Michigan
15-2, 3-2
Purdue
13-4, 2-3
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Purdue | 25 | 23 | 27 | 21 | 1 |
| Michigan | 22 | 25 | 29 | 25 | 3 |
Rosen Breaks Record as U-M Knocks Off No. 18 Purdue
10/10/2008 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Cliff Keen Arena)
Score: #23 Michigan 3, #18 Purdue 1 (22-25, 25-23, 29-27, 25-21)
Records: U-M (15-2, 3-2 Big Ten), Purdue (13-4, 2-3 Big Ten)
Attendance: 1,189
Next U-M Event: Saturday, Oct. 11 -- vs. #19 Illinois (Cliff Keen Arena), 6 p.m.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 23-ranked University of Michigan volleyball team came back from a 1-0 hole to knock off No. 18 Purdue, 3-1 (22-25, 25-23, 29-27, 25-21), on Friday night (Oct. 10) in Cliff Keen Arena. Freshman Alex Hunt (Granger, Ind./South Bend St. Joseph) posted a career-high 21 kills while hitting a phenomenal .576 to lead the offensive charge. Four Wolverines finished with double-figure kills, and sophomore Lexi Zimmerman (Barrington, Ill./Barrington) added a season-best 59 assists in the victory.
Alex Hunt
The win, which will air tape-delayed on ESPN2 at 12:30 p.m. Sunday (Oct. 12), moved head coach Mark Rosen into the top spot among Michigan volleyball coaches with his 178th career victory. Rosen eclipsed the 24-year-old mark set by Sandy Vong, who tallied 177 triumphs from 1973-83.
In set one, Purdue took advantage of five Michigan service errors to come back from an early deficit and take the opening frame, 25-22. The set was tight throughout as Hunt, senior Beth Karpiak (LaGrange, Ill./Lyons Township) and junior Juliana Paz (Porto Alegre, Brazil/Iowa Western CC) each tallied four kills in defeat.
In set two, Hunt caught fire, hitting .667 (6-0-9) as Michigan built a three-point lead midway through the set. Purdue battled back within two points, 20-18, but the Wolverines capped off the set with a service ace from senior Kerry Hance (Los Angeles, Calif./Marymount) and a kill from Karpiak to win, 25-23.
After the intermission, U-M returned to the court and staked the Boilermakers an early 7-4 lead. Back-to-back kills by Karpiak and Paz tied the set 7-7, beginning of a series of lead changes and ties that extended through the remainder of the stanza. With the score tied 24-24, each team found itself with set point in sight, but Michigan took advantage of consecutive attack errors from Purdue to take a thrilling 29-27 victory. Junior Veronica Rood (Temperance, Mich./Bedford) came up big in the third set, tallying five of her 11 kills.
In set four, the Wolverines found themselves down early, 4-1, and trailed as late as 19-17 before mounting their final comeback of the night. Paz and Hunt each delivered kills, while two straight attack errors from Purdue gave Michigan a 21-20 lead that it never relinquished. The Maize and Blue went on to score four of the next five points to close out the Boilermakers, 25-21.
Hunt led the way with a career-best 21-kill performance and was joined in double figures by Paz, Rood and Karpiak, who contributed 17, 12 and 11 terminations, respectively. Zimmerman posted her best single-match assist performance of the season, finishing with 59 helpers and 17 digs, while freshman Sloane Donhoff (Louisville, Ky./Assumption) led all players with a career-high 19 digs.
The Wolverines will be back in action Saturday (Oct. 11) at6 p.m. when they face No. 19 Illinois in Cliff Keen Arena.
NOTES
• It was a night of records for a pair of Michigan freshmen as Alex Hunt set a new career high with 21 kills and Sloane Donhoff posted a career-best 19 digs.
• Lexi Zimmerman eclipsed the 50-assist mark for the second time this season and set a new season high with 59.
• Hunt's .576 (21-2-33) hitting percentage is second only to her .714 (5-0-7) performance at Georgia Tech (Sept. 17). Hunt now owns the top two single-match attack percentage highs on the squad this season.
• Mark Rosen's record-breaking 178th victory came in his 303rd game as Michigan's head coach.
• Michigan is now 3-1 in four-set matches this season and 7-0 in Keen Arena.
• Zimmerman most impressive assists of the night may have happened in pre-game introductions as the sophomore gave her autographed mini ball to ESPN's Karch Kiraly. Kiraly was serving as color analyst for tonight's match and is one of Zimmerman's volleyball idols.
QUOTES
Michigan Head Coach Mark Rosen
On the match ... "I'm really proud of our team; they played with so much character tonight. We were in a tight battle at Wisconsin and we came up on the short end of it. We talked about that and said that match would make us better if we let us make it better and I thought tonight was an example of us getting better in those situations."
On the play of Lexi Zimmerman ... "It might be the best match I've ever seen her set. It was the little subtle things, she made good decisions, she put her hitters in great locations and she trusted her hitter throughout the night. I really think that, overall, it might be the best, complete setting match I've seen her set. "
On the service game ... "It's the style of our game; we are a tough, aggressive serving team. We know that we are going to have some nights where they don't all go in and tonight was one of those nights. But game three is a great example, we missed eight serves in that game and we still won. Serving is an important part of the game, but it's not the making or missing part, it's how tough you are serving and we were serving tough. We were missing more than we should, no question about it, but it's an example of how important it is to serve tough and we served tough tonight. "
On becoming Michigan's all-time wins leader ... "There is no way that it feels better than that win. That win was an awesome win. I'm proud of the teams we have had, this is the 10th team we have had here and I'm proud of them. They are the ones that have done that and I'm proud of what they have done."
