Michigan
13-12, 7-9
Indiana
9-18, 2-13
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indiana | 22 | 18 | 25 | 0 |
| Michigan | 30 | 30 | 30 | 3 |
Michigan Downs Hoosiers, Pushes Win Streak to Three
11/11/2005 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan volleyball team won its third straight match and moved one step closer to the fifth postseason berth in seven seasons with a 3-0 (30-22, 30-18, 30-25) win over Indiana Friday night (Nov. 11) at Cliff Keen Arena. The match will air on Comcast SportsNet Chicago on Saturday (Nov. 12) at 5:30 p.m. EST.
Sophomore Katie Bruzdzinski (Naperville, Ill./Naperville North) led all players with 16 kills for her 10th double-digit outing in a row, while sophomore Lyndsay Miller (Ida, Mich./Ida) had 15 kills on 23 swings while hitting a match-high .522. Junior Danielle Pflum (Martinsville, Ind./Martinsville) also hit double figures with 11 kills on 23 swings, terminating seven balls in game three. Sophomore Stesha Selsky (Manhattan Beach, Calif./Marymount) and sophomore/freshman Mara Martin (Monroe, Mich./St. Mary's Catholic) reached double digits in digs, with Selsky tallying 16 for her 23rd double-digit outing in 25 matches and Martin recording 13.
Michigan improves to 13-12 overall and 7-9 in Big Ten play, while Indiana falls to 9-18 and 2-13. The win guarantees that Michigan will find itself in sixth place in the Big Ten standings with four matches remaining and leaves the Wolverines with a task of finishing the season 2-2 to qualify for NCAA postseason consideration.
Michigan ran away with game one after doubling up Indiana down the stretch, outscoring the Hoosiers 16-8 after the game was deadlocked at 14-14, to cruise to a 30-22 win. Bruzdzinski exploded with seven kills on 14 swings in the period, while Selsky anchored the defense with six digs. With the score knotted at 14-14, freshman Kerry Hance (Los Angeles, Calif./Marymount) served for four straight points, including back-to-back aces, to move Michigan ahead 18-14. Bruzdzinski took over from there, nailing five kills down the stretch with Pflum adding three as Michigan cruised to the win.
Michigan built an early lead and ran away with game two thanks to seven kills from Miller and five from Bruzdzinski, while the Michigan defense held Indiana to a -.027 hitting percentage in a 30-18 win. Miller hammered seven kills on just nine swings, while Bruzdzinski struck on half of her 10 swings for a .500 hitting percentage. Senior/junior Erin Cobler (Dexter, Mich./Dexter) added four kills, three digs and two blocks to the stat sheet. Michigan ran a 5-4 lead to 19-15 when Hance served for three straight points, followed by Selsky serving for two straight and Cobler serving out the final three points in the win.
The Wolverines battled through 12 ties in game three and rode seven kills from Pflum and 10 digs from Selsky to turn a 20-20 tie into a 30-25 win and a sweep. Pflum had seven kills on 11 swings, while Miller chipped in with five kills. Indiana rebounded from a two-point deficit to tie the game at 20-20, when Cobler, Bruzdzinski and Miller combined on three of Michigan's next four points to give the Wolverines a 24-20 advantage and enough momentum to put away the Hoosiers.
Michigan embarks on its final road trip of the regular season when the Wolverines visit current No. 13 Wisconsin on Friday (Nov. 18) and Northwestern on Saturday (Nov. 19). Both matches are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. CST.
Q U O T E S
Michigan Head Coach Mark Rosen
On tonight's match... "We were balanced well across the board, which made it hard to stop us. Four of our players had at least 20 swings and all played effectively tonight. We have something to prove because we didn't take care of business the last time we played Indiana. We served tougher and played better defense, which made us hard to handle. We are maturing and taking care of the little things now. I knew we had to come in here and win at home. We know that Wisconsin and Northwestern will be a challenge next weekend because they feel the same way we did tonight -- that they need to win their home matches."
U-M Sophomore/Freshman Mara Martin
On tonight's match ... "I thought we played very well. We have improved a lot lately and have tightened our defense. We were able to spread the ball around a lot tonight and Katie (Bruzdzinski), Lyndsay (Miller), Danni (Pflum), Erin (Cobler) and Candace (Gay) played great."
U-M Sophomore Lyndsay Miller
On tonight's match ... "We keep stressing to play point to point. We came out and put Indiana away and it felt good to play so well against a scrappy team. We knew we needed to play our game and come out and beat IU. We worked hard on our defense and we're improving steadily."
N O T E S
The crowd of 1,085 gives Michigan four straight home crowds of 1,000 fans or more.
Michigan improves to 3-1 in November and is on a three-match winning streak heading to current No. 13 Wisconsin.
Sophomore Stesha Selsky needs 16 digs to move into 10th place on the Michigan career list. She needs 92 digs to become just the seventh player in U-M volleyball history to record 1,000 digs in a career.
Selsky has recorded double-digit digs in each of the last 16 matches, including nine 20-plus outings in that span.
Sophomore Katie Bruzdzinski has hit double-digits in kills in 10-straight matches -- doing the deed in 21 of 25 matches this season.
Sophomore Lyndsay Miller has recorded double-digit kills in each of the last five matches.
Freshman Kerry Hance tied a career high with two aces.
Freshman Mara Martin had a career-best hitting percentage, hitting .455 with five kills on 11 attempts with zero errors.
Contact: Richard Retyi (734) 763-4423
