Michigan
13-2, 2-1Big Ten
Rutgers
4-12, 0-3Big Ten
No. 22 U-M Clinches First B1G Road Win with Sweep of Rutgers
9/30/2016 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
» Senior Abby Cole led Michigan with 17 kills and in the contest at a .552 attack average, leading Michigan with six blocks.
» Junior Adeja Lambert finished the match with a season-high 15 kills in the match.
» The sweep is Michigan's eighth of the season and first in Big Ten Conference play.
Site: New Brunswick, N.J. (College Avenue Gym)
Score: #22 Michigan 3, Rutgers 0 (25-9, 25-22, 25-21)
Records: U-M (13-2, 2-1 B1G), RU (4-12, 0-3 B1G)
Next U-M Event: Saturday, Oct. 1 -- at Penn State (State College, Pa.), 7 p.m.
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. -- A season-high 15 kills from junior Adeja Lambert and 17 from senior Abby Cole boosted the No. 22-ranked University of Michigan volleyball team to a 3-0 sweep (25-9, 25-22, 25-21) of the Rutgers Scarlet Knights on Friday (Sept. 30) at College Avenue Gym.
Cole led Michigan with 17 kills in the sweep, earning a .552 kill percentage with a team-leading six blocks. Lambert was also a key component of Michigan's offense in the victory, as she totaled 15 kills to mark a new season high.
Defensively, Cole's six blocks contributed to Michigan's nine team blocks, though five other Wolverines tallied at least one block assist. Behind Cole, junior Claire Kieffer-Wright totaled three blocks, while Lambert, freshman Cori Crocker and freshman MacKenzi Welsh each tallied two.
From the back row, sophomore libero Jenna Lerg led the Wolverines with 12 digs, marking her 12th outing this season with double-digit digs.
The Wolverines took an early lead in set one, going up 8-2 and forcing Rutgers to call a timeout. From there, however, Michigan used a .520 kill percentage in the set to force another timeout at 18-5, eventually taking game one by a 25-9 score. Cole led Michigan with six kills in the first set alone.
The second set of the night began as a battle, with Rutgers taking its first lead of the match at 9-8. Despite nine ties and two lead changes, two kills from Lambert and a double block from Cole and Welsh were the difference-maker as Michigan went on a 5-2 rally to end the set, 25-22.
The third and final set of the day was another hard-fought effort, as Rutgers refused to back down. After six lead changes, Michigan trailed the set at 12-15, but kills from Welsh and Lambert as well as three Rutgers errors allowed Michigan to go on a 5-0 run to take back at lead at 17-15. Overall, the Scarlet Knights held the Wolverines to just a .103 attack percentage in the set, but a 6-3 run with four kills from Cole ended the match as Michigan took home a 25-22 third-set victory.
The No. 22-ranked Wolverines will continue their first Big Ten road series on Saturday (Oct. 1) with a contest against No. 16 Penn State. First serve is slated for 8 p.m. at Rec Hall in State College.
