Michigan
18-10, 10-7Big Ten
Iowa
6-21, 1-16Big Ten
Wolverines Hit .476 in Three-Game Romp Against Iowa
11/21/2003 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Site:Â Ann Arbor, Mich. (Cliff Keen Arena)
Score:Â Michigan 3, Iowa 0 (30-18, 30-24, 30-10)
Records:Â U-M (18-10, 10-7 Big Ten), Iowa (6-21, 1-16 Big Ten)
Next U-M Event:Â Saturday, Nov. 22 -- vs. Minnesota (Cliff Keen Arena), 7 p.m.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan volleyball team made just eight hitting errors in 103 attempts en route to a 3-0 (30-18, 30-24, 30-10) thrashing of Iowa on Friday night (Nov. 21) in Cliff Keen Arena. Erin Moore (Tiffin, Ohio/Columbian HS) led all players with 13 kills and Erin Cobler (Dexter, Mich./Dexter HS) added 12 before a crowd of 1,235.
The Wolverines posted a hitting percentage of .476 (57-8-103) as all six starters hit over .300. Nicole Poquette (Grand Haven, Mich./Grand Haven HS) led the way with a .778 mark (8-1-9), while Cobler (.571, 12-0-21) and setter Lisa Gamalski (Milwaukee, Wis./Catholic Memorial HS), who hit .545 (6-0-11), both had hitting percentages over .500 without committing an attack error.
The first game was tied 12-12 when a Poquette kill and two more from Moore gave the Wolverines a lead they would not relinquish. Alicia Boswell (Long Beach, Calif./Wilson HS) served the final five points, recording one ace and getting assistance from a pair of Cobler kills. Michigan hit .474 (21-3-38) in game one.
Michigan jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second game on an Iowa error and a kill by Megan Bowman (St. John, Ind./Lake Central HS) and used several short runs to build its lead to double digits, going up 26-16 after an ace by Jennifer Gandolph (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove HS). With the Wolverines leading 29-20, the Hawkeyes fought off four game points before a Moore kill closed the 30-24 win.
Game three was all Wolverines as they hit .533 (18-2-30) while holding Iowa to a -.171 (6-12-35) mark. A Moore kill followed by back-to-back kills by Cobler and two straight terminations from Gamalski started U-M on a 16-3 run that put the game out of reach. Cobler kills accounted for three of Michigan's final four points in the 30-10 victory.
Gandolph recorded a team-high 13 kills, while Bowman had one solo block and eight block assists for nine total rejections as the Wolverines outblocked the Hawkeyes 12-2. Moore added two of Michigan's five service aces.
The Wolverines close out their regular-season home schedule on Saturday (Nov. 22), hosting No. 22 Minnesota at 7 p.m. The team's three seniors -- Moore, Poquette and Chantel Reedus (Woodridge, Ill./Downers Grove South HS) -- will be honored following the match.
QUOTES
Michigan Head Coach Mark Rosen
On the match ... "To sum it up simply, I thought the girls played really well. I was very pleased with how we came out tonight. We've been talking a lot this week about coming out and starting quicker, especially defensively, and I thought we did a pretty good job of that. But I really liked how we finished tonight. It is very easy in a match like that to kind of let yourself relax and win the game and not really on your own terms. I thought game three was a great example, and they really took it to them. That's something we're working on late in the year. We want to make sure we are continuing to maintain our focus and our concentration in every situation. That's one of the reasons I didn't change anything at the end of the game even though we had it under control. I wanted them to be able to keep challenging them and pushing, and I just liked our competitiveness."
On the veteran players ... "The way I look at it, our veterans did what we expected more. They did a great job. Erin (Moore) did a great job. Poke (Nicole Poquette) had a great night. She put excellent numbers up. Jen Gandolph was really good and so was Lisa Gamalski. Those are the players we kind of always expected to do well, and I don't want to take them for granted. But at the same time, they did exactly what we wanted them to do."
On Megan Bowman and Erin Cobler ... "I thought the two players that really stood out were the two freshmen, Megan (Bowman) and Erin Cobler. Erin Cobler goes for 12 kills and zero errors. Both of them are working really hard at practice. They're coming in early, they're doing extra stuff in practice, and it's nice to see that show when their level is getting raised. And they know that if they can get better, this team gets better because they're the young ones, they're the new players. And I was just really pleased at how they played tonight."
NOTES
• Michigan recorded its 10th win in Big Ten play, equaling its win total from last season. U-M has won 10 or more conference matches in six of its 21 seasons with the Big Ten.
• The Wolverines' 18 wins are one shy of the highest win total in head coach Mark Rosen's tenure at U-M.
• The Wolverines swept the season series with the Hawkeyes with a pair of 3-0 victories and have won eight straight vs. Iowa at Cliff Keen Arena.
• Megan Bowman notched a team-high nine blocks, including eight assists, and has notched 19 blocks in her last two matches.
• Erin Cobler's 12 kills marked the third time in her career she has topped the 10-kill mark.
• Erin Moore has notched 10 or more kills in all but two matches this season, including a career-high 18 straight.
