Michigan
9-5, 1-4Big Ten
Minnesota
14-3, 5-0Big Ten
No. 23 Michigan Spikers Swept by Minnesota
10/8/1999 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Site:Â Ann Arbor, Mich. (Cliff Keen Arena)
Result:Â Minnesota 3, #23 Michigan 0 (15-9, 15-12, 15-10)
Records:Â Michigan (9-5, 1-4 Big Ten), Minnesota (14-3, 5-0 Big Ten)
Next U-M Match:Â Saturday, Oct. 9 -- vs. Iowa (Cliff Keen Arena), 7 p.m.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 23-ranked University of Michigan volleyball team returned home from a three-game road swing to face Minnesota in Big Ten Conference action and fell in three games (15-9, 15-12, 15-10) to the first-place Golden Gophers on Friday (Oct. 8). Michigan's biggest brightest spots came from the play of juniors Sarah Behnke (Baroda, Mich./Lakeshore HS) and Alija Pittenger (Virginia Beach, Va./First Colonial HS), who combined for 29 kills in the match.
Michigan dug itself an early hole of 5-0 in game one and was not able to come out of it as Minnesota posted a 15-9 win to take a one-game lead. Michigan hit just .121 (11-7-33) for game one while Minnesota took control by hitting .360 (13-4-25). Pittenger came off the bench to spark Michigan with a strong serve, and her efforts coupled with strong attacking from Behnke brought Michigan to as close as 14-9 before the Golden Gophers pulled out the win.
Game two took on a similar pace with Minnesota jumping out to a quick 4-0 lead. Michigan came back to cut the lead to 4-3 before Minnesota went on a 7-2 run to take a 11-5 lead. Michigan, however, regained momentum with its best stretch of the match to score five of the next six points and cut Minnesota's lead to 12-10. Michigan's comeback was paced by strong attacking from Nicole Kacor (Chicago, Ill./Mother McAuley HS), who registered six kills for the game. Minnesota was able to hold off the Wolverine charge, however, and pulled out a 15-12 game-two win for a two-game lead heading into the intermission.
The Wolverines appeared to come out of intermission strong and scored the first two points of game three. Minnesota was ready for the challenge and proceeded to rattle off the next 10 points for a 10-2 lead. However, sophomore setter Shannon Melka (Wheaton, Ill./St. Francis HS) found a groove with Pittenger and Behnke, which again allowed the Maize and Blue to climb back into the game at 13-10. Once again, Minnesota held off the Michigan run and won the game 15-10 to close out the match in three games. Behnke finished with a team-high 18 kills, while Pittenger hit a team-best .364 (11-3-22).
Michigan remains home for more Big Ten action as it hosts its annual "Rock The House" match on Saturday (Oct. 9) with a 7 p.m. tilt vs. the University of Iowa at Cliff Keen Arena.
MATCH BESTS
Kills:Â U-MÂ 56 (Sarah Behnke 18); Minnesota 62 (Nicole Branagh 27)
Assists: U-MÂ 46 (Shannon Melka 43); Minnesota 56 (Lindsey Berg 53)
Service Aces: U-MÂ 2 (Melka 11); Minnesota 7 (Lisa Axel 4)
Digs: U-MÂ 49 (Alija Pittenger 14); Minnesota 55 (Branagh, Yvonne Wichert 12)
Blocks: U-M 6 (Annie Maxwell 5); Minnesota 7 (Berg 6)
NOTES
• Alija Pittenger, with 16 blocks this season, has already surpassed her block total for all of 1998, when she had 14.
• Nicole Kacor, with 17 kills for the match, became the first Wolverine to reach 200 kills for 1999.
• Sarah Behnke led Michigan in kills for the second time in three contests.
• Shannon Melka registered her sixth double-double of 1999, with 43 assists and 11 digs. It was also the first time in 1999 Melka led Michigan in digs.
QUOTES
Michigan Head Coach Mark Rosen
On Michigan's play vs. Minnesota ... "Despite losing in three games, I do bring away a few positives from this match. First of all, Minnesota is a good volleyball and I thought we did a good job of fighting back in all three games. What we have to do is be more consistent, because we cannot afford to fall behind early in games and have to fight from behind against good teams."
On what he attributes Michigan's lack of consistency to ... "Most of our lack of consistency comes from being a young volleyball team and if we can continue to put forth the effort we put forward tonight and improve every day, our day will come."
