Michigan
10-5, 2-2Big Ten
Wisconsin
11-4, 3-1Big Ten
Wolverines Suffer Five-Game Loss to No. 20 Wisconsin
10/4/2003 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Site:Â Ann Arbor, Mich. (Cliff Keen Arena)
Score:Â #20 Wisconsin 3, Michigan 2 (30-32, 30-27, 29-31, 30-21, 15-13)
Records:Â U-M (10-5, 2-2 Big Ten), Wisconsin (11-4, 3-1 Big Ten)
Next U-M Event:Â Friday, Oct. 10 -- at Indiana (Bloomington, Ind.), 7 p.m. EST/CDT
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- For the second time in as many weeks the University of Michigan volleyball team went to a deciding fifth game against a ranked opponent, and for the second straight week the Wolverines fell in the rubber game as No. 20 Wisconsin downed U-M with a 30-32, 30-27, 29-31, 30-21, 15-13 win Saturday night (Oct. 4) at Cliff Keen Arena. Junior Jennifer Gandolph (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove HS) paced the Wolverines with 25 kills, while junior Sarah Allen (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Mechanicsburg HS) recorded a match-high 18 digs to lead U-M defensively.
The loss dropped U-M (10-5) to 2-2 in Big Ten action and 1-4 against ranked teams this season. The Wolverines have lost their last two matches at home -- both to ranked foes.
Michigan came out on fire in the first game, building a 5-1 lead before Wisconsin settled things down. The Badgers fought back, eventually taking the lead with four straight service aces by Sheila Shaw. UW held the lead for the most of the game and owned a 26-23 advantage until the Wolverines began a comeback, scoring the next five points on kills by senior Nicole Poquette (Grand Haven, Mich./Grand Haven HS) and freshman Danielle Pflum (Martinsville, Ind./Martinsville HS) and three UW attack errors to take a 28-26 lead. Michigan failed in its first two game-point attempts, but with the score 30-30, senior Erin Moore (Tiffin, Ohio/Columbian HS) gave U-M a 31-30 lead with a kill, then finished the game with an ace.
In game two, the teams traded points to get the score 12-12, then Wisconsin reeled off eight of the next 10 points to go up 20-14. The Wolverines tried to get back into the game, closing the gap to two points late in the stanza, but the Badgers had too large of a lead, eventually winning the game 30-27 on a Wolverine service error.
After the break, Michigan took control of the third game, building a six-point lead at 25-19 only to see Wisconsin rally to tie the score at 29-29. The Wolverines received the game, however, as UW's Jill Oldenthal committed back-to-back attack errors to give U-M a 31-29 victory.
The Badgers forced a deciding game five with a rout in the fourth stanza, downing Michigan 30-21. UW led by as many as 10 in the game, which saw the Wolverines hit .089 (13-9-45).
In the final frame, Michigan held a two-point lead on three occasions, including a 13-11 advantage, but could not close the deal as Wisconsin scored the final four points of the match to win 15-13.
Moore finished with 17 kills and 10 digs for her third straight double-double, while Poquette added 11 kills. Freshman Megan Bowman (St. John, Ind./Lake Central HS) led U-M's blocking efforts with seven, including six assists, while Gandolph added 13 digs to record her team-high ninth double-double of the year.
The Wolverines will hit the road next weekend, traveling to Indiana for Big Ten matches against Indiana and Purdue. The Wolverines will face the Hoosiers at 7 p.m. EST/CDT on Friday, Oct. 10, in Bloomington, while the match against the Boilermakers is set for 8 p.m. EST/CDT on Saturday, Oct. 11.
QUOTES
Michigan Head Coach Mark Rosen
On the match ... "I thought we were really inconsistent. It was a night where I told the girls I thought we were just holding on all night. We were just hanging on the edge of the cliff hoping we don't fall off before somebody could throw us a rope. I think that the last three or four matches we've really been able to control our game, and against Penn State, when we lost that match, I think it was a different kind of match. We controlled what we did, and in the end we came up a little short on points. Tonight, I didn't necessarily think that we controlled it. We just held on and hoped that sooner or later we would score points. It is a tough way to play. It's very inconsistent. We never really got everybody 'on' at the same time. We would have a couple of players 'on' and a couple of players struggling. Then, they'd get better and then somebody else would struggle. We just never really seemed to get the whole engine running at the same time."
On what he saw positively ... "We weren't bad all night. We did some nice things blocking-wise. We just have to be more steady with what we do. Again, we did some nice stuff, but it's a long match. It is lot of points we have to play. You can't really have the highs and the lows, the ups and the downs. If you do, you're going to struggle. And that's where we were tonight. We have to be more consistent and more resilient. I thought our confidence dropped off a little bit tonight. We got a little bit tentative. We can't afford to do that. We just have to stay much more aggressive."
NOTES
• Michigan has dropped 14 straight to Wisconsin and is 0-9 against the Badgers during head coach Mark Rosen's tenure.
• The Wolverines are 1-4 against teams ranked in the top 25.
• Jennifer Gandolph recorded her team-high ninth double-double of the year and posted a match-high 25 kills for her second 20-kill match of the season.
• Gandolph improved her career kill total to 984 and is 16 shy of becoming the eighth player in U-M history to notched 1,000 career terminations.
• Erin Moore has recorded 10 or more kills in 13 of her last 14 matches. Moore also recorded her third straight double-double.
• Moore improved her career kill total to 1,090 -- 171 shy of the school record, held by Karen Chase (1,291 from 1995-98).
• Megan Bowman led the team with seven blocks, including six assists, for her 10th match of the year with five or more blocks.
• Nicole Poquette's 11 kills marked her third 10-kill match of the year.
• Sarah Allen's 18 digs were one shy of her career high and the sixth time this season she has recorded 10 or more digs. In her career, Allen has topped the 10-dig plateau on seven occasions.
