 kills, senior Audra Jeffers put down 12 kills, and freshman Janelle Gabrielsen added 10 kills as the Badgers hit .215 compared to .162 for Minnesota. The Gophers were led by Lauren Gibbemeyer and Brook Dieter with 16 kills apiece.

Gabrielsen finished with a team-high 39 assists and was just two digs away from her second career triple-double. Sophomore Nikki Klingsporn added 26 assists.

The Badgers outdug Minnesota but were outblocked by the Gophers.

The match stayed tight with neither team leading by more than two points in the final set. Minnesota had a 14-12 lead, but kills by Dolgner and DuPont tied it at 14. Minnesota took a 15-14 lead, but the Badgers evened the score with a Gopher service error and had match point at 16-15 after a Minnesota attack error. Minnesota again evened the score and took the lead at 17-16, but the Badgers tied it again at 17 after a Dolgner kill. But a kill by Minnesota's Gibbemeyer and a Wisconsin attack error gave the Gophers the 19-17 win.

The Badgers return to action at 1 p.m. Sunday, playing host to Iowa at the Field House.