Michigan
2-0
Xavier
0-1
Michigan Defeats Host Xavier to Wrap Up Perfect First Day
8/30/2013 12:00:01 AM | Volleyball
Site: Cincinnati, Ohio (Cintas Center)
Event: Xavier Invitational
Score: #7 Michigan 3, Xavier 0 (25-18, 25-22, 25-19)
Records: U-M (2-0), XU (0-1)
Next U-M Event: Saturday, Aug. 31 -- vs. Northern Kentucky - Xavier Invitational (Cincinnati, Ohio), 1 p.m.
CINCINNATI, Ohio -- The No. 7-ranked University of Michigan volleyball team won the first two sets in comeback fashion and hit .358 for the match in a 3-0 win at Xavier Friday night (Aug. 31) in the nightcap of the Xavier Invitational inside the Cintas Center.
Lexi Erwin
Seniors Lexi Erwin (Spring, Texas/Woodlands College Park) and Jennifer Cross (Scarborough, Ontario/Birchmount Park Collegiate) led the Michigan offense with 11 and 10 kills, respectively. Senior Molly Toon (Middleton, Wis./Middleton) added nine kills with a .412 hitting percentage. Junior Lexi Dannemiller (West Chester, Ohio/Lakota West) had 37 assists and eight digs, while sophomore Tiffany Morales (Redondo Beach, Calif./Redondo Union) had a team-high 12 digs. Sophomore Krystalyn Goode (River Hills, Wis./Nicolet) had a match-high four total blocks, with Cross adding three block assists.
Xavier got off to a solid start in set one, scoring the match's first four points, three of which came off Musketeer aces. A Sarah Brown kill put Xavier up 6-1, before the Wolverines started chipping away at the XU lead. Blocks from Cross and Dannemiller ended a three-point run for the Maize and Blue (4-6), and U-M tied the set at nine on a kill by Goode. Michigan took its first lead of the set at 11-10 on Erwin's termination. An Xavier attack error gave U-M a 14-11 lead. Erwin's kill then made it 16-12, and a termination for Toon put the Wolverines up 18-13. Back-to-back Musketeer errors gave Michigan a seven-point cushion (21-14), and Cross ended the set with a kill for the 25-18 set win. Michigan hit .571 in the first set with no attack errors.
The second set featured 10 ties and had a similar start to the first set. Xavier scored the set's first four points and took a 6-1 lead on an ace. Michigan cut the lead to 7-3 on a Toon kill, but the Musketeers battled back, going up 9-4 on a block. Back-to-back blocks for Michigan and a Goode kill tied the set at 10. Michigan took its first lead of the set at 14-13 on an XU error. The set stayed tight throughout, as a Cross kill tied it at 19. The Wolverines scored two straight after that, capped by an Erwin termination. Cross, Dannemiller and Toon had Michigan's next three kills, setting up set point. Dannemiller gave the Maize and Blue the 2-0 advantage on Michigan's first service ace of the night.
The Wolverines took a 4-3 lead in the third and final set after a Musketeer error and went up 7-5 after Toon's termination. Cross gave U-M a 10-8 lead on a kill, and an Xavier net violation put the Wolverines up 12-9. Xavier cut the lead to 13-12 on a block, but U-M answered with a block for a 15-12 lead. Erwin gave the Maize and Blue a 17-15 lead with a termination, and back-to-back aces from senior Ally Sabol (Los Angeles, Calif./Marymount) gave Michigan a four-point lead at 19-15. Cross had another kill that gave Michigan a 21-15 lead, and Dannemiller's kill at 24-18 made it match-point for U-M. An Xavier service error then gave Michigan a 25-19 set win and the match.
The Wolverines had a 42-39 dig advantage and eight total blocks, three of them solo.
Michigan concludes action in the Xavier Invitational tomorrow afternoon (Saturday, Aug. 31) against Northern Kentucky at 1 p.m. inside the Cintas Center.
NOTES
• Michigan has won all four meetings against Xavier, including two in Cincinnati.
• Head coach Mark Rosen has now won 499 career matches through the second match of his 22nd season. His career record is now 499-214.
• The Wolverines hit .358 for the match, the highest for a match by the Maize and Blue since it hit .366 in a 3-0 win at Michigan State on Nov. 21, 2012.
• Senior Lexi Erwin led Michigan with 11 kills. Erwin now has led U-M in kills 44 times in her career.
• Senior Jennifer Cross had 10 kills. She now has double-digit kill performances in 39 career matches.
• Cross had three blocks and now has 482 career blocks and is just 45 away from Michigan's school record.
• Sophomore Tiffany Morales had a team-high 12 digs and now has double-digit dig performances in 33 matches (11 consecutive dating back to last year.)
