Michigan
Illinois
Michigan to Wrap Road Trip at No. 7 Illinois, Northwestern
10/16/2018 4:57:00 PM | Volleyball
THIS WEEK
Friday, Oct. 19 -- at #7 Illinois (Champaign, Ill.), 7 p.m. CDT
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Saturday, Oct. 20-- at Northwestern (Evanston, Ill.), 7 p.m. CDT
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ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 13-ranked University of Michigan volleyball team (17-2, 6-2 B1G) will wrap up a four-match road swing this weekend with contests at No. 7 Illinois and Northwestern. The Wolverines will first visit the Illini in Champaign, Illinois on Friday (Oct. 19) before making the short trek to Evanston, Illinois to face the Wildcats on Saturday (Oct. 20). Both contests will be streamed live on BTN Plus.
Big Ten Schedule
Michigan sits in a three-way tie with No. 4-ranked Penn State and No. 5-ranked Nebraska for second place in the Big Ten with a 6-2 record in conference play. Coincidentally, both of the Wolverines' conference losses came at the hands of those same teams, which also were ranked in the top 10 in the AVCA poll at the time. Michigan is on a four-match win streak in Big Ten action.
U-M Ranked 10th in Latest RPI
Despite hard-fought road wins over Ohio State and Maryland last weekend, the Wolverines dropped three spots to No. 10 in the latest RPI ranking, which was released by the NCAA on Monday (Oct. 15). Michigan is ranked the fourth-highest of the Big Ten schools, behind Illinois (No. 3), Minnesota (7), and Wisconsin (9). To date, seven Big Ten schools rank in the top-16. The NCAA announced the first edition of the RPI on Oct. 1, with the Wolverines coming in at No. 11.
Rosens Capture 400th Win at Michigan
Head coach Mark Rosen and associate head coach Leisa Rosen won the 400th match of their tenure at Michigan with a thrilling 3-2 victory at Ohio State last Friday (Oct. 12). Mark Rosen is the fourth active coach to record 400 wins at Michigan, joining Carol Hutchins (softball), Bev Plocki (women's gymnastics) and Kurt Golder (men's gymnastics).
Skjodt Earns Second Straight B1G Weekly Honor
Senior outside hitter Carly Skjodt earned her second consecutive Big Ten Conference Player of the Week honor after guiding Michigan to wins at Ohio State (Oct. 12) and Maryland (Oct. 14) last weekend. Skjodt led the Wolverines with two 20-plus kill efforts, averaging 4.89 kills per set and committing just three errors for a .402 hitting percentage. She also posted her fourth double-double of the season with 21 kills and 14 digs in Michigan's four-set win over Maryland.
Freshman Bair Steps Up
With an injury sidelining Michigan's biggest blocker, redshirt junior Cori Crocker, freshman Kayla Bair has stepped in alongside sophomore Kiara Shannon to share the blocking duties. Since Bair's first start against Purdue (Oct. 5), the freshman middle hitter has logged 11 total blocks and hit over .200 in every contest, including a career-high kill effort in a five-set win over Indiana (Oct. 6).Â
How Michigan Stacks Up
The Wolverines rank No. 13 in the nation in kills per set (14.29) and in assists per set (13.43). Michigan also ranks 11th in the country and second in the Big Ten Conference with a .153 opponent hitting percentage. Individually, senior libero Jenna Lerg leads the conference and ranks in the top-25 in the nation with 5.29 digs per set, while junior setter MacKenzi Welsh ranks 16th in the country and fourth in the Big Ten with 11.34 assists per set.
Michigan and the AVCA Rankings
The Wolverines' AVCA Top-25 ranking remained unchanged this week as Michigan checked in at No. 13 with 812 points following wins over Ohio State and Maryland. Michigan began the year as the second team outside of the top-25 preseason poll with 153 votes, but entered the poll at No. 23 following a 2-0 showing at the War Eagle Invitational to kick off the season.
Maize and Blue on the Road
The Wolverines are 5-1 when playing on the road this season, with their lone road loss coming at then-No. 3 Nebraska to kick off Big Ten Conference play (Sept. 21). Michigan's three Big Ten road victories came at Iowa (Sept. 23), Ohio State (Oct. 12) and Maryland (Oct. 14).
Scouting the Opposition
Illinois Fighting Illini
All-time series against: U-M trails, 26-49
No. 7-ranked Illinois will enter the week with a 16-3 overall record as well as a 5-3 record in Big Ten action. Like the Wolverines, the Illini finished the non-conference portion of their schedule with a perfect 11-0 record and have dropped each of their Big Ten matches to teams ranked in the AVCA top-10 at the time. Illinois ranks third in the conference with a .274 team hitting percentage second in the Big Ten with 1.75 service aces per set.
Northwestern wildcats
All-time series against: U-M leads, 44-29
Northwestern enters the week with a 10-10 record and is on an 0-8 skid to start Big Ten play. Despite its conference record, six of the Wildcats' Big Ten losses have come at the hands of teams ranked in the AVCA top 10. Because of the tough schedule, the Wildcats rank last in the Big Ten Conference in hitting percentage (.188), opponent hitting percentage (.225) and blocks per set (1.92). Northwestern's opponent on Friday (Oct. 19), Michigan State, will signal the Wildcats' first unranked opponent since a Sept. 30 match against Iowa, which resulted in a heartbreaking five-set loss.
