Weekly Release #9
10/22/2002 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Upcoming Schedule
Friday, Oct. 25 -- vs. Illinois (Cliff Keen Arena), 7 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 26 -- vs. Purdue (Cliff Keen Arena), 7 p.m.
Wednesday, Oct. 30 -- at No. 25 Michigan State (East Lansing, Mich.), 7 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 2 -- vs. No. 9 Penn State (Cliff Keen Arena), 7 p.m.
Complete Release in PDF (5 pages, 99 KB)
Michigan Preps for Final Matches in First Round of Big Ten Play
The University of Michigan volleyball team (10-8, 4-4 Big Ten) hosts Illinois at 7 p.m. Friday (Oct. 25) and Purdue at 7 p.m. Saturday (Oct. 26) at Cliff Keen Arena. Michigan looks to get back on track after dropping three consecutive Big Ten Conference matches, including back-to-back 3-1 decisions at Northwestern (Oct. 18) and at then-No. 18 Wisconsin (Oct. 19) last weekend. The Wolverines are also looking to get starters Erin Moore (Tiffin, Ohio/Columbian HS) and Carrie Ritchie (Mansfield, Ohio/Madison Comprehensive HS) healthy after an injury and illness, respectively, last week.
Internet Extras
The official website for Michigan Athletics (MGoBlue.com) will carry live audio of all home Wolverine volleyball games for the 2002 season. MGoBlue.com will also feature live stats for all home matches.
Stick Around for Autographs after Friday's Match Against Illinois
Following Friday's match (Oct. 25) against Illinois, fans can pick up free team photo cards and meet their favorite Wolverines at an autograph session on the court.
Don't Miss Halloween at Cliff Keen on Saturday
The Michigan volleyball team will host Halloween at Cliff Keen when it faces Purdue at 7 p.m. Saturday (Oct. 26). Fans dressed in a costume will receive free admission to the match. The festivities include free Halloween candy and a Best Costume contest for kids and adults.
About Illinois
Michigan and Illinois are meeting for the 44th time in series history. Illinois leads the series with a 30-13 record. Michigan's two matches against the Illini in 2001 were two of its closest matches of the season. The Wolverines lost 3-1 (18-30, 28-30, 30-27, 27-30) at Illinois and fell 3-2 (30-23, 30-28, 25-30, 32-34, 9-15) at Cliff Keen Arena. Illinois owns an 9-8 overall record and a 3-5 mark in Big Ten after dropping four of its last five conference matches. Juniors Lisa Argabright and Melissa Vandrey are the two most proficient attackers, averaging 3.17 and 3.15 kills per game, respectively. Argabright is also the team's top player at the net with an average of 1.26 blocks per game. Senior setter Betsy Eiserman is averaging 11.27 assists per game, while Sue Webber leads the way with 28 service aces and an average of 2.91 digs per game. Head coach Don Hardin has an overall record of 304-161 in 15 years as a collegiate head coach and a record of 106-82 in seven years at Illinois.
Illinois on the Internet: www.fightingillini.com
About Purdue
Michigan and Purdue are meeting for the 47th time in series history. Purdue leads the all-time series 33-13, but the Wolverines have won the last three meetings. U-M swept the 2001 season series with a 3-0 (30-24, 30-26, 30-22) win at Purdue and a 3-2 (30-27, 29-31, 30-18, 24-30, 15-11) victory at Cliff Keen Arena. The Boilermakers finished the non-conference season with a 9-3 record but have fallen to 9-11 after starting the Big Ten season 0-8. Purdue's top options on offense are junior Joanna Lowry, who averages 3.85 kills per game, and sophomore Kim McConaha, who averages 3.66 kills per game. McConaha also leads the team with a .364 attack percentage and an average of 1.05 blocks per game. Freshman setter Renata Dargan averages 11.42 assists per game. Head coach Jeff Hulsmeyer has a record of 201-137 in 10 years as a collegiate head coach and is 41-69 in four years at Purdue.
Purdue on the Internet: www.purduesports.com
Shorthanded Wolverines Drop Matches at Northwestern and Wisconsin
Despite a career-high 23 kills by sophomore Jennifer Gandolph (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove HS), Michigan dropped a closely contested match 3-1 (30-28, 30-25, 28-30, 30-21) to the Northwestern Wildcats Friday (Oct. 18) at Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston, Ill. Junior Chantel Reedus (Woodridge, Ill./Downers Grove South HS) recorded her first double-double of the season with 19 kills and 12 digs against the Wildcats. The Wolverines were without preseason All-Big Ten Conference selection and team captain Erin Moore (Tiffin, Ohio/Columbian HS), who missed the match due to an ankle injury, and starting libero Carrie Ritchie (Mansfield, Ohio/Madison Comprehensive HS), who missed the match due to illness. Despite not being completely healthy, Moore returned the next night (Saturday, Oct. 19) for the match against then-No. 18 Wisconsin at the UW Field House in Madison, Wis. She and Katrina Lehman (Bloomfield, Hills, Mich./Marian HS) each posted 13 kills and combined to hit .429 (26-2-56). Despite the efforts and double-digit kills by two other attackers, U-M fell to the Badgers 3-1 (30-26, 30-25, 25-30, 30-22) and dropped to a tie with Indiana and Michigan State for fifth place in the Big Ten standings.
Change of Pace in Final Weekend of Round One in the Conference
Michigan completes the first round Big Ten play with matches against Illinois and Purdue this weekend (Oct. 25-26). It is the only weekend out of the first five weeks of conference play in which the Wolverines are not facing at least one ranked team. Five of the eight Big Ten teams U-M has faced so far this season have been ranked among the top 25 at the time of the match.
Keep the Home Fire Burning
Michigan is a perfect 6-0 at home this season. Dating back to a 3-0 (30-17, 30-20, 30-21) sweep of Northwestern on Nov. 10, 2001, the Wolverines are 8-1 in their last nine at home. Including all of 2001, U-M is 17-3 at home in the last two years.
U-M Can Reach Century Mark at Keen This Weekend
Michigan has posted a record of 98-79 (.554) in 14 years at Cliff Keen Arena. In each of the last two seasons, U-M has won a record 11 matches at home (11-4 in 2000; 11-3 in 2001). The team needs two more wins to reach the century mark, making Saturday's match (Oct. 26) against Purdue the earliest possible date to reach the mark.
Another Big Weekend for Reedus
Junior Chantel Reedus picked up her first double-double of the year with season highs in kills (19) and digs (12) against Northwestern (Oct. 18). The following night at Wisconsin (Oct. 19), she posted a team-high 16 kills and added six digs. She averaged 4.38 kills per game and hit .342 (35-9-76) for the weekend.
Lehman First to Break 400 Blocks
Senior Katrina Lehman became the first Michigan volleyball player to reach 400 blocks with a block solo in the fourth game of the match at Northwestern (Oct. 18). She finished the weekend with eight blocks for a total of 405 career blocks.
First Start for Gay
Sophomore Candace Gay (Detroit, Mich./Academy of the Sacred Heart) started for the first time in her career in the match at Northwestern (Oct. 18). She started in place of the injured Erin Moore and earned the first significant playing time of her career. She posted career highs in kills (4) and block (3) in four games against the Wildcats.
Middles on Fire in Madison
Middle blockers Katrina Lehman and Erin Moore each posted 13 kills and one error against then-No. 18 Wisconsin (Oct. 19). The duo combined to hit .429 (26-2-56) and was errorless with 23 kills in their first 43 attempts (.535) until an attack by Moore was blocked midway through the fourth game.
Pair of Wolverines in National Rankings
Katrina Lehman and Lisa Gamalski (Milwaukee, Wis./Catholic Memorial HS) both appear in the latest NCAA rankings (Oct. 13). Lehman moved up three spots to No. 25 in the country with an average of 1.42 blocks per game. Nebraska's Amber Holmquist leads the nation with 1.96 blocks per game. Gamalski is 19th in the nation in assists per game with an average of 12.81. Santa Clara's Kelli Sousa leads the way with an average of 14.71 assists per game.
Lehman Blocks Her Way to the Top of the Record Book
Katrina Lehman became Michigan's all-time blocks leader with a block assist in the fourth game of the match against Indiana (Oct. 4). She entered the season sixth on the list but now stands first with 405 career blocks. Lehman passed Julia Sturm (375, 1987-90) for the all-time record.
Block Assists Record in the Books
Katrina Lehman recorded five block assists against Bowling Green (Sept. 10) to break the U-M record in the category. She passed Linsey Ebert (1995-98), who held the previous mark with 305 career block assists, for the school record. Lehman currently has 359 block assists.
Haven't I Seen This Before
Five of Michigan's six starters this season -- Katrina Lehman, Jennifer Gandolph, Erin Moore, Chantel Reedus and Nicole Poquette (Grand Haven, Mich./Grand Haven HS) -- were regular starters during the 2001 season. The sixth starter, sophomore setter Lisa Gamalski, played in 16 of the team's 27 matches last season and started seven times.
Blocking Bonanza
Michigan is on pace to have its best blocking year ever. The Wolverines have played 60 percent of their matches and have 299 block assists and 183.5 team blocks. If the team maintains the current pace, it will break the current school records of 466 block assists set in 2000 and 304.5 team blocks set in 1988.
Michigan in the National Rankings
Michigan is nationally ranked in three categories -- kills per game, assists per game and blocks per game -- in the latest NCAA rankings (Oct. 13). U-M is 27th in kills per game (16.26) and tied with Michigan State and Washington State for 21st in assists per game (14.68). In blocks per game, Michigan is 20th with an average of 2.90. No. 9 Penn State is the only team in the Big Ten with more blocks per game than U-M.
Kills per game 1 Hawaii 17.98 27 Michigan 16.26 Assists per game 1 Southern California 16.86 21 Michigan 14.68 Michigan State 14.68 Washington State 14.68 Blocks per game 1 Notre Dame 3.81 20 Michigan 2.90
Balanced Attack
Michigan has had at least three players reach double digits in kills in 12 of 18 matches this season. Against Alabama (Sept. 13), Michigan had five of its six starters reach double-digit kills, while setter Lisa Gamalski, the only one not to reach double digits, chipped in with four kills. At Iowa (Sept. 27), four Wolverines reached double-digit kills, with Erin Moore and Jennifer Gandolph each posting a match-high 21 kills.
Not Just a Setter
Lisa Gamalski was not a setter when she started playing volleyball, and it shows. She leads the team in attack percentage and is third in digs per game. She has recorded 81 kills with just 26 errors in 199 attempts for a .276 attack percentage. Her hitting percentage had been above .300 for much of the season, but she suffered her first negative hitting game with one attack and two errors in seven chances against No. 9 Penn State (Oct. 11). On defense, Gamalski has 171 digs for an average of 2.63 per game, third to Jennifer Gandolph's 219 digs and 3.37 digs per game.
Postseason Reputation
Michigan head coach Mark Rosen has been to the NCAA Tournament in eight of his 10 seasons as a collegiate head coach. His California State-Bakersfield and Northern Michigan teams participated in the NCAA Division II Championship tournament six times, and he led to U-M to the NCAA Division I Championship tournament in his first two seasons at the helm of the Wolverines. The only two years he has not participated in the tournament were 1998 as the head coach at Boise State and last season at Michigan.
Bring It On
The 2002 volleyball schedule includes 19 matches against nine teams which appeared among the top 25 and other four teams which received votes in the USA Today/AVCA preseason poll (Aug. 12). U-M faced then-No. 8 Pepperdine in the first weekend of the season, and then played preseason No. 2 Nebraska and preseason No. 24 Santa Clara at the Nebraska U.S. Bank/Arby's Classic (Sept. 13-14). The final non-conference match was at preseason No. 25 Notre Dame. Five Big Ten schools were also ranked in the preseason poll -- No. 9 Ohio State, No. 10 Wisconsin, No. 15 Michigan State, No. 16 Penn State and No. 19 Illinois. No. 8 Minnesota, which received votes in the preseason poll, has climbed as high as No. 6, and Indiana received votes in the Sept. 30 and Oct. 21 USA Today/AVCA polls.
Serving Up Europe!
Michigan volleyball is planning a trip to Europe for the spring of 2003. The trip will be a chance for the athletes to compete against some of the best volleyball players in the world and experience the unique cultures in the countries they will visit. In an effort to help pay their own way, the team organized the Serving Up Europe! fund-raising program. Friends, family and fans of the program can sponsor an amount to donate for every Michigan service ace this season. Based on last season's 136 aces, a commitment of 25 cents per ace would equal a $34 donation. The team is also planning a winter volleyball camp for adults to help raise money. To sponsor the team, call coach Mark Rosen at 734-647-3035 or speak with him following a match.
Preseason Award
Erin Moore was selected to the 2002 preseason All-Big Ten volleyball team. She is the first Wolverine to be selected for the preseason all-conference squad since Sarah Jackson (1994-97) earned the honor prior to the 1997 season.
Moore Takes on Role of Captain
Erin Moore will serve as the captain of the 2002 Michigan volleyball team.
Contact: Jason Gerdom (734) 763-4423
