Michigan
21-12
CaliforniaÂ
25-6
Michigan Bounced from NCAA Tournament by California
12/6/2003 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Site:Â Berkeley, Calif. (Haas Pavilion)
Event:Â NCAA Tournament (Second Round)
Score:Â #8 California 3, Michigan 0 (30-23, 30-23, 30-28)
Records:Â U-M (21-12), Cal (25-6)
Next U-M Event:Â Season Completed
BERKELEY, Calif. -- The University of Michigan volleyball team suffered a 3-0 defeat at the hands of eighth-ranked California on Saturday night (Dec. 6) at Haas Pavilion, falling 30-23, 30-23, 30-28 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Junior Jennifer Gandolph (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove HS) led the Wolverines with 13 kills, while senior Erin Moore (Tiffin, Ohio/Columbian HS) recorded 11 in the final match of her record-setting career.
The Wolverines, with a 21-12 record, finish the 2003 campaign with the most wins since 1997 and the sixth 20-win season in the program's history. In addition, the Wolverines advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in five appearances.
California took a 1-0 lead with a 30-23 win in game one, coming from behind to take nine of the game's final 12 points. Michigan rebounded from an early three-point deficit at 6-9, taking seven of eight points, including three kills by Gandolph, to open up a 12-9 lead. The Bears began to chip away at U-M's lead after a series of sideouts, eventually taking the lead for good at 19-18. Gandolph and redshirt freshman Erin Cobler (Dexter, Mich./Dexter HS) led Michigan with five kills each as U-M hit .324 in the frame.
The Bears opened up a 7-0 lead in game two before Michigan rallied to take 12 of the next 18 points to pull within one at 13-12. After trading sideouts, Cal took five of the next six points before Gandolph reeled off three straight kills to make the score 19-17. California pulled away after that with five of the next six points to go up 24-18 before Michigan rallied again, scoring five of seven points to get within three at 26-23. After a Cal timeout, the Bears finished the game with four straight scores to take a 2-0 lead with a 30-23 victory.
In game three, the Wolverines came out and built a 14-10 lead before Cal mounted a rally, scoring seven of eight points to take a 17-15 lead. Michigan would battle back, tying the score at 26-26. The Bears took the next two points to force match point, but U-M would not go down as Gandolph recorded a kill and senior Nicole Poquette (Grand Haven, Mich./Grand Haven HS), freshman Megan Bowman (St. John, Ind./Lake Central HS) and Cobler mounted a block to close the gape to 29-28. However, Cal's Mia Jerkov recorded the final kill to end the match with a 30-28 victory.
Jerkov finished the match with 29 kills in 58 attempts. Cal had 61 kills as a team for the match and hit .336 for the night. Michigan finished the match hitting .267, with three players -- Gandolph, Cobler and Bowman -- topping the .300 mark. Junior Lisa Gamalski (Milwaukee, Wis./Catholic Memorial HS) paced the Wolverines with 11 digs, while Cobler's five blocks, including four assists, were a team high.
QUOTES
Michigan Head Coach Mark Rosen
On the match ... "First off, Cal did a great job. I thought Cal played very well and they're a very good team, and I think they'll do well moving on and I think credit goes to them. I think certainly we got off to a slow start in games one and two. Defensively we just didn't match them, and that got us in trouble. Cal did a really good job in critical points of the match. We'd be right with them and they'd do a great job of pushing away and separating from us, and that's the sign of a good team. I was very proud of our team for fighting back in game three. That's a tough situation to be in when you know it's an elimination match and you've struggled in the first two games to stay with them, and I thought we came out and a couple of things we weren't doing well I thought we got better at. Again, I think Cal was very good at critical points. Right at the wire when we were right with them, they pushed away, and I credit them for taking advantage of that opportunity."
NOTES
• Michigan finishes the season with a 21-12 record, marking the most wins since the 1997 campaign. The 20-win season is sixth in school history.
• U-M is 4-5 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and has advanced to the second round in four of its five NCAA appearances.
• Michigan finished the season with a school-record 633 block assists and a program-best .250 hitting percentage.
• Erin Moore finished the season with a career-high 522 kills, a U-M single-season record. Moore also tallied a career-high 161 total blocks, including a career-best 154 assists, to set single-season U-M records in both categories.
• Lisa Gamalski registered her 12th double-double of the season with 28 assists and a team-high 11 digs.
