Weekly Release #14
11/28/2000 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
NCAA First and Second Rounds (Tucson, Ariz.)
Thursday, Nov. 30
Michigan vs. Louisville, 6 p.m. MST
Alabama A&M at Arizona, 8 p.m. MST
Friday, Dec. 1
Michigan-Louisville winner vs. Alabama A&M-Arizona winner, 7 p.m. MST
NCAA Tournament
The University of Michigan volleyball team (18-13, 8-12 Big Ten) heads to Tucson, Ariz., this week for the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament (Nov. 30-Dec. 1). The Wolverines will take on University of Louisville Thursday at 6 p.m. MST at the McKale Center. Arizona, the host school and No. 2 seed in the Central Region, will match up against Alabama A&M, which is making its first NCAA appearance, following the U-M match. First-rounds winners will face each other on Friday at 7 p.m. MST.
Scouting the Opponents
Louisville -- Louisville is 26-7 overall and the Conference USA Tournament champion ... This is Louisville's 11th NCAA appearance, and ninth in the last 10 years ... The Cardinals have won six matches in a row, dropping only one game in that stretch, and have been victorious 19 out of their last 20 contests ... Stats leaders: kills, Anastasia Zaitseva (368); digs, Kelly McClain (330); assists, Jing Ding (1,305); service aces, McClain (34); blocks, Stacey Mercer (113) ... Louisville on the Internet: www.uoflsports.com.
Matching Up
Michigan is 1-2 against Louisville, dating back to the 1986 season. Their last meeting was in 1996 in the Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Classic in Honolulu, Hawaii. U-M has never faced Arizona or Alabama A&M. The following is a breakdown of Michigan's three matches against Louisville:
| Sept. 20, 1986 | W | 15-7, 15-10, 15-9 | Louisville, Ky. |
| Sept. 7, 1990 | L | 9-15, 16-18, 15-17 | Mt. Pleasant, Mich. |
| Sept. 2, 1996 | L | 12-15, 13-15, 10-15 | Honolulu, Hawaii |
Michigan in NCAA's
Michigan is 2-2 in the NCAA Tournament and reached the second round in its previous two appearances. The Wolverines went 1-1 in 1999, head coach Mark Rosen's first year as head coach. U-M beat Fairfield in three games a year ago in Stockton, Calif., in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, but dropped a five-game match to fifth-ranked University of the Pacific to end its season.
Quoting Coach Mark Rosen
On going back to the tournament ... "We are really excited. When we came to Michigan, we wanted to grow as a national program. Getting to the NCAA is the starting point, but now we want to move on and advance."
On facing Louisville ... "We don't know too much on them at this point, except that they are extremely good. They are on a hot streak right now, winning 19 of their last 20, and their last six have been blowouts. They have a few foreign players, and when you have foreign players, they bring a lot of experience."
On a possible match with Arizona ... "We saw Arizona in the spring. They are huge, just really big. They may be one of the biggest teams in the nation. But I think we match up well with them, because of our quickness. There will be a lot of tough competition in this region, and that is what the NCAA Tournament is all about."
Michigan vs. NCAA Tournament Opponents
Six Big Ten Conference teams made the 64-team NCAA field, tying the Big Ten with the Big 12 and Pacific-10 for top representation. In addition to Michigan, East Region top seed Wisconsin, Minnesota, defending NCAA champion Penn State, Ohio State and Michigan State are headed to the postseason. Michigan faced 10 different teams this season that received NCAA Tournament bids. The Wolverines went 6-9 in those matches.
U-M vs. NCAA Tournament Teams in 2000
| Sept. 2 | vs. Sacramento State | W, 3-0 | (15-7, 15-8, 15-10) |
| Sept. 2 | at Pacific | L, 0-3 | (13-15, 12-15, 12-15) |
| Sept. 9 | vs. South Carolina | W, 3-0 | (15-11, 15-10, 15-12) |
| Sept. 15 | vs. Houston | W, 3-2 | (6-15, 15-7, 14-16, 15-8, 15-13) |
| Sept. 20 | at Michigan State | L, 2-3 | (15-11, 11-15, 13-15, 15-6, 5-15) |
| Sept. 24 | at Ohio State | L, 1-3 | (11-15, 9-15, 15-11, 7-15) |
| Oct. 7 | vs. Penn State | L, 2-3 | (17-15, 15-12, 3-15, 13-15, 10-15) |
| Oct. 14 | at Wisconsin | L, 0-3 | (7-15, 7-15, 7-15) |
| Oct. 18 | vs. Notre Dame | W, 3-0 | (15-6, 16-14, 16-14) |
| Oct. 21 | vs. Minnesota | L, 0-3 | (5-15, 9-15, 9-15) |
| Oct. 27 | at Penn State | L, 0-3 | (6-15, 10-15, 10-15) |
| Nov. 8 | vs. Michigan State | W, 3-2 | (15-13, 9-15, 15-13, 7-15, 15-10) |
| Nov. 10 | vs. Ohio State | W, 3-0 | (15-13, 15-9, 15-9) |
| Nov. 17 | at Minnesota | L, 0-3 | (14-16, 10-15, 13-15) |
| Nov. 24 | vs. Wisconsin | L, 0-3 | (7-15, 11-15, 8-15) |
Wolverines Split Weekend
Michigan lost to No. 5 Wisconsin 3-0 (15-7, 15-11, 15-8) on Friday evening (Nov. 24) at Cliff Keen Arena. Alija Pittenger (Virginia Beach, Va./First Colonial HS) led the Wolverines with 17 kills. The Wolverines bounced back the next night with the seniors going out in style as they took four games to defeat the Northwestern Wildcats (15-11, 13-15, 15-3, 15-5) on Saturday (Nov. 25). In her last regular-season contest, senior Sarah Behnke (Baroda, Mich./Lakeshore HS) led the Maize and Blue with 22 kills.
Pittenger on the Move
Alija Pittenger recorded 17 digs against Northwestern (Nov. 24) to elevate her to 1,013 in her career, and she became the fifth Wolverine to register 1,000 digs. Pittenger is 29 digs shy of moving into fourth place all-time.
Michigan's Career Dig Leaders
| 1. | JoAnna Collias (1990-93) | 1,131 |
| 2. | Linnea Mendoza (1994-97) | 1,080 |
| 3. | Jeanine Szczesniak (1995-98) | 1,062 |
| 4. | Lisa Vahi (1984-87) | 1,041 |
| 5. | Alija Pittenger (1997-present) | 1,013 |
Benhke Reaches Milestone
Sarah Benhke had 22 kills against Northwestern (Nov. 25), raising her career total to 1,124 and move into a tie for second with Michelle Horrigan (1989-93) on U-M's career list. Behnke is currently 137 kills behind Michigan's career leader, Karen Chase (1995-98). Behnke already owns the U-M record for most individual kills in a match with 34 against Pacific in last year's NCAA second round (12/4/99).
Michigan's Career Kill Leaders
| 1. | Karen Chase (1995-98) | 1,261 |
| 2. | Sarah Behnke (1997-current) | 1,124 |
| | Michelle Horrigan (1989-93) | 1,124 |
| 4. | Sarah Jackson (1994-97) | 1,084 |
| 5. | Karen Marshall (1986-89) | 1,060 |
Sensational Sophomore
Sophomore middle blocker Katrina Lehman (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Marian HS) has 114 block assists for the season. Heading into the NCAA Tournament, Lehman is two block assists short of the Michigan single-season record of 115, set by Lindsey Ebert (1995-98) in 1997. Lehman also has 130 total blocks for the season, which is two shy of the Michigan record of 132, also set by Ebert in 1997.
USA Today/AVCA Division I Coaches Top 25 (11/27/00)
Team Pts Record LW 1. Nebraska (60) 1500 28-0 1 2. Southern Cal 1417 25-2 3 3. Hawaii 1355 27-1 2 4. Wisconsin 1322 28-3 5 5. Arizona 1198 25-4 4 6. Colorado State 1187 30-4 6 7. Pacific 1098 26-3 10 8. Penn State 1084 27-5 8 9. Minnesota 1037 28-3 7 10. Florida 986 27-4 9 11. UCLA 910 22-7 11 12. Brigham Young 880 24-6 12 13. Long Beach State 722 22-7 16 14. Cal-Santa Barbara 711 23-7 13 15. Pepperdine 642 23-6 15 16. Ohio State 633 24-6 17 17. Santa Clara 564 26-4 14 18. Stanford 434 18-11 20 19. Utah 409 22-7 18 20. Notre Dame 383 25-6 19 21. Utah State 250 21-9 21 22. Loyola Marymount 189 20-8 23 23. Texas A&M 186 19-8 25 24. Kansas State 160 20-8 22 25. Missouri 58 24-6 24
Tracking Michigan in the Polls
Aug. 14 24th (preseason poll) Sept. 4 25th Sept. 11 23rd Sept. 18 21st Sept. 25 25th Oct. 2 Not Ranked Oct. 9 Not Ranked Oct. 16 Not Ranked Oct. 23 Not Ranked Oct. 30 Not Ranked Nov. 6 Not Ranked Nov. 13 Not Ranked Nov. 20 Not Ranked Nov. 27 Not Ranked
2000 Season Match Bests (through Nov. 25)
TEAM Kills 98, vs. Houston (9/15) Attempts 262, vs. Houston (9/15) Hit Pct. .389 (53-16-95) vs. New Mexico (9/8) Assists 93, vs. Houston (9/15) Service Aces 10, at Michigan State (9/20) Digs 122, vs. Houston (9/15) Block Solo 4, vs. Maryland (9/1) 4, at Ohio State (9/24) 4, vs. Northwestern (11/25) Block Assist 34, vs. Northwestern (11/25) Total Blocks 21, vs. Northwestern (11/25) INDIVIDUAL Kills 26, Sarah Behnke vs. Penn State (10/7) Attempts 60, Sarah Behnke at Michigan State (9/20) Hit Pct. .900 (9-0-10), K. Lehman vs. New Mexico (9/8) Assists 85, Shannon Melka vs. Houston (9/15) Service Aces 6, Katrina Lehman at Michigan State (9/20) Digs 36, Alija Pittenger vs. Houston (9/15) Block Solo 2, accomplished 6 times, last by Katrina Lehman vs. Ohio State (11/10) Block Assist 9, Joanna Fielder vs. Houston (9/15) 9, Joanna Fielder vs. Northwestern (11/25) Total Blocks 9, Joanna Fielder vs. Houston (9/15) 9, Joanna Fielder vs. Northwestern (11/25)
Big Ten Conference Team Records (through end of regular season)
BIG TEN OVERALL 1. Wisconsin* 18-2 .900 28-3 .903 2. Minnesota* 17-3 .850 28-3 .903 3. Penn State* 16-4 .800 27-5 .844 4. Ohio State* 14-6 .700 24-6 .800 5. Michigan State* 10-10 .500 17-12 .586 6. Iowa 9-11 .450 14-15 .464 7. MICHIGAN* 8-12 .400 18-13 .581 8. Indiana 7-13 .350 16-14 .533 9. Purdue 5-15 .250 13-19 .406 10. Illinois 4-16 .200 13-18 .419 11. Northwestern 2-18 .100 5-25 .167 * Selected for NCAA Tournament
Big Ten Statistical Rankings (through Nov. 26)
ALL GAMES TEAM INDIVIDUAL Hit Pct. 7th (.219) Assists 3rd (15.78) Shannon Melka, 5th (13.26) Blocks 10th (2.30) Katrina Lehman, 10th (1.24) Kills 4th (17.27) Sarah Behnke, 9th (4.00) Aces 5th (1.46) Alija Pittenger, 5th (0.38) Katrina Lehman, 6th (0.37) Digs 4th (16.87) Alija Pittenger, 1st (3.98) Nicole Kacor, 4th (3.50) BIG TEN TEAM INDIVIDUAL Hit Pct. 8th (.194) Assists 4th (15.49) Shannon Melka, 5th (13.00) Blocks 10th (2.17) Kills 4th (16.97) Sarah Behnke, 10th (3.83) Aces 9th (1.24) Shannon Melka, 6th (0.34) Digs 6th (16.17) Alija Pittenger, 2nd (3.81) Nicole Kacor, 6th (3.19)
Michigan's 2000 Record ...
vs. ranked opponents 3-9 vs. unranked opponents 15-4 ALL three-game matches 13-6 ALL four-game matches 1-4 ALL five-game matches 4-3 BIG TEN three-game matches 4-5 BIG TEN four-game matches 1-4 BIG TEN five-game matches 3-3 in game one (ALL) 20-11 in game two (ALL) 18-13 in game three (ALL) 18-13 in game four (ALL) 4-8 in game five (ALL) 4-3 total games won-lost (ALL) 64-48 total games won-lost (BIG TEN) 34-43 points in total games (ALL) 1,438-1,274 points in total games (BIG TEN) 929-975 at Cliff Keen Arena (home) 11-4 on the road (away/neutral) 7-9
Contact: Rich Marion (734) 763-4423
