Michigan
14-8, 4-7Big Ten
Penn State
19-2, 10-1Big Ten
Michigan Loses to No. 2 Penn State Despite First-Set Win
11/1/2013 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Cliff Keen Arena)
Score: #2 Penn State 3, #17 Michigan 1 (16-25, 25-22, 25-20, 25-16)
Records: U-M (14-8, 4-7 Big Ten), PSU (19-2, 10-1 Big Ten)
Attendance: 1,800 (sellout)
Next U-M Event: Saturday, Nov. 2 -- vs. Ohio State (Cliff Keen Arena), 7 p.m.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The 17th-ranked University of Michigan volleyball team started on an 8-0 run and had seven blocks in a first-set win but fell to No. 2 Penn State in four Friday night (Nov. 1) inside Cliff Keen Arena. Set scores were 16-25, 25-22, 25-20 and 25-16.
Lexi Erwin
Senior Lexi Erwin (Spring, Texas/Woodlands College Park) had a match-high 20 kills and made it a double-double with 10 digs, while classmate Molly Toon (Middleton, Wis./Middleton) had 14 terminations. Junior Lexi Dannemiller (West Chester, Ohio/Lakota West) had a double-double with 45 assists and 10 digs, sophomore Tiffany Morales (Redondo Beach, Calif./Redondo Union) had 17 digs, and fifth-year senior Brittany Lee (Indianapolis, Ind./Cathedral) tied a career high with 11 digs. Meanwhile, freshman Abby Cole (Grand Haven, Mich./Grand Haven) and sophomore Krystalyn Goode (River Hills, Wis./Nicolet) had six and five blocks, respectively.
Michigan scored the first eight points of the match, which included senior Jennifer Cross' (Scarborough, Ontario/Birchmount Park Collegiate) 420th career block assist, breaking U-M's career mark. The run was capped by a Penn State error. Erwin had six kills in that set, including ones at 16-9 and 18-10. A Cole kill put U-M up 20-11, and Erwin's termination made it 23-15. Michigan closed the set on blocks from Goode and Cole, the seventh block of the set.
Michigan fell behind early in the second set but battled back to take a 16-15 lead on a Cross kill. The Wolverines tied the set at 17 on an Erwin kill, but the Nittany Lions scored the next three points and made it 22-19 after an Ariel Scott kill. The Nittany Lions tied the match at one set apiece after a Megan Courtney kill and Michigan attack error at 25-22.
The third set was similar to the second as Penn State had an early lead, but the Wolverines took a 13-11 lead on blocks from Goode and Cole. Penn State scored the next three points, and Erwin's termination tied the set at 14. Cole had a kill at 15-all, before a 4-0 Penn State run was capped by a Courtney block. Courtney had a kill at 23-17, and Micha Hancock ended the set with a solo block at 25-20.
The Nittany Lions hit .485 in the fourth and final set to take the match. Courtney had three straight kills to put Penn State up 6-2. Michigan was as close at 15-12 on a Toon kill, but a Nia Grant service ace put Penn State up 17-12. The Nittany Lions made it 20-14 on blocks from Courtney and Katie Slay, part of a 7-2 run that ended the set. Kills from Cole and Erwin made it 22-16, but two kills from Courtney and a Scott kill ended the match.
Michigan hit .190 for the match, compared to .260 for Penn State. The Wolverines led the dig battle 66-61, while Penn State enjoyed a 17.0-11.5 block advantage.
Michigan will host Ohio State Saturday night (Nov. 2) at Cliff Keen Arena. First serve is at 7 p.m.
NOTES
• The Wolverines had four players in double figures in digs for the first time since Oct. 19 when they did it at No. 10 Minnesota. Tiffany Morales led Michigan with 17 digs in tonight's match, while Brittany Lee added 11. Lexi Erwin and Lexi Dannemiller had 10 digs apiece.
• Michigan falls to 4-5 in four-set matches.
• Senior Jennifer Cross is now Michigan's all-time block assist record holder as she now has 421 in her career. She broke a tie with Katrina Lehman (419, 1999-2002) in tonight's match.
• Fifth-year senior Brittany Lee tied a career high with 11 digs in tonight's match. Lee also had 11 digs against Toledo on Aug. 28, 2010.
• Senior Lexi Erwin had 20 kills for Michigan's first 20-plus kill performance this season. She now has 13 in her career.
• Erwin also picked up her seventh double-double of the season (20 kills, 10 digs) and 33rd of her career. She also has two consecutive double-doubles.
• Junior Lexi Dannemiller earned her 37th career double-double as she had 45 assists and 10 digs in tonight's match.
