Michigan
Fairfield
U-M Whips Fairfield, Advances to NCAA Second Round
12/3/1999 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Site:Â Stockton, Calif. (Alex G. Spanos Center)
Event:Â NCAA Tournament (First Round)
Result:Â Michigan 3, Fairfield 1 (15-8, 15-7, 15-7)
Records:Â U-M (16-14), Fairfield (30-4)
Next U-M Match:Â Saturday, Dec. 4 -- at Pacific (Stockton, Calif.), 7 p.m. PST
STOCKTON, Calif. -- In its second appearance in the NCAA Tournament, the University of Michigan volleyball team defeated Fairfield in three games (15-8, 15-7, 15-7) on Friday (Dec. 3) in the NCAA first round. It took the Wolverines only one hour and six minutes to dispose of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference champion Stags. The Wolverines will face host Pacific, a 15-7, 15-4, 15-7 winner over Colgate, in second-round action tomorrow night (Saturday, Dec. 4) at 7 p.m. PST.
After trailing early 2-0, Michigan quickly turned things around. Sarah Behnke's (Baroda, Mich./Lakeshore HS) solid offensive effort with seven kills and a .538 (7-0-13) hitting percentage fueled the Wolverines in game one. As a team Michigan hit .361 (16-3-36) en route to downing Fairfield 15-8 in game one. Shannon Melka (Wheaton, Ill./St. Francis HS) finshed off the game by serving the final two points, including an ace, for the win.
Michigan carried its momentum into game two, jumping out to an 8-1 lead and never looking back. Alija Pittenger (Virginia Beach, Va./First Colonial HS) paced the defense, contributing seven digs in game two, while Nicole Kacor (Chicago, Ill./Mother McAuley HS) kept the offense going with five kills. Behnke continued her dominance as she put down her 14th kill of the night to finish off the Stags 15-7.
Down 4-1 in game three, Behnke served seven in a row to give Michigan an 8-4 lead. Joanna Fielder (Costa Mesa, Calif./Newport Harbor HS) put down two kills for the final points as the Wolverines prevailed and pulled off the three-game sweep with a 15-7 game-three win.
Melka set a very balanced attack with all Wolverine hitters contributing to a .341 (58-14-129) match hitting percentage. Fairfield could not handle the Wolverine attack (58 total kills) and Michigan's consistent defense, which accounted for 60 total digs and held the Stags to a .188 (45-18-148) hitting percentage.
MATCH BESTS
Kills: U-M 58 (Sarah Behnke 19); Fairfield 45 (Joanne Saunders 16)
Assists: U-M 54 (Shannon Melka 45); Fairfield 41 (Liz Bower 35)
Digs: U-M 60 (Alija Pittenger 17); Fairfield 49 (Jen McLaughlin 13)
Service Aces: U-M 3 (Three with 1); Fairfield 2 (Corrine Carlson, Stacy Olympia 1)
Blocks: U-M 7 (Katrina Lehman 4); Fairfield 1 (Bower, Sasha Blake 1)
NOTES
• Tonight's match marked Michigan's second appearance in the NCAA Tournament and its first win since defeating Temple (3-2) in the first round in 1997.
• This was head coach Mark Rosen's first-ever NCAA Division I appearance. He led Northern Michigan to the Division II title in 1994.
• Sarah Behnke's 19 kills is the highest kill total for a Michigan player in a three-game match this season. Her .429 (19-4-35) hitting percentage was a season high.
• Shannon Melka's 45 assists were also a three-game season high for Michigan.
• Alija Pittenger registered 17 digs, the highest for a Michigan player in a three-game match.
• Michigan's team total of 58 kills and 54 assists were team season highs in a three-game match.
QUOTES
Michigan Head Coach Mark Rosen
On Michigan's dominance at the net ... "We knew coming in that [our size] allowed us to do some things to counter their swing. Our conference is a little bigger and stronger and so we are used to playing against size. Maybe [Fairfield] wasn't used to seeing that size."
On potentially playing Pacific at home tomorrow night ... "The great thing about this team is that they don't get rattled (by big crowds) because they do it every year. That's the great thing about the Big Ten -- you get used to playing in front of large, loud crowds like at Penn State and Illinois."
