Michigan
8-5
Oakland
5-11
Wolverines Extend Win Steaks with Sweep of Oakland
10/9/2001 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Site:Â Ann Arbor, Mich. (Cliff Keen Arena)
Result:Â Michigan 3, Oakland 0 (30-15, 30-22, 30-26)
Records:Â U-M (8-5), Oakland (5-11)
Next U-M Match:Â Friday, Oct. 12 -- at Illinois (Champaign, Ill.), 7 p.m. CDT
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Behind season highs of eight kills and six blocks by senior Annie Maxwell (Santa Barbara, Calif./Santa Barbara HS), the University of Michigan volleyball team swept Oakland University 3-0 (30-15, 30-22, 30-26) Tuesday night (Oct. 9) in front of 367 fans at Cliff Keen Arena. The victory extended U-M's overall winning streak to five matches and home winning streak to seven matches. Despite a sluggish effort in the last two games, the Wolverines killed 60 attacks and hit .345 compared to the Grizzlies' 31 kills and .135 hitting percentage in the match.
Michigan freshman Jennifer Gandolph (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove HS) picked up her sixth consecutive double-double with 13 kills and 11 blocks. She has a total of eight double-doubles in the last 10 matches and leads the team with 137 digs this season. Sophomore Nicole Poquette (Grand Haven, Mich./Grand Haven HS) helped on five of the Wolverines' eight team blocks. On the offensive side, sophomore sensation Erin Moore (Tiffin, Ohio/Columbian HS) finished the night with 13 kills on 21 attempts (.476 attack percentage) after hitting a perfect 6-for-6 in game one.
Michigan dominated the first game, taking an early 8-1 lead on a set of Nicole Kacor (Chicago, Ill./Mother McAuley HS) serves. The Wolverines extended the lead to 21-8 and then game-point at 29-10. Up to that point, Michigan had denied the Grizzlies consecutive serves, but Oakland's Cheryl Briddell put together a small run before Michigan could finish out the game, 30-15. As a team, Michigan hit .483 (18-4-29) in the game, while Oakland hit .000 with seven kills and seven errors in 25 attempts.
In game two, the Wolverines took an early 6-3 lead, but Oakland fought back to tie the game at 6-6. Michigan hurt itself throughout the game and allowed Oakland to keep the score close by committing three blocking errors and seven attack errors. However, Michigan took the lead to 24-19 after Moore posted a kill and service ace and Maxwell put away two consecutive attack attempts. The Wolverines closed out the game at 30-22 with a kill by sophomore Chantel Reedus (Woodridge, Ill./Downers Grove South HS).
Michigan struggled in game three and fell behind early at 12-9. Oakland (5-11) then extended the lead to six points at 21-15. A pair of service errors and several attack errors dug the hole for the Wolverines, but they rattled off 15 of the next 20 points and won the match 30-26. In the last half of the game, Moore and Gandolph each posted three kills, and senior setter Shannon Melka (Wheaton, Ill./St. Francis HS) killed all three of her attempts.
Michigan (8-5, 4-2 Big Ten) resumes Big Ten Conference play as it takes its five-match winning streak on the road to Illinois for a 7 p.m. CDT match on Friday (Oct. 12) in Champaign, Ill. The following night (Saturday, Oct. 13), the Wolverines play the Indiana Hoosiers at 7 p.m. EST/CDT in Bloomington, Ind.
NOTES
• Shannon Melka's three kills in the last half of the third game were her only three kills in the entire match.
• Melka and Lisa Gamalski (Milwaukee, Wis./Catholic Memorial HS) shared the setting duties this evening. Melka recorded 29 assists, while Gamalski added 18.
• Chantel Reedus has posted double-digit kills in five consecutive matches and eight of the last 10 matches. She is second on the team in kills with an average of 3.14 kills per game. Erin Moore leads the team with an average of 3.37 kills per game.
