Michigan
7-0
Oakland
3-4
Mr. 600: U-M Provides Rosen with Milestone Win by Sweeping Oakland
9/7/2018 4:16:00 PM | Volleyball
» Head coach Mark Rosen tallied his 600th career victory and is now 600-281 over 27 seasons.
» The Wolverines have won seven straight matches via sweep to start the season for the first time in program history.
» Michigan posted a season-high .415 team attack percentage in the win.
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Cliff Keen Arena)
Event: Michigan Challenge
Score: Michigan 3, Oakland 0 (25-12, 25-16, 25-15)
Records: U-M (7-0), Oakland (3-4)
Next U-M Event: Friday, Sept. 7 -- vs. Louisiana State (Cliff Keen Arena), 7 p.m.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Head coach Mark Rosen captured his 600th career win Friday afternoon (Sept. 7) as the University of Michigan volleyball team used a season-high .415 hitting percentage to defeat the Oakland Golden Grizzlies in 3-0 fashion (25-12, 25-16, 25-15) inside Cliff Keen Arena.
The sweep is Michigan's seventh straight to start the season, which marks a program record.
Michigan posted the .415 hitting percentage with just seven total errors. Freshman Paige Jones led the charge with 12 kills at a career-high .545 average, while senior Carly Skjodt finished with 10 kills at a .310 clip. Junior MacKenzi Welsh guided the efficient offense with 35 assists and totaled three kills on four swings.
Defensively, the Wolverines registered nine blocks, including five from redshirt junior Cori Crocker. Senior libero Jenna Lerg led the back-row defense with 11 digs, while Skjodt's 10 digs earned her a double-double for the first time this season.
Michigan dominated the first set with an 83 percent sideout percentage as the Wolverines did not allow Oakland to string together more than two points. Five players tallied at least one kill in the set as the Maize and Blue hit for a .406 clip and held Oakland to just a .057 hitting percentage.
The second set began with a battle for the Wolverines, as the Golden Grizzlies answered point for point to start things off and gained a lead at 13-12 on a Michigan attack error. However, following a big kill from Crocker to even things up at 13-13, Michigan went on an 8-0 serving run with Jones in the back court that burned both of Oakland's timeouts and resulted in a 21-13 lead. From there, the Wolverines used the momentum to clinch set two, 25-16.
The Golden Grizzlies kept pace early in the third set before a kill from freshman Kayla Bair gave Michigan an 11-10 edge and sparked a 7-0 run for the Wolverines. Using a .455 team hitting percentage and five kills from Skjodt along with three apiece from Crocker and Wetterstrom, Michigan finished off Oakland with a 25-15 third-set victory.
Rosen is 600-281 in his 27th season overall as a college head coach, including 391-244 in his 20th season at the helm of the Michigan program. He had previous stops at Cal State Bakersfield (57-12 in two seasons), Northern Michigan (134-16 in four seasons) and Boise State (18-9 in one season) before joining the Wolverines in 1999. As the winningest volleyball coach in Michigan's history, Rosen is also just nine wins shy of 400 with the Maize and Blue.
Tweet of the Match
Congratulations to head coach Mark Rosen, who captured his 600th career victory in today's win over Oakland! ?? pic.twitter.com/xKy2gDajvj
— Michigan Volleyball (@umichvball) September 7, 2018
Michigan (7-0) will get back in action Friday night (Sept. 7) with a match against LSU at 7 p.m. inside Cliff Keen Arena. The Wolverines will then wrap the Michigan Challenge on Saturday night (Sept. 8) when they play Colorado State at 7 p.m. Admission to Saturday's match is free with a ticket from football's home opener against Western Michigan earlier that day.
