Michigan
7-3
Michigan State
7-4
Wolverines Rally Past Michigan State in Big Ten Opener
9/21/2005 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- The University of Michigan volleyball team came back from a 2-1 deficit and fought off rival Michigan State on its home court to win 3-2 (23-30, 30-21, 23-30, 30-28, 15-13) in a five-game match Wednesday night (Sept. 21) at Jenison Field House. The win extended the Wolverines' winning streak to seven and captured the first half-point for Michigan in the 2005-06 Pontiac Challenge Cup.
| | Cobler's match-winning kill gave her 11 for the match. |
Cobler had 11 kills, including the match winner, and junior Danielle Pflum (Martinsville, Ind./Martinsville) led all Wolverines with 15. Sophomore Katie Bruzdzinski (Naperville, Ill./Naperville North) also added 11 kills, including the 500th of her career, and sophomore Lyndsay Miller (Ida, Mich./Ida) finished with 11 kills and 10 blocks. Bruzdzinski hit the 500th kill in just 42 matches -- the second fastest Wolverine to do so. Jennifer Gandolph reached the milestone in 38 matches in her sophomore season.
Michigan jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the fifth game on a kill from redshirt freshman Mara Martin (Monroe, Mich./St. Mary's Catholic) and three MSU errors and parlayed the momentum into a five-point, 8-3 advantage. The scrappy Spartans rebounded once more, cutting the U-M lead to two, 9-7. Pflum connected for back-to-back kills, making it 11-7. Pflum added her fourth kill of the game, but Michigan State rallied to close within two, down 12-10. Another MSU error and a termination by Cobler brought gave U-M its first match point, 14-10.
In game four, Michigan led by as many as six points and survived a Spartan scare at the end to force game five. Michigan pulled ahead of the Spartans early thanks to key blocks by Miller and timely kills from Bruzdzinski, who recorded the 500th kill of her career to make it 10-7 Wolverines. Michigan led by six, 24-18, but the scrappy Spartans cobbled a 9-3 run to tie it up, 27-27. U-M forced Michigan State into an error, making it 28-27, and Pflum nailed the final two kills to put the game away.
The Wolverines and Spartans tied 10 times in a tightly fought game one, with U-M taking its first lead at 20-19, but Michigan State fired off seven unanswered points to end the period and take the first game, 30-23. Michigan trailed by three, 18-15, when Cobler nailed her first kill of the match and freshman Kerry Hance (Los Angeles, Calif./Marymount) connected for two straight aces to tie it at 18-18. The Spartans pointed next, but Bowman sparked a 2-0 Wolverine run with a power stuff at the net to give U-M its first lead of the night, 20-19. The teams battled to tie it four more times at 20, 21, 22 and 23 when Michigan State scored seven straight points to explode to victory.
Michigan took a 2-1 advantage in game two and never let up, leading by as many as eight points on six occasions and tying the match at one game apiece with a 30-21 win. The Wolverines held the Spartans to a -.081 hitting percentage, forcing MSU into 13 errors, while out-blocking the home team 6-3. Cobler was the cornerstone of U-M's wall at the net, recording four blocks in game two, while Bowman and Miller finished the period each with three. U-M took a 2-1 lead and ran it to 15-10 and 20-14, using up both of Michigan State's timeouts. Cobler put the game away with two blocks and a kill in the final four points to send the teams into the locker rooms deadlocked at one.
The Wolverines and Spartans battled to a 7-7 tie to begin game three, but MSU's strong defense held the U-M attack at bay and allowed MSU to rumble to a game-high 11 point lead and an eventual 30-23 win.
Michigan closes out the first week of Big Ten play with a road match at Indiana on Saturday (Sept. 24) in Bloomington, Ind. Match time is 7 p.m. EST/CDT at University Gym.
N O T E S
Sophomore Katie Bruzdzinski recorded the 500th kill of her career and in doing so became the second fastest U-M player to hit 500 kills in her career -- doing so in her 42nd career match. All-time kills leader Jennifer Gandolph did it quickest, notching her 500th kill in just her 38th match.
Junior Megan Bowman moved into a tie for seventh place on Michigan's all-time blocks list, recording the 329th block of her collegiate career. Bowman equalled former Wolverine Sarah Jackson (1994-97) and needs 26 blocks to move into sixth place and pass Linsey Ebert (1995-98).
Michigan takes the first point of the 2005-06 Pontiac Challenge Cup fall series. U-M has possessed the cup in each of the first six sessions of the Challenge Cup series.
After starting the season 0-3, Michigan has won each of its last seven matches.
The Wolverines held the NCAA leader in kills per game, Spartan Katie Johnson, to 22 kills (4.40 per game) -- 1.40 kills per game below her season average.
Contact: Richard Retyi (734) 763-4423
