Michigan
17-7, 5-7
Michigan State
14-10, 5-7
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michigan | 36 | 25 | 30 | 27 | 1 |
| Michigan State | 38 | 30 | 26 | 30 | 3 |
U-M Wins State Pride Series But Loses Match at MSU
10/27/2007 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Site: East Lansing, Mich. (Jenison Field House)
Score: #20 Michigan lost to Michigan State 1-3 (36-38, 25-30, 30-26, 27-30)
Records: U-M (17-7, 5-7 Big Ten), MSU (14-10, 5-7 Big Ten)
Next U-M Event: Friday, Nov. 2 -- Minnesota (Cliff Keen Arena), 7 p.m.
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- The No. 20 University of Michigan volleyball team won the in-state war but lost the battle to Michigan State, falling in four games (36-38, 25-30, 30-26, 27-30) Saturday night (Oct. 27) at Jenison Field House but winning the State Pride Series for the fifth time in six seasons.
The teams combined for 151 kills in an offensive showcase, with MSU's outside hitters combining for 44 kills and U-M's for 37 terminations. The Spartans won a wild game one in which the teams survived a combined 11 game points and took a two-games-to-none lead, but Michigan fought back to win game three and clinch the State Pride Series. Unfortunately, the Spartans caught their breath and kept up the pressure in game four, finishing off the Wolverines and splitting the season series.
Sophomore Veronica Rood (Temperance, Mich./Bedford) was especially effective late in the match with 11 kills in the final two frames, and she finished with 16 terminations and a .371 hitting percentage. Senior Lyndsay Miller (Ida, Mich./Ida) had 15 kills and hit .480, while senior Katie Bruzdzinski (Naperville, Ill./Naperville North) led all Wolverines with 21 kills but hit just .136 from the outside. Junior Beth Karpiak (La Grange, Ill./Lyons Township) added 15 kills to the cause.
Game one gave the crowd at Jenison Field House a little extra volleyball, featuring 74 points by both teams and some backs-to-the-wall volleyball in a 38-36 Spartan victory. Michigan showed some heroics first, rebounding from a late six-point, 27-21 deficit to tie it at 29-29, surviving four game points along the way. U-M then took a 30-29 lead to push MSU to the brink, but the Spartans survived five game points of their own to force Michigan against the wall once more, 35-34. The Wolverines survived two more game points as the teams traded scores, but with a 37-36 deficit, the Spartans scored the final point of the period to claim victory. Bruzdzinski rebounded from a cold start to finish with eight kills, while Miller and Karpiak managed five apiece. The Spartans' outside duo of Katie Johnson and Ashley Schatzle combined for 18 kills on 27 swings to propel the MSU offense forward.
The teams played it close in game two with neither team managing more than two-point lead until late, but the Spartans were the ones who got hot when it mattered, turning a 23-20 advantage into a 30-25 win to go up two games to zero. The teams tied 10 times to 17-17, when MSU scored two in a row and never looked back. Miller stayed steady with five kills on nine swings in the framce, but Bruzdzinski cooled with four terminations while committing three errors. Schatzle and Johnson combined for seven kills in the period, while unsung hero Vanessa King tallied six kills on six swings.
Michigan thwarted a Michigan State sweep with a gutsy showing in game three, surviving 15 ties with the Spartans to take a pivotal 23-22 lead late and cruise down the stretch to a 30-26 victory. Rood helped spark the winning frame with four kills on eight swings, while Bruzdzinski added seven terminations. Senior Stesha Selsky (Manhattan Beach, Calif./Marymount) put up seven digs in the frame to help the Wolverines limit MSU to a .068 hitting percentage in game three.
Michigan State snuffed out any Wolverine hopes in the fourth, repelling one U-M rally near the midway point and holding off another late to win 30-27. Michigan trailed 17-15 midway through the period before tying it at 18-18, then fell behind 28-23 only to rally to within two, down 29-27, forcing MSU to use both its timeouts. The Wolverines could only hold off two MSU game points, however, and a Wolverine attack error ended the comeback and the match. Rood nailed seven kills in the period and Karpiak had five, but Schatzle and Johnson gained new life with 12 combined kills on 23 swings to put away the Wolverines.
Michigan returns to Ann Arbor for a Friday-Monday slate of matches, beginning with Minnesota on Friday (Nov. 2) at 7 p.m. in Cliff Keen Arena. The Wolverines then take two days off before facing Iowa on Monday (Nov. 5) in a 7 p.m. match televised on the Big Ten Network.
NOTES
• Senior Stesha Selsky moves into third place on the Big Ten's all-time digs list, passing Penn State's Kaleena Walters (2002-05). Selsky trails active Wisconsin libero Jocelyn Wack and the Big Ten's all-time leader in kills, Minnesota's Paula Gentil (2002-05), who finished her career with 2,791 digs.
• Michigan captures the State Pride Series with a 4-3 record in games against the Spartans this season. The teams split the season series, each winning on its home floor. U-M has won the State Pride Series six of the last seven years and 10 times in the 18-year history of the in-state competition.
