Michigan
0-1
Hawaii
1-0
Michigan Upsets Hawaii in Five-Game Thriller to Start Season
8/24/2007 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Site: Honolulu, Hawaii (Stan Sheriff Center)
Score: Michigan 3, #10 Hawaii 2 (30-14, 30-28, 22-30, 27-30, 18-16)
Records: U-M (1-0), Hawaii (0-1)
Attendance: 7,343
Next U-M Event: Saturday, Aug. 25 -- vs. Oregon State at ASICS Rainbow Wahine Invitational (Honolulu, Hawaii), 5 p.m. HST
• Boxscore
HONOLULU, Hawaii -- Senior Lyndsay Miller's (Ida, Mich./Ida) four kills in game five, including three in a row to pull Michigan off the ledge during match point, helped the University of Michigan volleyball team knock off No. 10 Hawaii 3-2 (30-14, 30-28, 22-30, 27-30, 18-16) Friday night (Aug. 24) at the ASICS Rainbow Wahine Invitational.
Trailing 14-12 in game five and on the brink of defeat with the clock striking 5 a.m. in Ann Arbor, Miller scored three kills in a row to put the Wolverines in a position to knock off Hawaii, 15-14. The Rainbow Wahine bounced back to even it up at 15-15 and 16-16 but Miller slammed home another kill to put U-M ahead 17-16 and set up U-M for the victory. A Hawaii attack error ended the two-hour, 44-minute match and gave the Wolverines their third-greatest upset under head coach Mark Rosen.
Four Wolverines, including Miller, finished with 17 kills. Senior Katie Bruzdzinski (Naperville, Ill./Naperville North), junior Beth Karpiak (LaGrange, Ill./Lyons Township) and sophomore Veronica Rood (Temperance, Mich./Bedford) all finished with lucky number 17 kills, while the team's number 17, freshman Lexi Zimmerman (Barrington, Ill./Barrington) set the Wolverines to a .251 hitting percentage and collected 64 assists and 13 digs in her collegiate debut.
Rood set a career high in kills, hammering five timely terminations in game five, while senior Sarah Draves (Ypsilanti, Mich./Ypsilanti) finished with six terminations. Senior Stesha Selsky's (Manhattan Beach, Calif./Marymount) return to libero was a successful one as U-M's all-time leader in digs added 24 more to her resume to lead the Wolverines. She also had five service aces.
Michigan dominated game one with a commanding offensive performance, logging 15 kills on 19 swings with just two attack errors for a .684 attack percentage. Miller and Karpiak were a perfect 4-for-4, while Draves was 2-for-2. Bruzdzinski (3-for-5) and Rood (2-for-3) also contributed to the Wolverines' efficiency. On the flip side, Hawaii struggled all over the court with a .000 performance, including four attack errors by All-America outside hitter Jamie Houston. U-M took a 13-point, 22-9 lead, burning both Hawaii timeouts, and cruised to a 30-14 win.
In game two, the Wolverines trailed for the majority of the match but stuck around long enough to leapfrog the Wahine in the end, winning 30-28. Michigan fell behind 4-3 early and could not pull even with Hawaii until 26-26. The teams knotted up at 27 and 28 before Rood's seventh kill of the night and Houston's seventh attack error of the night gave the Wolverines a 2-0 lead. Bruzdzinski's six kills and Rood's five terminations led the way in the second stanza, while Draves and Karpiak added two blocks apiece.
Hawaii rebounded in game three with a sparkling offensive performance, tallying 23 kills and hitting .408 to pull out a 30-22 victory. Hawaii replaced setter Dani Mafua with Stephanie Brandt and benched Houston to great effect. Michigan attempted to counter with five kills from Karpiak and four from Bruzdzinski, but an early Wahine lead made a second comeback unlikely.
Michigan watched a golden opportunity evaporate in game four, blowing a five-point, 27-22 lead in what could have been the deciding game to watch the Rainbow Wahine mount an 8-0 run to take the frame, 30-27. Despite solid offense from Miller with her six kills and stellar defense from Selsky and her seven digs, the Wolverines could not put it away when it mattered, forcing a fifth game.
Michigan took an early 3-1 lead in game five thanks to Bruzdzinski's 16th kill of the night, only to have Hawaii rally back and make it 8-6 by the time the teams switched sides. Rood and Bruzdzinski struck for back-to-back kills to tie it at eight apiece, but Hawaii notched the next two to make it 10-8 and force U-M into a timeout. Hawaii kept ahead of the Wolverines and reached match point first, up 14-12 until Miller took the wheel. Miller hammered three kills in a row to give U-M a 15-14 lead, then broke a 16-16 tie with another kill later in the match to set up match point once again. This time it stuck as Hawaii sent a ball wide in the final attack of the match to give U-M an 18-16 win.
Michigan meets Oregon State (1-0) on Saturday (Aug. 25) in the second match of the ASICS Rainbow Wahine Invitational at 5 p.m. HST. Oregon State defeated Colorado State (0-1) in five games in the tournament opener.
N O T E S
• Senior Lyndsay Miller made her 90th career start, while freshman setter Lexi Zimmerman became the first true freshman to start a match at setter for the Wolverines since Shannon Melka in 1998.
• Sophomore Veronica Rood set a career high with 17 kills. Junior Beth Karpiak tied a career best with 17 kills.
• Hawaii is the third-highest ranked team that a Mark Rosen-led Michigan team has beaten. The No. 10 Rainbow Wahine are just a few notches below No. 7 Wisconsin (2005) and No. 7 BYU (1999), which both fell to the Wolverines under Rosen.
• Miller climbed to seventh place on U-M's all-time blocks list with three stuffs vs. Hawaii.
• Due to a five-game match prior to the Hawaii/Michigan showdown, the contest did not begin until 2:11 a.m. Ann Arbor time.
• A crowd of 7,343 fans packed the Stan Sheriff Center to catch all the action in the Wolverines' season opener.
• Michigan knocked off Hawaii for the first time in program history.
