Michigan to Kick Off Big Ten Play with Rutgers, Ohio State

Wednesday, September 25

New Brunswick, N.J.

7:00 PM

Michigan

Rutgers

Michigan to Kick Off Big Ten Play with Rutgers, Ohio State

9/24/2019 1:48:00 PM | Volleyball

By: Kyler Ludlow

• Complete Game Notes (PDF)
• Social Media: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

PROMOTIONS
• Sept. 29: Prematch clinic, foam finger giveaway (1,000), face painting for kids
• Full Promotions Schedule

The University of Michigan (7-3) volleyball team will kick off 2019 Big Ten play with a split week, as the Wolverines will travel to New Brunswick, New Jersey, to take on Rutgers (6-5) on Wednesday (Sept. 25), before they return to Crisler Center to face Ohio State (7-5) on Sunday (Sept. 29) at 2 p.m. Wednesday's match will be streamed on BTN Plus, while Sunday's match will be broadcast live on Big Ten Network.

• Michigan holds a 6-0 advantage in the all-time series against Rutgers.

• In their last match against the Scarlet Knights (Sept. 28. 2018), the Wolverines swept Rutgers behind 15 kills by Carly Skjodt on 38 swings. Then-junior Sydney Wetterstrom registered a double-double of 11 kills and 10 digs.

• Setter MacKenzi Welsh finished the match with 41 assists, seven digs and six kills. Then-freshman Paige Jones had a team-high 12 digs and seven kills.

• The all-time series between Michigan and Ohio State dates back to 1974, with the Buckeyes holding a 53-25 advantage. U-M has won five straight matches in the series and four of the last five played in Ann Arbor.

• Michigan outlasted Ohio State, 3-2, in Columbus last season behind stellar performances from Carly Skjodt and Paige Jones. Both players finished with 23 kills, while Jones hit at a .367 clip.

• Setter MacKenzi Welsh added a double-double of 56 assists and 14 digs, and orchestrated the U-M lineup to a .338 attack percentage.

• In a celebration of the 25th anniversary of the debut of the hit television show "Friends," Michigan rolled to a 3-1 victory over Notre Dame on Sunday (Sept. 22) to avenge a setback to the Fighting Irish on Sept. 18.

• After she set a new career high for digs against Notre Dame on Sept. 18, senior Sydney Wetterstrom tied her top mark in digs with 16 against the Fighting Irish on Sunday (Sept. 22).

• The Wolverines held the Fighting Irish to (-.088) hitting in the final set Sunday, which marked the fourth time this season U-M held its opponent to negative hitting. The others included Northern Illinois (-.042), Oakland (-.353), and Tennessee Tech (-.034).

• Michigan finished with three attackers at 10+ kills for the second straight match, as Cori Crocker, Paige Jones, and Sydney Wetterstrom did so against Notre Dame on Sept. 18. Jones, May Pertofsky, and Wetterstrom did reached the plateau against the Fighting Irish on Sunday (Sept. 22).

• With six home matches under its belt, Michigan ranks sixth in the Big 10 in average attendance with 1,563, behind Nebraska (8,161), Wisconsin (7,052), Minnesota (5,700), Penn State (3,302) and Michigan State (2,748).

• The Maize and Blue has fared well when playing in Ann Arbor, combining to go 6-0 when it plays in Cliff Keen Arena (3-0) and Crisler Center (3-0).

• After they played in five five-set matches in 2018, the Wolverines already have had three matches go the distance in 2019. Michigan is 1-2 thus far, with a win over Northern Arizona (Aug. 30) and losses to Dayton (Sept. 7) and Notre Dame (Sept. 18).

• The Wolverines finished off a perfect weekend at the Michigan Challenge, where they turned aside 2018 NCAA Tournament teams Navy (Sept. 13) and Eastern Michigan (Sept. 15) in straight sets.

• The Wolverine offense is predicated on balance, and that has been on display all season. Five players finished with a kills-per-set mark over 1.50, with Paige Jones leading the way at 3.14. Sydney Wetterstrom adds 2.68 kills-per-set, while May Pertofsky (2.24), Jess Robinson (2.19), and Cori Crocker (1.59) give Michigan strong scoring options.

• Senior MacKenzi Welsh passed the 4,000-assist mark for her career when she divvied out 111 on opening weekend, making her the sixth Wolverine to top the mark. Welsh now has 4,321 assists for her career, good for sixth all-time at Michigan. She is 261 away from entering the top five.

• Not only is Welsh climbing her way up the Michigan record boards, she also is near the top of the NCAA career assists leaderboard. The Bolingbrook, Illinois, native is second in Division I in career assists behind Stanford's Jenna Gray.