Michigan
13-0, 1-0Big Ten
Illinois
8-4, 0-2Big Ten
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Illinois | 27 | 30 | 27 | 30 | 13 | 2 |
| Michigan | 30 | 23 | 30 | 28 | 15 | 3 |
U-M Stays Perfect by Beating Illinois in Big Ten Opener
9/21/2007 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Cliff Keen Arena)
Score: #10 Michigan def. Illinois 3-2 (30-27, 23-30, 30-27, 28-30, 15-13)
Records: U-M (13-0, 1-0 Big Ten), Illinois (8-4, 0-2 Big Ten)
Next U-M Event: Saturday, Sept. 22 -- vs. Wisconsin (Cliff Keen Arena), 8 p.m.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 10 University of Michigan volleyball team remained undefeated in five-game matches this year, defeating Illinois 3-2 (30-27, 23-30, 30-27, 28-30, 15-13) Friday night (Sept. 21) in U-M's Big Ten Conference opener at Cliff Keen Arena. The Wolverines (13-0, 1-0 Big Ten) are 4-0 in five-game matches this season.
Illinois came back from a two-games-to-one deficit to force a fifth frame, and it took a late Michigan rally in the fifth game to put the Illini away and keep Michigan undefeated. Illinois dropped to 8-4 (0-2 Big Ten) with a loss to Wisconsin earlier in the week.
Michigan managed a season-best 14 blocks and took 18 blocks and 41 kills from its middles and right sides, forcing Illinois into 28 attack errors.
Junior Beth Karpiak (La Grange, Ill./Lyons Township) was a force for the Wolverines with 15 kills, a career-high nine blocks and a .414 attack percentage. Karpiak had a pair of blocks, a kill and a dig in the fifth frame, including two big rejections down the stretch. Senior Lyndsay Miller (Ida, Mich./Ida) led the Wolverine attack with 20 kills on the night, adding a pair of service aces and two blocks to her stat total for Michigan's formidable middle corps. Senior Stesha Selsky (Manhattan Beach, Calif./Marymount) had her fourth match with 30 or more digs this season, tallying 36 in the win, which ties for the fifth-most single-match digs in program history.
Senior Sarah Draves (Ypsilanti, Mich./Ypsilanti) was also big at the net with a career-best seven rejections to go with five kills, and after some early struggles, senior Katie Bruzdzinski (Naperville, Ill./Naperville North) rebounded to finish with 15 kills and nine digs to pass the 1,500-kill milestone in her career. Sophomore Veronica Rood (Temperance, Mich./Bedford) also hit double digits in kills with 14 and added three blocks.
Michigan burst out of the gate in game one, hitting .318 thanks to Karpiak's stunning seven kills on nine swings, to take a 30-27 victory. Selsky had 11 digs on defense and the Wolverines managed four team blocks, led by a pair by Karpiak, including a big solo stuff.
Illinois bounced back to tie the contest in game two, hitting .444 for the frame in a 30-23 win. Though seven Wolverines tallied kills, led by four each for Karpiak and Miller, Illinois committed just three attack errors in a near flawless period.
The Wolverines pushed Illinois to the edge with a game-three victory, hitting .311 as a team and welcoming a rejuvenated Bruzdzinski in a 30-27 win. Bruzdzinski, who had been held to just five kills and six errors through two periods, hammered eight kills in the third on 16 swings with just one error. Selsky was back to her old tricks with 11 digs on defense as Michigan rallied at the break.
The Illini forced a fifth game with a 30-28 nailbiter in the fourth, escaping a sloppily fought period in which Illinois hit just .111 and Michigan hit .050. Each team managed four blocks, with Karpiak and Draves tallying two apiece for Michigan, but Illinois was able to scrap it out and win despite a furious U-M comeback.
Michigan fought off a late Illinois charge and rallied to win game five, 15-13, with a ton of blocking up front and a balanced attack. Michigan led from the jump, pulling ahead by as many as four points, 7-3, but Illinois fought back to tie it at 9-9 and then take a 10-9 lead. The teams traded points to 11-11 before Draves and Bruzdzinski combined on a block to make it 12-11 Michigan and set up the final surge. An Illini attack error and a combo block from Draves and Karpiak gave Michigan match point, up 14-11, and despite a pair of Wolverine errors, Rood put the match away with a kill to give U-M the victory.
The Wolverines return to the court Saturday (Sept. 22) to host ninth-ranked Wisconsin at 8 p.m. in Cliff Keen Arena. The match will be televised by the Big Ten Network.
NOTES
• Senior Stesha Selsky's 36 digs tie for the fifth-most single-match digs in program history. She now has four 30-dig matches this season.
• Senior Katie Bruzdzinski passed the 1,500-kill milestone against Illinois and trails all-time program leader Jennifer Gandolph by just 57 terminations.
• Junior Beth Karpiak (nine) and senior Sarah Draves (seven) had career highs in blocks.
• Michigan tied a program record for best starts with a 13-0 mark.
• Michigan is 4-0 in five-game matches this season with two comeback wins.
• Michigan's crowd of 1,202 was a season high for a volleyball match in Cliff Keen Arena.
QUOTES
Michigan Head Coach Mark Rosen
On the match ... "I'm proud of the way we pulled the game out with our backs against the wall. We need to get everybody on. We were firing on four cylinders. We have a really good engine and on four cylinders we are really fast, but when we get up there with the top teams in the conference we need to be on all six cylinders. We can't win a race on four. We're working hard at it. Tonight we pulled it out running on half power."
On the team's middle play ... "In the fifth game Beth (Karpiak) came up with huge blocks. She won a one-on-one too, but we didn't win the point. She just reached across the net as far as I've seen her reach across the net and just did a great job. Unfortunately we lost that point but it still sends a message. She did a great job of that tonight."
