Michigan
20-11, 12-8Big Ten
Northwestern
18-14, 9-11Big Ten
Michigan Survives Scare, Defeats Northwestern in Four
11/29/2003 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Site:Â Evanston, Ill. (Welsh-Ryan Arena)
Score:Â Michigan 3, Northwestern 1 (30-17, 31-29, 24-30, 30-28)
Records:Â U-M (20-11, 12-8 Big Ten), Northwestern (18-14, 9-11 Big Ten)
Next U-M Event:Â TBA
EVANSTON, Ill. -- The University of Michigan volleyball team survived a scare from the host Northwestern Wildcats on Saturday (Nov. 29) at Welsh-Ryan Arena, winning the first two games and holding on for a 3-1 (30-17, 31-29, 24-30, 30-28) victory to close out the regular season. Junior Jennifer Gandolph (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove HS) led the Wolverines with 19 kills and a 16 digs, while redshirt freshman Erin Cobler (Dexter, Mich./Dexter HS) and senior Erin Moore (Tiffin, Ohio/Columbian HS) each notched 14 kills as the Wolverines closed out the conference season with a 7-3 mark on the road.
With the victory, the Wolverines (20-11, 12-8 Big Ten) posted their second Big Ten road sweep of the campaign and head into the NCAA Tournament with wins in four of their last five matches.
Michigan came out and dominated in game one, winning the opening frame 30-17. U-M hit a blistering .407 in the first game, committing only four errors, and limited the Wildcats to a .097 hitting percentage with five blocks, including three by freshman Megan Bowman (St. John, Ind./Lake Central HS). Cobler led the Wolverines with four kills in the opening game.
In game two, the Wolverines fought off two game-point chances by Northwestern to come from behind and record a 31-29 win. Michigan took five of the last six points in the game, with Moore and Gandolph leading U-M to victory after the Wildcats had forced game point at 29-27. Moore recorded a kill to cut the lead to one, then Moore teamed with Gandolph for blocks in back-to-back plays to give Michigan a 30-29 lead and game point. Gandolph ended the stanza with one of her eight kills in the game to put U-M up 2-0.
Coming out of the break, Northwestern jumped out to a seven-point lead in game three at 11-4 and never looked back, forcing a fourth frame with a 30-24 victory. Michigan had a four-point run to pull within three at 16-13 but could not get any closer as the Wolverines hit just .111 for the game while Northwestern recorded a .250 percentage.
Game four was the most dramatic of the match as Michigan held a five-point lead at 13-8, only to watch Northwestern come back, tie the game at 22-22 and take a four-point lead at 27-23. The Wolverines called a timeout at that point then went on a roll, scoring seven of the match's last eight points to come from behind and record the win, 30-28.
Michigan notched a .230 hitting percentage while holding the Widlcats to .156 and outblocked Northwestern 18-13. Bowman led the Wolverines' front-line with nine blocks -- her third match of the year with at least nine blocks -- while senior Nicole Poquette (Grand Haven, Mich./Grand Haven HS) and Cobler each recorded six blocks, including two solos for Cobler. Moore added five blocks and eight digs.
The Wolverines will now await an at-large bid to the 2003 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship, scheduled to begin next weekend with the first and second rounds at 16 campus sites. The announcement of the 64-team field will be made at 8 p.m. EST Sunday (Nov. 30) on ESPNews.
NOTES
• U-M improved its Big Ten record to 12-8, marking the highest conference win total since head coach Mark Rosen took over in 1999. In addition, the 12 wins are the most by the Wolverines since 1997, when they recorded 13.
• The Wolverines improved their overall record to 20-11, marking the most wins in a season since Rosen inherited the program.
• Michigan's 20-win season is its first since 1997 and only the second time in the last 16 years the Wolverines have reached the 20-win plateau.
• U-M is 14-0 when winning the first two games of a match.
• The Wolverines finished the regular season with a 7-3 record on the road in the Big Ten.
