Weekly Release #14

This Week's Schedule
Michigan (18-11, 10-8 Big Ten) at No. 18 Illinois (23-5, 14-4 Big Ten)
Friday, Nov. 28    7 p.m. CST    Huff Hall    Champaign, Ill.

Michigan (18-11, 10-8 Big Ten) at Northwestern (17-13, 8-10 Big Ten)
Saturday, Nov. 29    7:30 p.m. CST    Welsh-Ryan Arena    Evanston, Ill.

Television: None

Radio/Internet: Both matches this weekend will be broadcast live on MGoBlue.com.

Series Information: Michigan owns an all-time record of 15-32 against Illinois and has dropped four of the last five meetings with the Fighting Illini, including a 3-1 (25-30, 30-24, 30-26, 30-23) setback on Oct. 18 at Cliff Keen Arena ... The Wolverines hold at 26-21 advantage in the all-time series with Northwestern and have won 16 of the last 18 matches, including a 3-0 (30-25, 30-25, 30-24) triumph on Oct. 17 at Cliff Keen Arena. U-M has dropped its last two appearances at the Wildcats' Welsh-Ryan Arena.

Opponent Information: For information on Illinois volleyball, visit www.fightingillini.com ... For information on Northwestern volleyball, visit www.nusports.com.

This Week's Storylines
Hope for the Future -- The Wolverines, who will close out the regular season this weekend in the state of Illinois, are confident that their season will be extended with a selection to the NCAA Tournament. U-M, which will have to get in as an at-large team, will find out its fate as the 64-team field is announced on Sunday (Nov. 30) at 8 p.m. on ESPNews. Michigan has been invited to the NCAA Tournament on five occasions and has qualified for the postseason in three of the last four years, including last season.

There's Always Room for Improvement -- With a 10-7 record in Big Ten play, Michigan has a chance to continue a four-year trend this weekend with a single victory. Since head coach Mark Rosen took over the program 1999, the Wolverines have improved upon their conference win total in each season, and with a victory in one of their two matches this weekend, the streak will be extended. Michigan won 10 matches in conference play last season.

Back to Back -- For the second time in school history, Michigan has posted 10 wins in Big Ten play in back-to-back seasons. In its 21-plus year history in the Big Ten, the Wolverines have only posted 10 or more victories on six occasions. The only other time U-M posted 10 or more conference wins in consecutive campaigns was in 1991 and 1992, when the Wolverines won 10 and 11, respectively.

The Big Ten's Most Complete Player -- Senior Erin Moore is arguably the leading candidate for the Big Ten's Player of the Year award as the conference's most complete player, as she ranks among the top six in three different categories in league matches -- hitting percentage (4th - .293), kills (T-4th - 4.42 per game), and blocks (6th - 1.28 per game). No other player in the conference can claim that distinction.

Reaching for New Heights -- Michigan has surpassed its win total from a year ago (16) with 18 victories and is one win away from equaling the highest win total of head coach Mark Rosen's tenure. The Wolverines tallied 19 wins during the 2000 campaign, Rosen's second year, a mark that can be reached with two matches remaining. Should Michigan get to the 20-win mark, it would be only the second time in the last 16 years the Wolverines have won 20 or more matches in a single season, and the first time since recording 21 wins in 1997.

News and Notes ...
Time Change -- Due to a men's basketball game between Northwestern and Northwestern State at Welsh-Ryan Arena on Saturday (Nov. 29), the start time for Michigan's match against the Wildcats has been pushed back to 7:30 p.m. CST. The delay is due to the fact that Northwestern plays volleyball on a Sport Court surface, which needs to be laid over the wood basketball court.

Things to Look Out For -- The 2003 All-Big Ten teams will be announced on Monday, Dec. 1. Seniors Erin Moore and Nicole Poquette, juniors Lisa Gamalski and Jennifer Gandolph and freshman Megan Bowman are candidates for all-conference honors.

Keeping an Eye on Things -- If things continue to progress as they have all season, Michigan will most likely set the school record for best hitting percentage. The Wolverines are currently hitting .251, .005 better than the .246 they posted last season.

Another Record in the Books -- U-M's 530 block assists this season have established a single-season record, surpassing the 514 recorded by the 2002 squad. Since 1983, only two teams have recorded more than 500 block assists.

She's Having a Great Year -- Junior Jennifer Gandolph is posting the highest kills per game and digs per game totals of her career in 2003, averaging 3.84 and 3.39, respectively. Gandolph is tied for 11th in the Big Ten in kills per game and ranks seventh in digs per game.

Evidence of a Great Year -- Jennifer Gandolph is approaching career highs for both kills and digs for a season, established last season. Gandolph has 415 kills, five shy of the 420 she recorded in 2002, while her 366 digs are three shy of the 369 she tallied last year.

Digging Her Way Up -- Jennifer Gandolph moved into fifth place on U-M's career digs list with 23 digs last weekend and now owns 1,032 for her career. She passed Alija Pittenger's mark of 1,031, recorded from 1997-2000.

Points for Accuracy -- Senior Nicole Poquette, who head coach Mark Rosen calls "the stabilizer" on the floor for the Wolverines, is hitting .285 to rank second on the team and holds U-M's top career hitting percentage with a .270 mark.

She Can Play Defense, Too -- In addition to being one of the Wolverines' most accurate hitters, Nicole Poquette has been lending a hand defensively. Poquette is averaging 0.92 blocks per game to rank third on the team and ranks third all-time at U-M with 333 career block assists. In addition, Poquette owns career blocking totals of 11-333-344 to rank sixth among U-M's career blockers.

Almost There ... -- One of the continuing stories in the Big Ten this season is the domination of freshmen in blocking. Two rookies, including Megan Bowman, are listed as the top two blockers in the Big Ten's overall statistics. Bowman ranks second among freshmen in the Big Ten and overall with a team-best 1.40 blocks per game, trailing only Penn State's Cassy Salyer (1.41) by a one-hundredth of a point.

Playing Both Sides of the Net -- In addition to her setting skills, Lisa Gamalski is averaging a career-best 0.56 blocks per game in addition to 2.35 digs per game. Gamalski ranks seventh among the Big Ten's setters with 12.56 assists per game.

She's Everywhere -- In addition to ranking fifth among the Big Ten's top attackers with a career-high 4.34 kills per game, senior Erin Moore ranks fourth in the conference in blocking with a career-best 1.27 blocks per game average.

Chasing History, Again... -- Erin Moore has established career highs for total blocks (137) and block assists (131) this season to lead the team in both categories, and is in pursuit of the school record for totals blocks and block assists in a season, held by Katrina Lehman (1999-2000), who notched 156 and 135, respectively. Moore is four blocks shy of Lehman's block assist mark, while she trails Lehman by 19 for the total blocks record. Moore also has the single-season kill record in sight, needing just 38 to top Shannon Brownlee's record of 507, set in 1995. Moore has a career-best 469 terminations this season.

Leaving a Legacy -- Erin Moore has already set the school record for career kills this season and owns 1,331 career terminations entering this weekend's play. Moore, who is hitting a career-best .293 this season, ranks fourth in career hitting percentage at U-M with a .262 mark, and established the school record for career hitting attempts with 3,081, surpassing the mark set by Sarah Behnke (3,017 from 1997-2000). In addition to her attacking skills, Moore ranks second in U-M history for block assists and total blocks with 35-372-408 totals.

Double-Digging -- Junior Sarah Allen, the Wolverines' libero, continues to have a career year, ranking second on the team with a career-best 2.89 digs per game. Allen, who ranks 13th in the Big Ten in digs per game, has posted 10 or more digs in 17 matches this season. Entering the 2003 campaign, Allen had just one match with at least 10 digs.

Freeballs -- In the latest NCAA statistics (through matches of Nov. 16), Michigan is 26th in assists per game and 27th in blocks per game ... Erin Moore's career-high streak of 18 straight matches with 10 or more kills was snapped last Saturday (Nov. 22) against No. 22 Minnesota ... Sarah Allen saw her streak of a career-high 10 matches with 10 or more digs halted against the Gophers ... Michigan's .476 hitting percentage last Friday (Nov. 21) against Iowa marked a season high and its best since posting a .512 against Eastern Michigan on Sept. 8, 2001. It also marked the third time this season U- M has hit better than .400 ... Lisa Gamalski's nine kills against Minnesota tied a season high and marked the second time this season a player other than Erin Moore and Jennifer Gandolph has led the team in terminations ... Gamalski also took a season-high 19 swings against the Gophers ... Life-sized banners with action shots of U-M's three seniors were displayed throughout the weekend at Cliff Keen Arena in honor of the Class of 2003 ... U-M did not have a player record 10 or more kills for just the second time this season against Minnesota ... U-M's 3-0 loss at home against Minnesota marked Michigan's first shutout defeat at Cliff Keen Arena since Minnesota downed the Wolverines by a 3-0 margin on Nov. 15, 2002 ... Jennifer Gandolph's four assists against Minnesota tied a season and career high ... Erin Cobler tied a career high with six digs against Minnesota.

Next Up - The NCAA Tournament Begins ...
The 2003 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship will begin next week with 64 teams vying for the national title, which will be decided on Dec. 20 at Reunion Arena in Dallas, Texas. The first- and second-round matches are scheduled for Dec. 4-7 at campus sites, while regional competition will be played from Dec. 11-14, also at campus sites. The national semifinals are scheduled for Dec. 18.

If You've Been With Us All Season, These May Look Familiar ...
Playing the Percentages -- Michigan is 15-2 this season with it hits .250 or better. In games in which they hit .300 or better, the Wolverines are 6-0, while U-M owns a 3-0 record when recording a hitting percentage of .400 or better.

Anytime, Anywhere -- The motto "Anytime, Anywhere" was adopted by the Michigan volleyball team for its trip to Prague, Czech Republic, in August, and it seems the Wolverines have brought that mantra into the season. So far, U-M has won nine matches away from Cliff Keen Arena, surpassing last seasons total of five. The Wolverines, with a 5-3 record on the road in Big Ten play, have already posted the most conference road wins since 1997, when U-M triumphed in six of its 10 road contests. Prior to this year, Michigan had recorded no more than two wins on the road in conference play during each of the last five seasons.

Layin' the Smackdown -- U-M's 30-9 win in the third game of its 3-0 (30-25, 30-18, 30-9) win at Iowa on Oct. 25 marked the first time the Wolverines have held an opponent to single digits in a 30-point game in the three seasons the rally-scoring-to-30 format has been used. The previous low was 12 points against Florida Atlantic earlier this season (Aug. 29) in a 30-26, 28-30, 30-12, 30-18 victory at the Florida State Invitational.

Home Sweet Home -- U-M posted a 9-6 at Cliff Keen Arena this season and has notched nine or more wins at home in each of the last four seasons.

Sweep Success -- Michigan's victories at Indiana and Purdue on Oct. 10-11 marked the first weekend road sweep for the Wolverines since 1997, when U-M went on the road and downed Minnesota and Iowa in back-to-back days.

One Less Thing to Worry About -- Michigan's 3-1 win at Ohio State on Nov. 16 marked the first win in U-M volleyball history in Columbus, snapping a 24-match losing streak to the Buckeyes on OSU's home court.

Triple Play -- Michigan captured three of its four pre-conference tournaments, marking the second time in school history U-M has won three in-season tournaments. The Wolverines captured the Michigan/Pepsi Challenge, Tennessee's Toyota Lady Vol Classic and the Michigan/Nike Challenge this season, equaling the feat set by the 1987 squad, which took three of its four in-season tournaments.

State Pride Banner Stays at Michigan -- Michigan retained the State Pride Series Banner, awarded annually to the winner of the Michigan-Michigan State series, by virtue of a 5-3 lead in games won. The last time Michigan, which captured the banner with a sweep of the Spartans last season, won consecutive State Pride Banners was from 1990-92, the first three years of the competition. Each team won a match this season, with U-M posting a 3-0 sweep in East Lansing on Oct. 1, while the Spartans recorded a 3-2 victory in Ann Arbor on Nov. 5.

Forming Her Own Club -- Junior Jennifer Gandolph accomplished something no other player in the history of U-M volleyball has in the program's 30-plus year history on Nov. 14 at No. 16 Penn State. With her 20th dig of the night, Gandolph recorded her 1,000th career dig, becoming the first player in the program's history to top the 1,000 mark in career digs and kills.

Crowded Houses -- 2,947 fans packed into Cliff Keen Arena to see Michigan face Iowa (Nov. 21) and No. 22 Minnesota (Nov. 22), marking the second-highest weekend total in school history, and just 119 fans shy of the school record of 3,066, set on Nov. 6-7, 1992, when U-M hosted Ohio State and Penn State ... An even 2,800 fans, including a season-high 1,486 against No. 12 Penn State (Sept. 27), saw Michigan face Ohio State (Sept. 26) and Penn State, marking the third-highest weekend series attendance total in school history ... U-M's 1,800 fans against Michigan State on Nov. 5 marked the fourth-largest crowd in Michigan history, while the crowd of 1,712 to watch the Wolverines taken on Minnesota on Nov. 22 was the fifth-largest crowd in U-M history.

This Seems Awfully Familiar ... -- The Wolverines' starting lineup may look a little familiar to those who have been watching the team for the past few seasons. Five of the six regular starters from last season -- juniors Lisa Gamalski and Jennifer Gandolph, along with seniors Erin Moore, Chantel Reedus and Nicole Poquette -- are back in 2003. Gamalski is in her second season as the regular starter at setter, while Gandolph, Moore, Reedus and Poquette have been regular starters since the 2001 campaign.

Taking On the Top 25 -- U-M is 1-8 against ranked opponents this season. The Wolverines have six teams that are currently ranked by the AVCA on their 2003 schedule.

Increasing Understanding of the Game -- In the final boxscores and cumulative statistics this season, there is a new "points" column. Points is a new statistic to allow fans and media new to the game a better understanding of the game of volleyball. Points are accumulated by adding kills, service aces and blocks (1 point for a solo, .5 for assists). The points feature allows fans and media to see how a certain player performed overall in a match. For example, if Erin Moore has a career-high 30 kills and scores 40 points, you can see that she has more weapons than just her offensive totals.

Oddities -- Since the Big Ten has 11 teams, each year there is a team that is considered the odd team because they do not have a travel partner. This year Wisconsin is the lone traveling team. When travel partners (i.e., Michigan and Michigan State) play each other on Wednesday night, they will play Wisconsin on either Friday or Saturday.

Moore Named Preseason All-Big Ten -- Senior Erin Moore was one of 12 student-athletes named to the Preseason All-Big Ten Team, marking the second straight year she has been selected to the squad. Moore earned All-Mideast Region honorable mention from the AVCA in 2002, becoming just the second U-M player in the program's history to receive all-region accolades from the AVCA. Moore was also named to the 12-member All-Big Ten team, improving upon her All-Big Ten honorable mention laurels in 2001.

U-M Picked Seventh in Big Ten Preseason Coaches Poll -- The Wolverines were tabbed to finish seventh in the Big Ten by the leagues head coaches. Michigan, which tied for sixth in the Big Ten last year with a 10-10 mark, has improved its win total and position in the Big Ten standings during each year of head coach Mark Rosen's tenure. Last year's 10 wins were the most in league play since the 1997 campaign.

Serving Up Europe! -- The U-M volleyball team traveled to Prague, Czech Republic, Aug. 14-24 to compete against club teams in the Prague area as part of its preseason training. Player journals and photos from the Wolverines' trip are available on MGoBlue.com.

Contact: Paul Thomas (734) 763-4423