The barnyard and zoo animals cant make it Friday night. Theyre shipping up to Boston for hockey. No way around it; their scholarships require it.True story: The dozen or so students who turn out for University of Minnesota womens volleyball matches as cows, pigs, penguins, Super Mario Brothers and a gorilla arent just goofy students. Theyre actually athletes themselves, and outstanding ones at that -- the two-time defending NCAA champion Minnesota womens hockey team.Eight live in off-campus housing diagonally across the street from volleyball seniors Sarah Wilhite, Hannah and Paige Tapp, and Katie Schau. The volleyball Gophers are 2-0 when the hockey Gophers show up in costume, and Wilhite and Co. would love to see their pals cheering in the student section at this weekends NCAA regional in Minneapolis.Unfortunately, Friday night is out. The hockey team will be finishing its game at Boston University while, back home, Minnesota meets Missouri in the Sweet 16. But if the volleyball team advances to Saturdays regional final, the hockey team might be back in time to catch some of the match. Hockey starts at 3 p.m. EST and charters home afterward; volleyball tips at 10 p.m.Thats a game-changer, said junior forward Kelly Pannek, the leading scorer in Division I. It would be fun if we could swing by.Gophers volleyball is the hottest ticket on campus these days, reflecting the groundswell of support for Hugh McCutcheons dynamic squad that ranks No. 1 in one national poll and No. 2 in the other.The 27-4 Gophers sold out their last four Big Ten Conference matches at the 5,200-capacity Sports Pavilion -- the Pav for short -- as well as the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament. Tickets were so tight for the second round against Hawaii that scalpers worked the perimeter of the Pav, rare for a Minnesota womens game.Athletes claim some of the 200 day-of-the-match student tickets, cramming into small bleachers behind each end line.Showing up in costume isnt unusual at Minnesota. The student section at basketballs Williams Arena, a.k.a. The Barn, is known as The Barnyard, and many dress the part. Basketball coach Richard Pitinos brother Ryan once came to a game in a chicken suit and sat next to their father, Louisville coach Rick Pitino. The photos of them went viral.The hockey dress-up gag began with volleyballs Oct. 29 match against Penn State. Senior defenseman Kelsey Cline said everyone already had their Halloween costumes, so as a goof they decided to wear them to the match. We said, What the heck? Cline said. The Gophers won in straight sets before a raucous crowd of 5,391.After the match we went over to the volleyball girls house, Cline said. They told us how much they loved it and how much it helped them. They said, Youve got to come to the rest of our home games.Conflicting schedules prevented that until Nov. 23, the night before Thanksgiving, when Minnesota faced top-ranked and reigning national champion Nebraska. Hockey coach Brad Frost keeps a stash of costumes in his office for an annual Halloween-themed practice, and the players raided the closet before heading over. Cline dressed as a penguin and Pannek a leprechaun.An even bigger sellout of 5,401 saw Minnesota drop the first two sets and trail 23-20 in the third before rallying to win, 28-26, 25-17, 17-15. The Big Ten Network televised the match and featured the players in crowd shots.It was something funny to do, like high school days, having a theme for the football game, Pannek said. We were just doing something a little bit different and standing out.The atmosphere at the Pav, a converted hockey arena, rocks. Thats not a recent development. Minnesota ranked among the top 10 in NCAA attendance in the final decade of former coach Mike Herberts 15 seasons (he retired in 2010), and the Pav attendance record of 5,840 dates to 1999.But the next four largest crowds all happened since McCutcheon, the two-time U.S. Olympic coach, arrived in 2012. This season, only Nebraska (8,199), Hawaii (6,579) and Wisconsin (5,915) topped the Gophers (4,766) in average home attendance.Because NCAA tournament regulations prohibit the host team from egging on their crowd, the customary public address call-and-response to Minnesota points -- Point U! -- is out for postseason play. But last Saturday night, by the end of Minnesotas three-set victory over Hawaii, some in the crowd yelled Point U! without prompting.Its loud, and the fans are supercrazy, Rainbow Wahine senior middle hitter Annie Mitchem said. It was hard to come back after we were down.McCutcheon appreciates the assist.If people are feeling connected to what were doing, thats great, he said. The reason for that would be, our athletes are authentic. They work hard. Theyre out there competing. Theyre trying to win the next point. And we happen to play in the best league in the country. If you like volleyball, its probably pretty good to watch. Theres no pretense to it.Or with their fans, even if they dont always come as they are. Demetrius Harris Jersey . - The Oakland Raiders re-signed offensive lineman Khalif Barnes on Friday. Cheap Browns Jerseys . Vokoun departed practice on Saturday morning after discovering swelling in his thigh. He was taken to a local hospital where the clot was revealed. The club announced the surgery following a 5-3 exhibition loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets. http://www.cheapbrownsjerseysauthentic.com/?tag=authentic-greedy-williams-jersey . Pirlo limped out of Sundays 1-0 win over Udinese after just 13 minutes. Juventus says Pirlo underwent tests on Monday which revealed he has "a second-degree lesion to the collateral medial ligament in his right knee. T. J. Carrie Jersey . The lawyers filed a 33-page amended complaint Tuesday in federal court in Manhattan, expanding on the suit originally filed Oct. 3 in New York Supreme Court. Arbitrator Fredric Horowitz last week refused to compel Selig to testify in the grievance, and Rodriguez then walked out of the hearing without testifying. Cheap Cleveland Browns Jerseys . Ancelotti says Ronaldo has recovered from a hamstring injury but "but he doesnt feel comfortable yet so we wont risk him." Madrid is third in the Spanish league, six points behind leader Barcelona, going into Saturdays game against Valladolid. ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Leonys Martin went 4 for 4 with three doubles and three runs, and Robinson Cano homered to help the Seattle Mariners beat the Los Angeles Angels 8-1 on Monday night for their sixth straight victory.Cano went 3 for 5 with his 33rd home run. Ben Gamel added his first major league homer, a two-run shot to left-center in the eighth inning to close the scoring.Ariel Miranda (4-1) shut out Los Angeles over six innings, striking out three and walking one in his third straight win.In front of a season-low crowd of 29,932, the Angels began to unravel in the seventh inning.Martin was awarded a ground rule double on a fan interference call. Martin may have been able to stretch it into a triple but his line drive to right field was picked up by a fan.Mike Zunino was then beaned by Ricky Nolasco, who gave up four earned runs on six hits in his second straight loss. Nolasco (5-14) was then removed from the game and relieved by Deolis Guerra.Ketel Marte bunted for an infield single down the third base line and Norichika Aoki singled home Martin and Zunino, making the score 4-0. With Seth Smith batting, Guerra balked to score Marte. Cano reached on a fielders choice when Cliff Penningtons throw home went wild, allowing Aoki to score and put Seattle up 6-0.ddddddddddddThe Mariners batted around before Dae-Ho Lee finally grounded out to end the four-run inning.C.J. Cron scored the Angels only run in the bottom of the seventh inning on an RBI single by Pennington.TRAINERS ROOMMariners: 1B Adam Lind is expected to miss 3-4 days with a sprained finger on his right hand. Lind sprained the finger in Sundays game.Angels: SS Andrelton Simmons was scratched from the lineup with a bruised right hand late Monday. Simmons, who jammed his hand in Sundays game, was initially in the lineup before being replaced by Pennington.UP NEXTMariners: RHP Taijuan Walker will start the second game for Seattle. Walker has battled injuries and inconsistency this season but earned his first win since June 30 in his last start against the Texas Rangers. Walker is 2-2 with a 7.23 ERA in five starts against the Angels.Angels: RHP Alex Meyer will make his third major league start and his fourth appearance. Meyer, who was traded to the Angels from the Minnesota Twins at the deadline with Nolasco, is 2-2 with a 7.71 ERA at the major league level and went 1-1 with a 1.86 ERA in eight minor league games. ' ' '