Michigan
17-4, 6-3B1G
Maryland
8-13, 0-9B1G
No. 16 U-M Comes From Behind in Five-Set Win at Maryland
10/19/2016 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
» Ally Davis led Michigan offensively for the sixth time in her career, totaling 16 kills at a .400 clip.
» Setter MacKenzi Welsh tallied a career-high 55 assists and 14 digs to earn her sixth assist-dig double-double of the season.
» The five-set victory is Michigan's first this season, as well as the first five-set win for the Wolverines since a 3-2 defeat of Iowa last October.
Site: College Park, Md. (XFINITY Center Pavilion)
Score: #16 Michigan 3, Maryland 2 (21-25, 21-25, 25-18, 25-14, 18-16)
Records: U-M (17-4, 6-3 B1G), Maryland (8-13, 0-9 B1G)
Next U-M Event: Saturday, Oct. 22 -- vs. Penn State (Cliff Keen Arena), 7 p.m.
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Despite trailing two sets to none heading into the third set of the night, the No. 16-ranked University of Michigan volleyball team rallied for a come-from-behind five-set win (21-25, 21-25, 25-18, 25-14, 18-16) over the Maryland Terrapins Wednesday night inside the XFINITY Pavilion. The 3-2 win is Michigan's first five-set victory this season.
Senior Ally Davis picked up a season-high 16 kills in the outing, leading the Wolverines for the sixth time in her career. Junior Claire Kieffer-Wright kept pace with 14 kills, while junior Katherine Mahlke recorded 12 and sophomore Carly Skjodt finished the match with 11. The offensive performance marks the first time that Michigan has had four players with double-figure kills since Michigan's five-set loss to Pitt in early September.
Freshman setter MacKenzi Welsh guided the offensive showing, earning a career-high 55 assists to propel the Wolverines to a .287 attack average.
Defensively, sophomore libero Jenna Lerg led the charge from the back row with 21 digs. Welsh also kept pace with 14 digs, while Skjodt added 13. Welsh performance marks her sixth career assist-dig double-double.
From the front row, Michigan combined for seven team blocks, as Kieffer-Wright and senior Abby Cole picked up three apiece.
The Terps took the first three points of the day on three straight kills, but a kill from Skjodt put the Wolverines on the board. From there, the teams played nearly point for point, with neither team taking more than a two-point lead until Maryland took a 21-18 lead to force a Michigan timeout. Despite hitting .270 in the set with five kills from Skjodt, the Wolverines dropped set one by a 25-21 score.
Maryland again took a lead in set two, going up 5-0 before Michigan took a timeout. Despite trailing by as much as eight points, the Wolverines fought hard to go on a 9-1 run and tie the score at 10-10. The rest of the set was a battle, and though a kill from Davis put the Wolverines up at 19-18, Maryland rallied for four straight points to take back the lead. A kill from Cole then put Michigan within two, but the Terps ended the set on top, 25-21.
Following the intermission, Michigan came out of the gate to take a 1-0 lead on a kill from Skjodt. From there, the Wolverines never lost the lead, using a .357 attack average and three kills from three different players to take the set by a 25-18 score and stay alive.
Still trailing 2-1, the Wolverines took the first two points of the fourth set and never let up from there. Using a match-high .483 team attack average and leading by as many as eleven points, Mahlke led the Wolverines with five kills at a .714 clip to push Michigan to a 25-14 fourth-set victory.
Cole began the fifth set with a kill, but it was a hard-fought effort from there on both sides of the net. The final set of the night featured 11 tie scores and six lead changes, but the Wolverines held the Terps to just a .091 attack average in the set, as three kills apiece from Davis and Mahlke propelled Michigan to an 18-16 fifth set victory and a 3-2 win.
The win pushes the No. 16-ranked Wolverines to a 6-3 record in the Big Ten, keeping Maryland winless in conference play.
No. 16-ranked Michigan will get back in action on Saturday (Oct. 22) when the Wolverines host the visiting No. 9-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions. First serve for the Big Ten Conference match is set for 7 p.m. inside Cliff Keen Arena.
