Michigan
10-5, 2-4Big Ten
Iowa
4-9, 3-3Big Ten
Michigan Rocks Hawkeyes to Get Back on Winning Track
10/9/1999 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Cliff Keen Arena)
Result: #23 Michigan 3, Iowa 0 (17-15, 15-4, 15-10)
Records: U-M (10-5, 2-4 Big Ten), Iowa (4-9, 3-3 Big Ten)
Next U-M Match: Wednesday, Oct. 13 -- at Michigan State (East Lansing, Mich.), 7 p.m.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan volleyball program's annual "Rock The House" match has become one of despair for teams throughout the Big Ten Conference as the Maize and Blue won for the fifth straight season on "Rock The House" night Saturday (Oct. 9) in Cliff Keen Arena. The victim in 1999 was the University of Iowa as Michigan swept the Hawkeyes in three games (17-15, 15-4, 15-10).
After Iowa jumped out to a 2-0 lead, Michigan rattled off the next three points to take a 3-2 lead. That exchange foreshadowed a game which proved to be a back-and-forth affair and included five lead changes. Michigan junior outside hitter Alija Pittenger (Virginia Beach, Va./First Colonial HS) was an attacking force for the Wolverines throughout game one, nailing a team-high eight kills. Pittenger's effort, coupled with a strong service game from Joanna Fielder (Costa Mesa, Calif/Newport Harbor HS), gave the Maize and Blue a 14-12 lead. However, Iowa came back to take a 15-14 lead before Michigan scored the final three points on Pittenger's serve, with match point coming from a Sarah Behnke (Baroda, Mich./Lakeshore HS) kill.
Just like game one, Iowa started out up 2-0 in the second game, but this time Michigan took control by going on a 15-2 run, which was paced by five consecutive service points from senior co-captain Maggie Cooper (Portage, Mich./Portage Northern HS). Led by four kills from Behnke, Michigan hit .250 (11-4-28) for game two compared to just -.094 (6-9-32) for Iowa. Much of Iowa's struggles attacking were due to solid play at the net from Fielder, who compiled a match-high six blocks. Michigan's dominating game two win gave the Wolverines control of the match and a 2-0 lead.
Once again Iowa gained the early advantage with a 6-2 lead in game three, however Michigan fought back to cut the lead to one at 9-8. From there the Wolverines took control of the game with a 7-1 run to win 15-10 and claim the match in three games. With the Wolverines hanging onto a tight 11-10 lead, freshman middle blocker Katrina Lehman (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Marian HS) came alive and clicked with setter Shannon Melka (Wheaton, Ill./St. Francis HS) to register three straight kills to give the Maize and Blue a commanding 14-10 lead en route to a 15-10 win.
Michigan goes back on the road Wednesday (Oct. 13) to face instate rival Michigan State at Jenison Fieldhouse (7 p.m.) for the first of the teams' pair of annual State Pride matches.
MATCH BESTS
Kills: U-M 48 (Sarah Behnke 15); Iowa 35 (Julie Williams 13)
Assists: U-M 40 (Shannon Melka 35); Iowa 56 (Jill Schmidt 19)
Service Aces: U-M 0; Iowa 0
Digs: U-M 57 (Alija Pittenger 14); Iowa 46 (Katie Panhorst 11)
Blocks: U-M 8 (Joanna Fielder 6); Iowa 7 (Panhorst 4)
NOTES
• Tonight's match marked the first time Iowa visited Ann Arbor for Michigan's "Rock The House" match. The Wolverines are now 6-2 in "Rock The House" matches since the inception of the promotion in 1992.
• Sarah Behnke has led the Wolverines in kills in three of the last four matches. Behnke's hitting percentage of .333 (15-3-36) is her best for 1999.
• Shannon Melka, who registered 35 assists in the win over Iowa, now has 639 assists for the season, which is five more than her total for all of 1998, when she led Michigan with 634.
• Michigan did not record a service reception error and held an opponent to zero service aces for the first time in 1999.
QUOTES
Michigan Head Coach Mark Rosen
On the difference in tonight's performance vs. the loss to Minnesota last night ... "I thought we sided-out extremely well and much of that is a result of our passing, which was much improved this evening. It is hard to judge the performance from one match to another because Iowa and Minnesota are so drastically different in terms of their styles. However, our attacking opens up when we pass the way we did tonight and everyone up and down our lineup, from (Alija) Pittenger to (Joanna) Fielder, passed well in this match."
