Michigan
15-5, 5-4Big Ten
Northwestern
7-12, 2-7Big Ten
Rosen Gets 100th Win as Michigan Tops Northwestern
10/22/2004 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Senior Jennifer Gandolph (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove) had a team-high 13 kills and 11 digs for her seventh double-double of the season, while senior Lisa Gamalski (Milwaukee, Wisc./Catholic Memorial) had seven kills and tied a career high with three aces as the University of Michigan volleyball team swept Northwestern 3-0 (30-16, 34-32, 30-27) before a near sellout crowd Friday night (Oct. 22) at Cliff Keen Arena.
Gandolph sat out game one but burst out of the gates in game two, notching eight kills and five digs to help the Wolverines down the Wildcats and improve to 15-5 on the season and 5-4 in the Big Ten. The win also give head coach Mark Rosen his 100th victory with the Maize and Blue. Rosen has 309 career wins in 12 full seasons as a head coach. Northwestern drops to 7-12 and 2-7 in the conference. The Wildcats have not won at Cliff Keen Arena in 24 years.
Down one game to none, Northwestern led for much of the second game and forced game point at 30-29 before sophomore Danielle Pflum (Martinsville, Ind./Martinsville) tallied her fifth kill of the match, knotting it up at 30-30. A block by sophomore Megan Bowman (St. John, Ind./Lake Central) and Gamalski gave the Wolverines game point at 31-30, but Northwestern rebounded with a kill, tying it again. Gamalski was equal to the task, putting Michigan ahead 32-31 with a quick dump, but the pesky Wildcats responded with a kill of their own to tie it up, 32-32. Another block by Bowman, this time teaming up with Pflum, put Michigan up 33-32, and Bowman, recording her fourth block of the game, combined with Gandolph for the game-winning rejection, giving U-M the 34-32 edge.
Northwestern pushed the Wolverines to the limit in game three, leading up until Gamalski tallied another crafty kill at the net, knotting the game at 16-16. Gandolph put Michigan ahead with a kill, 17-16, but the Wildcats cobbled together a 4-0 run to lead 20-17. U-M chipped away at the deficit, finally catching up and overtaking Northwestern with back-to-back kills from Gandolph, making it 23-22 Michigan. The Wolverines outpaced the Wildcats 4-3 down the stretch, taking a 27-25 lead when freshman Lyndsay Miller (Ida, Mich./Ida) put two balls down the middle for her seventh and eighth kills of the match, giving U-M a 29-27 advantage. Northwestern survived the first game point, but Gamalski took a ball played close to the net and jammed it down the middle to give Michigan a 30-27 win.
U-M took game one with ease, 30-16, on the strength of four kills from Miller and three kills from Gamalski.
Michigan welcomes Wisconsin to Cliff Keen Arena on Saturday (Oct. 23) at 7 p.m. The Wolverines will look for revenge after having been defeated by the Badgers in each of the last 15 meetings.
Q U O T E S
Sophomore Erin Cobler
On the victory ... "We struggled at times tonight, but overall we had a consistent level of play. It's always nice to win, no matter what. We worked hard in practice and I think that helped us here tonight."
Sophomore Megan Bowman
On breaking the team's three-match losing streak ... "Our highs and lows are still a little too steep, but we played much better defense tonight. Our defense was good and our blocking was a lot more consistent than it has been in the last few matches. It's nice to be home again and get a win."
N O T E S
Michigan's 15-5 start continues to be the best start in 24 years. Michigan did not earn its 15th win of the 2003 campaign until Oct. 31 against Purdue.
Head coach Mark Rosen recorded his 100th win with the Maize and Blue against Northwestern. Rosen now has 309 victories in his head coaching career.
Senior Lisa Gamalski played in her 100th match. Sophomores Megan Bowman and Erin Colber competed in their 50th matches as well.
Lisa Gamalski tied a career high with three service aces against the Wildcats, all in game one. Gamalski's previous best was set this season on Sept. 3 against Maryland-Eastern Shore.
Megan Bowman needs just four block assists to move into 13th place all-time at Michigan. Bowman currently has 205 block assists and 231 total blocks in her career.
Freshman Lyndsay Miller needs just four blocks to record 100 in her young career.
Northwestern has not defeated Michigan at home in over 24 years. Tonight's win over the Wildcats extends that streak to 25 years. Michigan is 16-5 all-time in Cliff Keen Arena against NU.
Contact: Richard Retyi (734) 763-4423
