Michigan
15-7, 6-5Big Ten
Michigan State
8-11, 3-8Big Ten
Michigan Wins Banner, Loses Match at Michigan State
10/27/2004 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- University of Michigan freshman Katie Bruzdzinski (Naperville, Ill./Naperville North) tied a career high with 20 kills, including six in the fifth game, and finished with 16 digs for her fifth double-double of the season, but the Wolverines fell 3-2 (23-30, 30-28, 30-24, 19-30, 15-17) to Michigan State in volleyball action Wednesday night (Oct. 27) at Jenison Field House.
Senior Jennifer Gandolph (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove) and sophomore Megan Bowman (St. John, Ind./Lake Central) each finished with 13 kills, while junior/sophomore Erin Cobler (Dexter, Mich./Dexter) added 11 kills for her eighth double-digit kill outing in the last 10 matches. Gandolph added 10 digs for her team-leading ninth double-double of the season, while senior Sarah Allen (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Mechanicsburg) led all Wolverines with 15 digs.
Despite the loss, Michigan captures the State Pride Series banner for the third straight season with a 5-4 edge in games won in two matches against the Spartans this season. The loss drops U-M to 15-7 overall and 5-6 in the Big Ten, while Michigan State improves to 8-11 and 3-8 in conference play.
Michigan dropped game one before rallying to win the next two, but the Spartans took a 30-19 game-four victory, forcing extra time. In the deciding fifth game, Michigan broke out in front, 4-1, on kills from Bowman and Cobler and Gandolph's second ace of the night, but an overturned call on the sideline broke the momentum, giving U-M a 4-2 lead. Bruzdzinski hammered the next three kills for Michigan, but State countered with five points, tying it 7-7. Gandolph nailed her 12th kill of the night to put U-M up 8-7, but the Spartans countered with four straight points, burning both of Michigan's timeouts and taking the lead, 11-8.
Gandolph recorded her final kill of the night on the next point, but Michigan committed back-to-back errors, giving MSU a 13-9 lead. The Spartans served into the net to make it 13-10 and Bruzdzinski tallied another kill, pulling Michigan within two, down 13-11. The Wolverines committed another error, giving MSU game point, but U-M scored four straight, punctuated by Bruzdzinski's career-high-tying 20th kill and a shot by freshman Lyndsay Miller (Ida, Mich./Ida) right down the middle, giving U-M game point, up 15-14. Michigan State rallied with a kill of its own to tie, then pulled ahead with an ace before slamming the door on the Wolverines and taking the final point to win.
U-M jumped to a 3-1 lead in game two on kills from Cobler and Bowman, but MSU responded with a 5-1 run to lead 6-4. State held a 10-8 lead when the Wolverines exploded on a 6-2 run, powered by another pair of kills from Bowman and Cobler, giving Michigan a 14-12 advantage. Michigan State weathered the storm and mounted a 6-2 run of its own, with both U-M points coming from Bruzdzinski kills, as MSU gained the advantage again, 18-16. The Spartans stayed up by two, leading 22-20, but a 3-0 run, capped by Cobler's seventh kill of the night, made it 23-22 Wolverines.
Once again the home Spartans responded in kind, taking a 4-0 run and turning it into a 26-23 advantage before the Wolverines could stabilize with yet another Bruzdzinski kill. Cobler followed with an ace, forcing MSU into a timeout, and Michigan trailed 26-25. The Wolverines served into the net for the Spartans' next point, but MSU responded with a service error of its own, making it 27-25 MSU. The Spartans struck again with a solid kill on the right side, putting them two points shy of a game-two win, but Gandolph pulled Michigan to within one, down 28-27 and the Wolverine defense forced the Spartans into three straight attack errors to take game two 30-28.
In game three, Michigan fell behind early, 8-3, but rebounded to tie it up at 15-15 thanks to kills from five different players, including three from Gandolph and two from Bowman. The Wolverines quieted the home crowd with a 6-2 run to take a 21-17 lead and break the deadlock. Michigan State fired back to close within two, down 24-22, but a pair of Cobler kills and a shot by Miller down the middle gave U-M the 27-23 advantage and forced MSU to call timeout. The Spartans pointed first after the break, but Bruzdzinski nailed an ace that arced at least a foot and a half from right to left and smacked the sideline, making it 29-24 . Bruzdzinski sent another bomb into the Spartan ranks on the next serve, forcing an attack error and giving Michigan the game.
Michigan State started game four with a bang, leading by nine (20-11) thanks to a number of Wolverine errors. Michigan fought to climb back into the game, but the Spartans out-hit them, .275 to -.053, and forced a deciding fifth game.
Michigan and Michigan State traded points in game one until State took a slim 19-18 lead and broke out on a 7-2 run, leading 26-20 and forcing the Wolverines into a timeout. Miller rallied the Wolverines with her first kill of the match, followed by a block solo from Gandolph, but an attack error snuffed the budding run and the Spartans closed out the game with a 30-23 win, out-hitting the Wolverines, .469 to .229.
Michigan returns home to face No. 21 Illinois on Saturday (Oct. 30) at 7:30 p.m. in Cliff Keen Arena. The Wolverines fell in five games to the then No. 24 Illini on Oct. 8 in Champaign, Ill.
N O T E S
Freshman Katie Bruzdzinski tied a career high with 20 kills against the Spartans, matching a record she set Oct. 8 at Illinois. Bruzdzinski has 11 matches with 10 kills or more this season, including six in the last nine matches.
Michigan wins the State Pride Series banner for the third time in a row, giving the Wolverines an 8-7 all-time advantage.
Contact: Richard Retyi (734) 763-4423
