Michigan
3-0
Northern Illinois
2-0
Wolverines Use Offensive Balance to Sweep Northern Illinois
9/6/2019 7:00:00 PM | Volleyball
» Michigan hit .500 in the match, getting a match-high nine kills from Sydney Wetterstrom. Cori Crocker put down eight kills on eight swings, with Jess Robinson and Paige Jones each tallying eight kills.
» U-M totaled 10 service aces in the contest from May Pertofsky (4), Natalie Smith (2), Katerina Rocafort (2) and Wetterstrom (2).
» The Wolverines got 11 digs from Natalie Smith and 37 assists from MacKenzi Welsh in the sweep.
Site: Dayton, Ohio (Frericks Center)
Score: #14 Michigan 3, Northern Illinois 0 (25-19, 25-18, 25-9)
Records: U-M (4-1), NIU (2-4)
Next U-M Event: Saturday, Sept. 7 -- at Dayton - Dayton Invitational (Dayton, Ohio), 7 p.m.
DAYTON, Ohio -- The No. 14-ranked University of Michigan volleyball team had four players with at least eight kills, hit .500 as a team and tallied 10 service aces on the way to a three-set victory (25-19, 25-18, 25-9) against Northern Illinois on Friday (Sept. 6) at Frericks Center.
Senior Sydney Wetterstrom finished with nine kills and two service aces to pace the Wolverine attack. Fifth-year senior Cori Crocker put down eight kills on eight swings for a perfect 1.000 attack percentage, with freshman Jess Robinson and sophomore Paige Jones each racking up eight kills. Michigan hit .500 for the match with just six attack errors and had eight different players record a kill. Freshman May Pertofsky got 11 digs from junior Natalie Smith to lead the Maize and Blue defensively.
The Wolverines grabbed the first set, 25-19, propelled by a strong showing on offense. Michigan put together a .484 attack percentage with 17 kills in the set victory, led by seven from Wetterstrom.
The Wolverines led from the onset of the second set en route to a 25-18 win. Michigan kept it rolling on offense in the set, collecting 15 kills while registering just two attack errors in the process for a .500 attack percentage. The Michigan offense also got a boost from five aces in the stanza, three from Pertofsky and two from Smith.
Michigan sealed the sweep with a third-set victory. The Wolverines scored first and never trailed in the set to earn a 25-9 victory. A 7-0 run on the serve of senior Katerina Rocafort jump-started the Wolverines early on as Michigan once again committed just two attack errors for the win.
Michigan will conclude the Dayton Invitational on Saturday (Sept. 7) against host Dayton at 7 p.m. inside Frericks Center.
