Michigan
5-1
Arkansas
7-2
U-M Tops Arkansas, Is All Sport Challenge Runner-Up
9/11/1999 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Site:Â Ann Arbor, Mich. (Cliff Keen Arena)
Result: #25 Michigan 3, Arkansas 1 (15-8, 15-8, 9-15, 15-10)
Records:Â U-M (5-1), Arkansas (7-2)
Next U-M Match:Â Friday, Sept. 17 -- at South Carolina in Carolina Classic (Columbia, S.C.), 7 p.m.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- For the second time in as many weekends the No. 25 University of Michigan volleyball squad upended a top-20 opponent as the Wolverines dropped No. 16 Arkansas 3-1 (15-8, 15-8, 9-15, 15-10). The Maize and Blue was paced by Alija Pittenger (Virginia Beach, Va./First Colonial HS), who compiled a career-best 21 kills and helped Michigan to a runner-up finish at the All Sport Volleyball Challenge.
The first game of the match was a back-and-forth affair. After falling behind 6-8, the Wolverines scored the final nine points of the game to win 15-8 and take a one-game lead. Michigan took control with four straight points from the serve of Annie Maxwell (Santa Barbara, Calif./Santa Barbara HS) to take a 13-8 lead. Pittenger led Michigan with timely attacking offensively (five kills) and great defense (five digs) throughout game one.
Michigan took the momentum from the end of game one and turned it into an ambush in game two by jumping out to a 13-1 lead. After Arkansas came back to cut Michigan's lead to 13-8, sophomore outside hitter Nicole Kacor (Chicago, Ill./Mother McAuley HS) served the final two points to give Michigan a 15-8 win and a two-game lead. Kacor also recorded three kills for the game and paced a Michigan attack which hit at a clip of .270 (16-6-37) and held Arkansas to a hitting percentage of .025 (10-9-40).
Game three was just the opposite of game two as Arkansas jumped out to a 7-0 lead. Michigan, however, fought back behind solid serving from Anne Poglits (West Bloomfield, Mich./Livonia Ladywood HS) to tie the score at seven apiece. Also bringing the Wolverines back was a solid offensive combination of setter Shannon Melka (Wheaton, Ill./St. Francis HS) and junior middle blocker Joanna Fielder (Costa Mesa, Calif/Newport Harbor HS), who recorded four kills in game three. However, that was not enough as Arkansas pulled away to earn a 15-9 win and narrow Michigan's lead to one game.
Michigan came back strong early in game four and took a 4-1 lead. After Arkansas stormed back to a 6-4 lead, Michigan won the best rally of the match, keyed by a Pittenger dig, to cut the Razorbacks' lead to one. Following that rally, the Maize and Blue took control of game four, with a 10-6 lead. Kacor took over from there with kills on Michigan's final four points to give the Wolverines a 15-10 win and a 3-1 match victory.
Michigan continues its non-conference schedule on the road next weekend on Friday (Sept. 17) at 7 p.m. with a match at South Carolina in the opener of the 1999 Carolina Classic.
MATCH BESTS
Kills: U-M 65 (Alija Pittenger 21); Arkansas 63 (Yarleen Santiago, Eftila Tanellari 17)
Assists: U-M 59 (Shannon Melka 46); Arkansas 58 (Ning Zhao 48)
Service Aces: U-M 5 (Melka 2); Arkansas 5 (Chanda McLeod, Santiago 2)
Digs: U-M 85 (Nicole Kacor 20); Arkansas 80 (Santiago 22)
Blocks: U-M 7 (Annie Maxwell 5); Arkansas 13 (Three with 5)
NOTES
• Nicole Kacor, who leads Michigan in kills for 1999, recorded the 100th kill of her career on her way to 16 kills for the match. Kacor also amassed a career-best 20 digs to lead Michigan
• Shannon Melka reached the 200th dig of her young career on the way to a career-high 15 digs.
• Michigan is now 2-1 against top-25 teams in 1999, with wins over No. 7 Brigham Young and No. 16 Arkansas and a loss to No. 11 Pepperdine.
• Michigan's win over Arkansas marked the first time the Wolverines have gone further than three games in a match this season. For the season, Michigan's game record is 15-4.
• Kacor was joined on the all-tournament team by Joanna Fielder and Annie Maxwell.
QUOTES
Michigan Head Coach Mark Rosen
On the difference in Michigan's performance from the loss to Pepperdine ... "One thing we talk about all the time as a team is that our focus should be on simply getting better from game to game and I think we did that tonight. I could tell during warmups that we were going to play better than we did last night. It is very encouraging for me to see our young team bounce back from a tough loss, which was our first this season, and play as well as we did tonight against a top-20 caliber team like Arkansas. Our kids played very well and Alija's (Pittenger) defense and offense is what made us click tonight and allowed us to get a big win."
