Michigan
13-1, 0-1Big Ten
Indiana
10-3, 1-0Big Ten
Wolverines Upset by Hoosiers in Five in Big Ten Opener
9/22/2006 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Despite recording more kills, digs and service aces than visiting Indiana, the No. 19 University of Michigan volleyball team suffered its first loss of the season Friday night (Sept. 22), dropping a five-games heartbreaker (30-22, 28-30, 30-20, 28-30, 12-15) at Cliff Keen Arena. It was the Big Ten Conference opener for both squads.
The previously undefeated Wolverines (13-1, 0-1 Big Ten) took games one and three in dominating fashion but fell in tightly contested frames in the second and fourth period. Indiana took a three-point, 13-10 lead in the deciding fifth frame, but the surging Wolverines scored back-to-back points, making it 13-12 and sending the home crowd into a frenzy. The Hoosiers promptly burned their final timeout and came out of the huddle with back-to-back points of their own to leave Cliff Keen with a victory.
"We had 24 more kills than them and 27 more digs but we didn't compete well and we lost," said head coach Mark Rosen. "They played very hard and they persevered. This one got away from us. We didn't spread the ball around well, and Indiana is a good blocking team."
Junior Katie Bruzdzinski (Naperville, Ill./Naperville North) was the go-to option all night for the Wolverine attack, taking 55 swings and recording a season-best 25 kills to record a .345 attack percentage. Bruzdzinski added three blocks and an assist while putting up five kills in the first game, seven in the second, five in the third and four each in the fourth and fifth games. Junior Lyndsay Miller (Ida, Mich./Ida) was the other recipient of Michigan's offensive bounty, taking 46 balls for a season-best 20 kills but hitting just .152. Fifth-year senior Erin Penn (Dexter, Mich./Dexter) tied a season high with 38 swings and connected for 11 kills but recorded a .079 attack percentage.
With Michigan's perimeter taking 72 percent of the strikes, Michigan's middles found fertile ground with sophomore Beth Karpiak (La Grange, Ill./Lyons Township) tallying 11 kills and senior Megan Bowman (St. John, Ind./Lake Central) hammering seven kills on just 14 swings for a .357 hitting percentage. Bowman was also active on defense, tallying 10 blocks and registering the sixth double-digit block outing of her career and her third this season. Bowman tied a program record with a personal-best five solo stuffs, including two in the fifth game, to lead all U-M blockers.
Junior Stesha Selsky (Manhattan Beach, Calif./Marymount) spent nearly as much time digging balls as setting them, tallying a U-M season-best 29 digs and recording 62 assists. Selsky averaged 7.67 digs through the first three frames, notching eight in the first, nine in the second and six in the third.
Despite Michigan's individual performances, Indiana squeaked out close decisions in games two and four. The Hoosiers recorded 23 team blocks, led by Annie Moddrell's 12 stuffs, while IU offensive star Erica Short had 16 kills.
Michigan jumped out to a two-point, 15-13 lead at the midway point of game one before extending its lead to a comfortable 27-17 margin and taking the win. Bruzdzinski led all players with five kills, while Karpiak added four terminations on four swings. Penn also finished up with four kills and had the team's lone service ace. More importantly, Michigan shut down Indiana's Short, forcing her into a negative attack percentage (-.167) with just one kill in the period.
Short and the Hoosiers rebounded in the second, taking their first lead of the night at 12-11 and pushing their lead to 27-21 thanks to three service aces. Michigan fought back on the strength of a pair of kills from Miller, forcing Indiana to take its final timeout with the score 27-24 for Indiana. The Hoosiers struck next to make it 28-24, but Michigan responded with Miller's eighth kill of the frame followed by a Karpiak solo block and a Hoosier setting error to make it 28-27. A questionable call in the corner gave Indiana a kill and forced game point at 29-27, and despite Bruzdzinski's kill to keep the Wolverines alive, the Hoosiers struck down the middle of the U-M defense for the game-winner to tie the contest.
The Wolverines took command of the match in the third with a convincing 30-20 victory thanks to a spread attack that featured five kills for Bruzdzinski, four for Miller, four for Bowman and three for Karpiak. Selsky also anchored the defense with six digs.
Game four proved a pivotal one for Indiana, which loaded up on the blocks in the fourth frame, forcing 10 U-M attack errors and recording six team blocks to force a fifth frame. Miller ran into six attack errors on 14 swings in the period, while Indiana libero Juli Pierce was all over the floor with eight digs in the period. Michigan led by five early on, 11-6, but Indiana clawed back and took its first lead of the frame at 24-23, holding the advantage down the stretch.
Michigan fought hard to overcome a three-point, 11-8 deficit in the deciding fifth game, cutting into the deficit with a kill by Bruzdzinski and a solo stuff from Bowman to make it 11-10. Indiana struck next with a kill and Bruzdzinski was blocked to give the Hoosiers a crucial 2-0 run, making it 13-10, but the B-and-B connection hooked up again when Bruzdzinski slammed a kill on the left and Bowman stuffed another solo ball to make it 13-12. With momentum in the Wolverines' favor, Indiana called a timeout to quiet the crowd and struck right away to force match point at 14-12. Michigan received serve and Indiana's defense smothered Bruzdzinski on the left for a block to end the match.
Michigan will look to rebound in its second match of the Big Ten season when the Wolverines host No. 11 Purdue on Saturday night (Sept. 23) at Cliff Keen Arena. The match is billed as a Maize Out -- fans are encouraged to wear maize-colored clothing -- with first serve set for 7 p.m.
N O T E S
Senior Megan Bowman's five solo blocks tied a program record. Four Wolverines tallied five solo blocks in a single match in the 33-year history of Michigan volleyball. Most recently, Christine White (1990-93) had five solo blocks against Michigan State nearly 15 years ago (Nov. 6. 1991). Kim Clover (1986-89), Julia Sturm (1987-90) and Sue Rogers (1980-83) also tallied five solo blocks in a single match. Clover did it against Liberty (Sept. 2, 1989), Sturm had five vs. Eastern Michigan (Sept. 13, 1988) and Rogers did it first vs. Northwestern (Sept. 30, 1983).
Senior Megan Bowman's 10 blocks mark her third double-digit blocking match of season and the sixth of her career.
Junior Katie Bruzdzinski's 25 kills are a personal and team season high.
Junior Stesha Selsky's 29 digs are a personal and season high and tie for the eighth-most single-match digs in program history. Selsky, U-M's second all-time leading digger, owns the record for the second-most single-match digs (39), holds a share of fourth place (33), owns sixth and seventh place, and now holds a share of eighth place.
Katie Bruzdzinski's streak of matches with double-digit kills extends to 27.
Katie Bruzdzinski needs 10 kills to become one of just nine Wolverines to reach the 1,000-kill mark. Bruzdzinski could be the fastest Wolverine ever to the mark, one-upping current speed record holder Jennifer Gandolph (2001-04), who did it in 85 matches. Bruzdzinski has played 75 matches in her career.
Senior Megan Bowman continued her hunt for second place on U-M's all-time blocks list, closing to within eight blocks of second-place Erin Moore (2000-03). Bowman has 375 rejections in her career.
Michigan's home attendance of 1,037 is the second highest of the season and the highest in Cliff Keen Arena this year.
Michigan dropped its Big Ten home opener for the first time in four seasons.
Michigan lost just its third, fourth and fifth games of the season. The Wolverines have posted a 41-5 record for games won-lost this season. U-M's last loss of a game before tonight came on Sept. 2 vs. Iowa State.
Contact: Richard Retyi (734) 763-4423
