Michigan
8-0
Xavier
8-3
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Xavier | 34 | 30 | 30 | 19 | 6 | 2 |
| Michigan | 32 | 28 | 32 | 30 | 15 | 3 |
Michigan Rallies From Two Down to Beat Xavier in Five
9/7/2007 12:01:00 AM | Volleyball
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Cliff Keen Arena)
Score: Michigan def. Xavier 3-2 (32-34, 28-30, 32-30, 30-19, 15-6)
Records: U-M (8-0), Xavier (8-3)
Next U-M Event: Tuesday, Sept. 11 -- at Oakland (Rochester, Mich.), 7 p.m.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 14 University of Michigan volleyball survived a thriller against Xavier in the tournament finale of the Michigan/Pepsi Challenge, rallying from two games down to win 3-2 (32-34, 28-30, 32-30, 30-19, 15-6) Friday night (Sept. 7) at Cliff Keen Arena. U-M won the one-day, three-team tournament with a 2-0 record.
Seniors Katie Bruzdzinski (Naperville, Ill./Naperville North) and Stesha Selsky (Manhattan Beach, Calif./Marymount) had career nights, rallying the troops back from the edge of defeat, as Bruzdzinski tallied 32 kills and Selsky recorded a career-best 41 digs in the comeback win. Bruzdzinski's feat was the fourth-most kills in a single match in U-M history, while Selsky's performance ranked as the second-most digs in a single match. Freshman Lexi Zimmerman (Barrington, Ill./Barrington) added 75 assists to the cause, which led her to tie for the seventh-most assists in program history.
Bruzdzinski had 21 kills through three games, but she turned it on with nine in game four and two key terminations in game five to help Michigan overcome a seven-point, 25-18 deficit in the third game to rally for the win. Selsky had 11 digs in the first two games, but exploded for 11 digs in the pivotal third frame, a whopping 14 in the fourth game and five in game five to make history.
Senior Lyndsay Miller (Ida, Mich./Ida) tallied 17 kills and hit a team-high .560 in the match, adding six blocks, while fellow junior middle Beth Karpiak (La Grange, Ill./Lyons Township) had 16 kills and three blocks.
Sophomore Veronica Rood (Temperance, Mich./Bedford) bounced back from a tough start to finish with 15 kills, including seven in the must-win third.
Bruzdzinski earned tournament MVP honors, while Selsky, Karpiak and Miller also took home all-tournament team awards.
Game one was a battle of wills between Bruzdzinski and Xavier's Jill Quayle, with Bruzdzinski scoring eight kills and Quayle recording seven. U-M held game point at 29-26, but the Musketeers capitalized on a pair of kills and a block from Quayle to knot it at 29-29. Michigan pulled ahead on its own block from Miller and Zimmerman, but Quayle evened it at 30-30 with another kill. Karpiak's third kill of the period gave Michigan a one-point advantage, but a U-M service error kept it even at 31-31.
Michigan fought hard in game two to knot the match at one game apiece, but Quayle remained red hot with five kills and three blocks to help Xavier stay apace with U-M. Bruzdzinski's seven kills helped the Wolverines come back and knot it up at 28-28, but back-to-back Musketeer terminations gave the visitors a 2-0 lead.
Michigan turned the tide in game three, erasing a seven-point, 25-18 deficit to beat Xavier, 32-30, thanks to seven kills from Rood and six from Bruzdzinski. Selsky was a water bug with 11 digs and Rood had three kills down the stretch, and Michigan recorded two key blocks to turn a 25-18 deficit into victory.
The Wolverines dominated game four, with Bruzdzinski lighting it up for nine kills, while Selsky had an eye-popping 14 digs in a 30-19 win.
In game five, Michigan took a quick 7-3 lead thanks to a balanced attack that saw Bruzdzinski, Rood, Karpiak and senior Sarah Draves (Ypsilanti, Mich./Ypsilanti) each score kills. Zimmerman got into the act to make it 9-4, and strong U-M defense -- and one final kill from Bruzdzinski -- iced the comeback.
Michigan plays a rare midweek non-conference match, traveling to Rochester Hills, Mich., to take on Oakland University Tuesday (Sept. 11) at 7 p.m.
NOTES
• Senior Katie Bruzdzinski's 32 kills were one shy of her career high and rank as the fourth-most single-match kills in U-M volleyball history. The school record is 34 kills, set by Sarah Behnke in 1999.
• Senior Stesha Selsky had a career-best 41 digs, better her previous best of 39. The 41 digs were the second-most in program history, just two shy of the record.
• Freshman Lexi Zimmerman's 75 assists are a career high and tie for the seventh-most assists in a single match in U-M volleyball history.
• Freshman Maggie Busch had a career-best three digs, three assists and recorded her first collegiate ace.
• Selsky climbed to eighth on the Big Ten's all-time digs list, passing Becky Kanitz (Purdue, 1985-88) and Stacey Gordon (Ohio State, 2001-04).
• Bruzdzinski is one ace shy of tying for fourth place on U-M's all-time service aces list.
• Senior Lyndsay Miller moved into sixth place (needs 7 to tie) on U-M's all-time kills list, passing Michelle Horrigan (1989-93).
• Bruzdzinski tallied her 1,400th career kill.
• Michigan starts the season 8-0 for the third time in the last four seasons. The Wolverines were 8-0 to start 2004, and 13-0 to start 2006.
• Michigan won its two opening matches at home for the eighth time in the last nine seasons after sweeping Eastern Michigan and Xavier. The Wolverines have won the first two matches at home every season since 2000.
• Zimmerman appeared in Sports Illustrated's Faces in the Crowd this week. She has started all eight matches for the Wolverines this year, setting them to an undefeated season.
QUOTES
Michigan Head Coach Mark Rosen
On the match ... "I'm really proud of our players to rebound from 25-18 and come back. Katie served up to 25-25. There's a little bit of luck. A few balls went our way but we played hard. We had our backs against the wall and they were playing great and it's frustrating to play a team like that. If you look at the numbers, we got better every game after game two. It's not that they went away, we just worked to get better. In games one and two, Xavier ran a very complicated offense that is hard to stop. When they do it well, you can't get more than one blocker up. Part of it was that we could have been better but our players turned their games around even though Xavier was doing anything right. Last week we went in and out of focus but tonight we maintained. Katie got it going and all of a sudden it was 22-25 and people started believing and then it was 23 and you could see them looking around. That's why Katie was an All-American last year. She struggled this morning but from the first swing of tonight I knew she was going to be on fire. And Stesha was out of this world again."
U-M Senior Libero Stesha Selsky
On the match and her 41 digs ... "I didn't know that I had so many. I think it's awesome. A lot of it has to do with our team. Our blocking was really good and it made my job easier. It had a lot to do with it. It takes very little to change the momentum of a game. In game three, Katie (Bruzdzinski) got on a run serving. A dig, a block, a set or a hit can change an entire match."
U-M Senior Outside Hitter Katie Bruzdzinski
On the match and her 32 kills ... "In the first match today I struggled with hitting too many errors, so I was thinking about that today. I wanted to not think about it and just play. In game three, I had the chance to get the ball and it worked out. In the past, I don't think our team could have done this but twice this year we've won in five."
