Michigan
8-1
Pittsburgh
7-2
U-M Suffers First Loss, Falls to Pitt in Five-Set Heartbreaker
9/10/2016 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
» Sophomore libero Jenna Lerg tallied a career-high 39 digs in the outing, which ties for third most in Michigan history.
» Sophomore Carly Skjodt (15 kills) and freshman MacKenzi Welsh (53 assists) also recorded career-high numbers in the outing.
» The loss is Michigan's first of the season and snaps an eight-game win streak.
Site: Pittsburgh, Pa. (Fitzgerald Field House)
Event: Panther Invitational
Score: Pittsburgh 3, #22 Michigan 2 (25-22, 23-25, 28-26, 20-25, 15-12)
Records: U-M (8-1), Pitt (7-2)
Next U-M Event: Friday, Sept. 16 -- vs. Auburn (Cliff Keen Arena), 7 p.m.
PITTSBURGH, Pa. -- Despite career outings from three different players, the 22nd-ranked University of Michigan volleyball team suffered its first loss of the season, 25-22, 23-25, 8-26, 20-25, 15-12, to Pittsburgh on Saturday evening (Sept. 10) from Fitzgerald Field House in the final match of the Panther Invitational.
Senior opposite hitter Abby Cole tied her season-high 17 kills in the match, while senior Kelly Murphy added 16 and sophomore Carly Skjodt tallied a career-high 15. Junior Claire Kieffer-Wright also added 13 to the mix, leading all Michigan hitters with a .478 kill percentage. Freshman setter MacKenzi Welsh guided the Michigan offense, tallying a career-high 53 assists on the evening.
Defensively, sophomore libero Jenna Lerg led the charge, recording a career-high 39 digs -- which tie for third most in Michigan history. Welsh also registered a career-high 19, and Skjodt added 10 as both finished the match with their third career double-doubles.
The outing marks the first time this season that four players have recorded double-digit kills, and three have tallied double-digit digs.
A Pittsburgh kill put the Panthers on the scoreboard first to start the match, but Michigan rallied quickly to tie the score at 2-2. A double block from Cole and Kieffer-Wright then gave Michigan the lead, but the Panthers fought back to tie the game again at 13-13 and force a point-for-point battle. Fighting back and forth until a tie score at 21-21, Pitt forced a 4-1 run to take the set, 25-22.
Holding the Panthers to a .000 kill percentage in set two, Michigan jumped out to an early 4-2 lead, but the momentum was short lived. Pitt came from behind, dominating set two until Michigan battled and tied the score at 20-20. From there, the Wolverines used kills from Skjodt and junior Adeja Lambert to go on a 5-2 run and tie the match at 1-1.
Cole and freshman Cori Crocker each picked up a kill to begin the third set, but Pitt quickly pulled away for an eight-point lead at 15-7. Despite the large deficit, Michigan fought hard to stay alive, tying the game at 24-24 on kills from Skjodt and Cole. Kills from the pair then gave Michigan a 26-25 lead, but three straight Panther points forced a third-set victory for Pitt.
A Michigan service error led off the fourth set, allowing Pitt to garner a 4-1 lead. The Wolverines then used a 5-2 run to go ahead 7-6, and it was a back-and-forth battle until a kill from Cole gave Michigan a defining lead at 11-10. The Maize and Blue surged ahead from there, always staying one step ahead of the Panthers and claiming a 25-20 fourth set victory to force Michigan's first game-five of the season.
With the match tied at 2-2, the Wolverines jumped out to a 4-1 lead on three kills from Murphy and a Pittsburgh attack error, gaining momentum early on. Despite an 8-6 lead at the bench switch, however, the Panthers rallied and forced multiple Michigan errors to take home set five, 15-12.
The loss is Michigan's first of the season, snapping an eight-match win streak.
The No. 22-ranked Michigan Wolverines will return to play on Friday (Sept. 16) when they co-host the Michigan/EMU Challenge. First serve against the visiting Auburn Tigers is set for 7 p.m. at the Wolverines' home court inside Cliff Keen Arena.
