Weekly Release #12

Upcoming Schedule
Friday, Nov. 19 -- vs. Illinois (Cliff Keen Arena), 7 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 20 -- vs. Indiana (Cliff Keen Arena), 7 p.m.
Wednesday, Nov. 24 -- vs. Michigan State (Cliff Keen Arena), 7 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 26 -- at Northwestern (Evanston, Ill.), 7 p.m. CST

Michigan Begins Final Homestand of 1999
Michigan (12-13, 4-12 Big Ten) returns to Cliff Keen Arena for its final three home matches of 1999. The Wolverines host the University of Illinois on Friday, Nov. 19 (7 p.m.) and Indiana University on Saturday, Nov. 20 (7 p.m.).

Illinois -- Illinois (14-8, 10-6 Big Ten) is fourth in the Big Ten ... Shadia Haddad is Illinois' top attacker with 3.71 kpg ... Melissa Beitz leads Illinois in assists with 12.92 apg ... Illinois reached the Sweet Sixteen of the 1998 NCAA Tournament with wins over Southwest Texas St. and Colorado ... Betsy Spicer leads Illinois in blocks (1.31 bpg) and is sixth in the Big Ten ... Illinois is fifth in the conference in blocking (2.76 bpg) ... Illinois on the Internet: www.fightingillini.com.

Indiana -- Indiana (16-9, 7-9 Big Ten) is tied for seventh in the Big Ten with Purdue ... Indiana's top attacker is Amanda Welter (3.55 kpg) ... Laura Gardner leads the Hoosiers in assists (12.12 apg) ... Cydryce Carter is Indiana's top defensive player, averaging 2.92 dpg ... Carter also leads Indiana in blocks (1.01 bpg) ... The Hoosiers made their second NCAA Tournament appearance in 1998, reaching the second round before falling to Arkansas ... Indiana is second in the conference in kills (16.72 kpg) ... Indiana on the Internet: www.athletics.indiana.edu.

Michigan vs. Illinois: The Series
The Wolverines dropped a 3-1 tilt (7-15, 15-7, 5-15, 4-15) to the Fighting Illini in the teams' first matchup at Illinois (Oct. 23). Michigan was led by junior outside hitter Sarah Behnke (Baroda, Mich./Lakeshore HS), who compiled 19 kills and 13 digs for one of her seven double-doubles of 1999. Michigan hit just .147 (52-29-156) for the match, but hit .342 (18-5-38) in its game-two win. Michigan lost to Illinois at home in 1998, breaking a three-match home winning streak over the Fighting Illini.

All-Time Series: UI leads, 25-9
In the 1990s: UI leads, 12-7
Current "W" Streak: UI, 3
Longest "W" Streak: UI, 12 (11/3/84-10/5/90)

Michigan vs. Indiana: The Series
The Maize and Blue dropped a 3-0 decision (8-15, 11-15, 10-15) to the Hoosiers at Indiana (Oct. 22). Junior outside hitter Sarah Behnke paced the Michigan attack with 15 kills, while sophomore outside Nicole Kacor (Chicago, Ill./Mother McAuley HS) registered a double-double in kills (14) and digs (16). Despite the loss, the Wolverines did out-dig the Hoosiers 49-47 in their first meeting. Michigan has won five of its last eight matches at home vs. the Hoosiers.

All-Time Series: IU leads, 26-14-1
In the 1990s: UM leads, 10-9
Current "W" Streak: IU, 3
Longest "W" Streak: IU, 10 (10/10/86-10/26/90)

Michigan Swept Twice Over the Weekend on the Road
Michigan went on the road for a tough two-match trip and dropped three-game matches at Penn State (Nov. 12) and at Ohio State (Nov. 14).

The Wolverines were top-ranked Penn State's 25th straight victim as the Michigan lost 0-3 (2-15, 11-15, 6-15). Freshman middle blocker Katrina Lehman (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Marian HS) delivered one of her best performances with a hitting percentage of .353 (12-0-34) against the top blocking team in the Big Ten. Junior outside hitter Alija Pittenger (Virginia Beach, Va./First Colonial HS) recorded her seventh double-double in kills (12) and digs (10) of the season. Michigan was swept by Penn State in the season series.

After a day off on Saturday, Michigan traveled to Ohio State and lost 0-3 (6-15, 6-15, 8-15) on Sunday, Nov. 14. Sarah Behnke paced the Wolverines with nine kills while tying Nicole Kacor for team-high honors with seven digs. The Wolverines split their season series with the Buckeyes for the second time in three years.

Freshmen Play Big I
Freshman outside hitter Dana Chapman (Perrysburg, Ohio/Perrysburg HS) received the most extensive action of her young career in the match at Penn State (Nov. 12). Chapman came off the bench in game three only, but recorded a career-high eight kills and hit a solid .263 (8-3-19) vs. the top blocking team in the Big Ten. It was the first eight kills Chapman registered in her career.

Freshmen Play Big II
Dana Chapman, an Ohio native, returned to her home state when Michigan played at Ohio State (Nov. 14). With a few dozen fans from her hometown in attendance, Chapman again came off the bench in game three to spark the Wolverines. Against Ohio State Chapman compiled three kills in game three and hit .250 (3-1-8), leading Michigan to its best attacking game (.237, 14-5-38) of the match.

Freshmen Play Big III
Freshman defensive specialist Sarah McGuire (Cranberry Twp., Pa./Seneca Valley HS) also had the best match of her young Wolverine career at top-ranked Penn State (Nov. 12). McGuire registered a career-high five digs vs. the top hitting team in the Big Ten. McGuire recorded the first assist and dig of her career in Michigan's five-game loss to Wisconsin (Nov. 6) a week earlier.

Melka Improves Defensively
Sophomore setter Shannon Melka (Wheaton, Ill./St. Francis HS) has stepped up her defense over the past couple of weeks, including a stretch where she registered at least 14 digs in three straight matches, the best three-game stretch defensively of her career. Melka led Michigan in digs in consecutive matches for the first time this season when she came up with 15 vs. Wisconsin (Nov. 6) and 14 at Penn State (Nov. 12).

Senior Hits Milestone
Senior defensive specialist Maggie Cooper (Portage, Mich./Portage Northern HS) notched two digs in Michigan's match at Penn State (Nov. 12), giving her the 200th dig of her career. Cooper and fellow senior Anne Poglits (West Bloomfield, Mich./Livonia Ladywood HS) will play in the final three home matches of their careers in the next 10 days, including their last home match vs. Michigan State on Wednesday, Nov. 24 (7 p.m.) on "Senior Night."

Fielder Closes in on Block Milestone
Joanna Fielder is only four blocks shy of reaching 200 total blocks for her career at Michigan. Fielder is chasing the Michigan record for total blocks and block assists in a conference season. Fielder has amassed 56 block assists and 65 total blocks in conference action thus far in 1999. With four matches remaining for the Wolverines, Fielder needs 20 block assists and 21 total blocks to eclipse the current Michigan marks for block assists in a conference season (75) and total blocks in a conference season (85).

Pittenger Reaches One Milestone, Nears Another
Michigan's match at Penn State (Nov. 12) marked the 50th career match played for Alija Pittenger, who celebrated with her seventh double-double of 1998 in kills (12) and digs (10). In addition, Pittenger currently has 485 career digs and should reach the 500-dig mark at home this weekend. Pittenger is currently third in the Big Ten in digs (3.22 dpg).

Consistency at the Net
Joanna Fielder had a string of 27 straight matches with at least one block assist snapped when she was shutout in that category at Penn State (Nov. 12). The last time Fielder did not record at least one block assist in a match was at Purdue on Nov. 14, 1998.

Michigan Battles Two More 1998 NCAA Tournament Teams
Michigan's rugged 1999 schedule continues with two more matches vs. teams that appeared in the 1998 NCAA Tournament. Michigan faces Illinois, which advanced to the third round of the 1998 tournament before falling to eventual champion Long Beach State, on Friday (Nov. 19). The Wolverines then face Indiana, which won the its first-ever NCAA Tournament match in 1998, on Saturday (Nov. 20). In all, 18 of Michigan's 30 1998 matches come against teams which qualified for the 1998 tourney field. So far Michigan is 6-9 against those teams, but is 4-1 against non-conference opponents which were in the tournament in 1998.

9/3	vs. Brigham Young	W	3-0   (15-13, 15-10, 15-13)
9/10	Pepperdine	L	0-3   (4-15, 11-15, 10-15)
9/11	Arkansas	W	3-1   (15-8, 15-8, 9-15, 15-10)
9/17	at South Carolina	W	3-2   (11-15, 10-15, 17-15, 16-14, 15-11)
9/18	vs. Virginia	W	3-0   (15-9, 15-13, 15-5)
9/24	Ohio State	W	3-2   (15-7, 13-15, 15-10, 13-15, 20-18)
9/25	Penn State	L	0-3   (2-15, 5-15, 3-15)
10/1	at Wisconsina	L	0-3   (9-15, 4-15, 14-16)
10/5	at Notre Dame	W	3-1   (15-11, 8-15, 15-10, 15-10)
10/13	at Michigan State	L	3-0   (9-15, 6-15, 5-15)
10/22	at Indiana	L	0-3   (8-15, 11-15, 10-15)
10/23	at Illinois	L	1-3   (7-15, 15-7, 5-15, 4-15)
11/6	vs. Wisconsin	L	2-3   (4-15, 11-15, 15-10, 15-8, 15-9)
11/12	at Penn State	L	0-3   (2-15, 11-15, 6-15)
11/14	at Ohio State	L	0-3   (6-15, 6-15, 8-15)
11/19	vs. Illinois
11/20	vs. Indiana
11/24	vs. Michigan State

Upcoming Promotions
Michigan's match against Indiana on Saturday, Nov. 20, is "Girl Scout Night." Any young lady wearing something that identifies herself as a Girl Scout (i.e., uniform, t-shirt, membership card, badge, etc.) will gain free admission to see the Wolverines battle the Hoosiers.

1999 Season Match Bests

Team

 Kills 87, vs. Purdue (11/5) Attempts 250, at Purdue (10/2) Hit Pct. .449 (44-9-78), vs. Toledo (9/3) Assists 84, vs. Purdue (11/5) Service Aces 13, vs. South Carolina (9/17) Digs 90, at Purdue (10/2) Block Solo 3, vs. Northwestern (10/16) Block Assist 34, vs. Purdue (11/5) Total Blocks 17, vs. Purdue (11/5)

Individual

 Kills 25, Nicole Kacor vs. South Carolina (9/17) 25, Joanna Fielder at Purdue (10/2) Attempts 71, Nicole Kacor at Purdue (10/2) Hit Pct. .733 (11-0-15), A. Maxwell vs. Syracuse (9/10) Assists 70, Shannon Melka vs. Purdue (11/5) Service Aces 5, Alija Pittenger at Iowa (10/29) 5, Shannon Melka vs. Purdue (11/5) Digs 26, Nicole Kacor at Purdue (10/2) Block Solo 2, Sarah Behnke vs. Purdue (11/5) Block Assist 10, Joanna Fielder vs. Ohio State (9/24) Total Blocks 10, Joanna Fielder vs. Ohio State (9/24)

Big Ten Conference Team Records (through Nov. 14)

 BIG TEN OVERALL 1. Penn State 16-0 1.000 26-1 .963 2. Minnesota 13-3 .813 23-6 .793 3. Wisconsin 11-5 .688 18-8 .692 4. Illinois 10-6 .625 14-8 .700 5. Michigan State 8-8 .500 18-10 .643 Ohio State 8-8 .500 14-9 .609 7. Indiana 7-9 .438 16-9 .640 Purdue 7-9 .438 15-10 .600 9. MICHIGAN 4-12 .250 12-13 .480 10. Iowa 3-13 .188 4-19 .174 11. Northwestern 1-15 .063 3-23 .115

This Week in the Big Ten

Wednesday, Nov. 17
Purdue at Wisconsin

Friday, Nov. 19
Illinois at Michigan
Indiana at Michigan State
Ohio State at Iowa
Penn State at Minnesota
Northwestern at Wisconsin

Saturday, Nov. 20
Illinois at Michigan State
Indiana at Michigan
Penn State at Iowa
Ohio State at Minnesota
Northwestern at Purdue

Michigan 1999 Record ...

 vs. ranked opponents 3-6 vs. unranked opponents 9-7 ALL three-game matches 7-9 ALL four-game matches 3-1 ALL five-game matches 2-3 BIG TEN three-game matches 2-8 BIG TEN four-game matches 1-1 BIG TEN five-game matches 1-3 in game one (ALL) 12-13 in game two (ALL) 8-15 in game three (ALL) 12-11 in game four (ALL) 7-2 in game five (ALL) 2-3 total games won-lost (ALL) 41-43 total games won-lost (BIG TEN) 16-36 points in total games (ALL) 927-933 points in total games (BIG TEN) 500-597 at Cliff Keen Arena (home) 5-5 on the road (away/neutral) 6-7

Big Ten Statistical Rankings

ALL GAMES TEAM INDIVIDUAL Hit Pct. 9th (.184) Assists 9th (13.58) Shannon Melka, 6th (12.11) Blocks 7th (2.21) Kills 9th (15.00) Aces 7th (1.36) Nicole Kacor, 8th (0.32) Digs 2nd (15.00) Nicole Kacor, 1st (3.69) Alija Pittenger, 3rd (3.22) BIG TEN TEAM INDIVIDUAL Hit Pct. 9th (.157) Assists 9th (13.28) Shannon Melka, 8th (12.05) Blocks 8th (2.17) Kills 9th (14.52) Aces 7th (1.19) Alija Pittenger, 7th (0.33) Nicole Kacor, 9th (0.30) Digs 3rd (15.26) Nicole Kacor, 1st (3.80) Alija Pittenger, 5th (3.09)