Michigan
1-0
Saint Louis
0-1
U-M Opens Up Season with Clean Sweep of SLU
8/26/2016 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Aug. 26, 2016
» Sophomore outside hitter Carly Skjodt tied her career high with a team-leading 13 kills in the effort.
» Friday's win means Michigan is now 30-13 overall in season openers and extends the program's season-opening win streak to 11 straight.
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Cliff Keen Arena)
Event: Michigan Invitational
Score: Michigan 3, Saint Louis 0 (25-19, 25-13, 25-14)
Records: U-M (1-0), SLU (0-1)
Next U-M Event: Saturday, Aug. 27 -- vs. Miami University (Cliff Keen Arena), 11 a.m.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- A .354 team attack average and a team-leading 13 kills from sophomore Carly Skjodt propelled the University of Michigan volleyball team to a clean 3-0 sweep (25-19, 25-13, 25-14) of the visiting Saint Louis Billikens in the first contest of the 2016 season Friday night (Aug. 26) inside Cliff Keen Arena.
The Friday victory signals Michigan's 11th straight season-opening win, pushing the Wolverines to a 30-13 all-time record in season-opening matches.
With a multitude of new faces on the floor, the Maize and Blue offense started off slow, allowing the Billikens to cruise ahead for a 6-2 lead early in the first set. A kill from senior Abby Cole then brought the Wolverines within three, and a floor rotation brought Maddy Abbott to serve, giving Michigan the momentum it needed to settle in. Two SLU errors and kills from Skjodt tied the score at 6-6, and it was a back-and-forth battle from there. Another kill from Skojdt at 14-13 forced an offensive rally for the Wolverines, who went on a run to take an 18-14 lead and force a Saint Louis timeout. Michigan slowly pulled away from there, as junior Claire Kieffer-Wright, senior Kelly Murphy, Skjodt and Cole all executed and pushed the Wolverines to a 25-19 first-set victory.
Armed with a one-set lead, Murphy connected with freshman setter MacKenzi Welsh early in set two, starting a rally and forcing a 6-1 lead as well as an SLU timeout. Two Billiken errors then put Michigan up 8-1, and the Wolverines cruised ahead from there. Never losing the lead, the Wolverines held Saint Louis to a .000 attack average in set two, taking home a 25-13 set win and going ahead 2-0.
After intermission, Welsh got things going in the third and final set of the night with two consecutive service aces, rallying the crowd and forcing a defining lead. Though Saint Louis closed the gap at 9-7, back-to-back kills from senior Ally Davis rattled the Billiken offense, which responded with two straight attack errors and a called timeout. Armed with a 15-8 lead, however, the Wolverines got service aces from freshman Tiffany Clark and big blocks by redshirt freshman Cori Crocker and junior Adeja Lambert that carried them to a 25-14 set win and a 3-0 sweep to start the 2016 season.
Leading the Michigan offense with 13 kills (tying her career high), Skjodt finished the match hitting at a .462 average. The outing marks just the second time in her career that Skjodt has led Michigan in kills.
In addition to the team offense, Welsh, Crocker and freshman Sydney Wetterstrom all tallied their first career kills tonight. Crocker also recorded three blocks in her debut.
Clark and sophomore libero Jenna Lerg anchored Michigan's back row in the outing, as the pair combined for 23 of the Wolverines' 37 digs. From the front row, Kieffer-Wright led Michigan with four blocks, while Crocker and Cole each tallied three. In total, U-M tallied nine team blocks and eight service aces, which ties last season's team high.
Our season opener is underway! #goblue pic.twitter.com/RZlgjkICvI
-- Michigan Volleyball (@umichvball) August 26, 2016
Michigan will wrap up the Michigan Invitational Tournament on Saturday (Aug. 27) when it faces both Miami University (11 a.m.) and Northern Iowa (7 p.m.). Tickets for both matches are still available.
Communications Contact: Katie Gwinn Hewitt
