Michigan
1-0
Brigham Young
0-1
Wolverine Spikers Shock Seventh-Ranked BYU
9/3/1999 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Site: Athens, Ga.
Result: Michigan 3, #7 Brigham Young 0 (15-13, 15-10, 15-13)
Records: U-M (1-0), BYU (0-1)
Next U-M Match: Friday, Sept. 3 -- vs. Toledo at Outback Steakhouse Invitational (Athens, Ga.), 5 p.m.
ATHENS, Ga. -- The University of Michigan volleyball team opened up the 1999 campaign, as well as the head coaching reign of Mark Rosen, in style with a surprising three-game sweep (15-13, 15-10, 15-13) of seventh-rated Brigham Young at the Outback Steakhouse Invitational, hosted by the University of Georgia. Rosen becomes the first Michigan coach to defeat a top-10 team in his first match as head coach.
A young Wolverine squad, which was picked to finish 10th in the Big Ten Conference, came out strong and led for the majority of game one before pulling out a 15-13 victory. Junior outside hitter Alija Pittenger (Virginia Beach, Va./First Colonial HS) sparked the game one win with numerous sensational digs to keep Michigan rallies alive. Pittenger led the Maize and Blue with 14 digs for the match.
Leading the Wolverine offense to a 15-10 win in game two were middle blocker Joanna Fielder (Costa Mesa, Calif./Newport Harbor HS) and outside hitter Nicole Kacor (Chicago, Ill./Mother McAuley HS). Fielder hit at a clip of .310 (14-5-29) for the contest, while Kacor led Michigan with a career-high 15 kills. Fielder also teamed with sophomore Annie Maxwell (Santa Barbara, Calif./Santa Barbara HS) to register five blocks apiece as Michigan outblocked the Cougars 11-6 to win the battle at the net.
After falling behind 7-1 to begin game three, Michigan maintained its composure with a solid side-out game behind fine setting from sophomore Shannon Melka (Wheaton, Ill./St. Francis HS). Michigan fought back to take a 9-8 lead before pulling away to close out one of the biggest wins in the program's history. Maxwell played an excellent game three and ended up with a hitting percentage of .350 (8-1-20) to go with her career-high five blocks for the match.
The Wolverines continue their quest for the Outback Steakhouse Invitational title later today with a 5 p.m. match against the University of Toledo.
MATCH BESTS
Kills: U-M 53 (Nicole Kacor 15); BYU 60 (Nina Puikkonen 15)
Assists: U-M 45 (Shannon Melka 42); BYU 54 (Anna-Lena Smith 49)
Service Aces: U-M 3 (Pittenger, Fielder, Poglits 1); BYU 8 (Caroline Bower 4)
Digs: U-M 38 (Alija Pittenger 14); BYU 48 (Melissa Layton, Smith 9)
Blocks: U-M 11 (Fielder, Maxwell 5); BYU 6 (Nina Puikkonen 4)
NOTES
• Michigan now holds a 1-0 series advantage over the Cougars.
• Michigan registered 11 blocks in three games after averaging only 2.1 bpg in 1998.
• Nicole Kacor led the Wolverines in kills (15) for the first time in her career.
• Michigan's starting lineup consisted of three sophomores, two juniors and a fifth-year senior.
QUOTES
Head Coach Mark Rosen
On upsetting seventh-ranked BYU ... "Our kids played unbelievably well. I do not think this is a case of BYU being overrated, because they were as good as I thought they would be. Yet our kids played better than I thought we could this early in the season. One thing we did was we competed extremely well right from the beginning and through the whole match."
On the keys to the victory ... "We sided-out really well and just hung in there. We got a huge spark from (Alija) Pittenger in the first game with her defense. She was able to come up with some phenomenal digs in game one and gave us a great spark emotionally. (Annie) Maxwell also had a couple of key blocks and we blocked very solid as a team."
