Michigan
3-1,0-0Big Ten
Navy
3-2,0-0Patriot
Block Party: U-M Stuffs Navy to End Play at Kristen Dickmann Invitational
9/3/2021 10:43:00 PM | Volleyball
» The Wolverines set a rally-scoring-era program record with 19 total blocks.
» Junior Jess Robinson had a career-best 10 blocks.
» Michigan out-hit Navy .377 to .121 for the match.
» Junior May Pertofsky led all players with 17 kills.
Site: Annapolis, Md. (Wesley A. Brown Field House)
Event: Kristen Dickmann Invitational
Score: Michigan 3, Navy 1 (25-19, 26-28, 25-14, 25-15)
Records: U-M (3-1), Navy (3-2)
Next U-M Event: Friday, Sept. 10 -- vs. Duke (Crisler Center), 7 p.m.
ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- The No. 23-ranked University of Michigan volleyball team bounced back from a tough start to the day to take down Navy 3-1 on Friday night (Sept. 3), turning aside the Midshipmen 25-19, 26-28, 25-14, 25-15 behind a record-breaking block effort to wrap up the Kristen Dickmann Invitational at Wesley A. Brown Field House.
The Wolverines finished the night with 19 blocks, their most in a match since rally scoring began in 2001 and just shy of the program-record 21 total blocks set in 1987. Junior Jess Robinson finished the night with 10 total blocks (two solo, eight assist), the most for an individual player since Abby Cole against Indiana in 2015.
Fellow junior May Pertofsky led the Michigan offense with 17 kills, while hitting at a .538 clip and collecting seven blocks. Senior Paige Jones added 15 kills with a career-best six total blocks. In addition to Robinson's impressive blocking performance, the Troy, Mich., native added seven kills on a .700 attack percentage (7-0-10).
In front of a raucous crowd, U-M struck the first blow of the match with a 25-19 win in the first set. The Maize and Blue jumped out to an early 6-0 lead, but the Mids chipped away and eventually took a 17-16 lead. The Wolverines responded with a 4-0 run to give themselves breathing room and take the first set.
Set two was a back-and-forth battle from the start, with the two sides exchanging leads seven times and seeing the score tied on 14 occasions. Ultimately it was the Mids that pulled out a victory needing extra points, pulling out a 28-26 victory.
Michigan bounced back in the third, rattling off 11 straight points behind the service of redshirt sophomore Hannah Grant. Navy pulled no closer than eight the rest of the way, as the Wolverines widened the score to its largest margin of 11 to close out the set, 25-14.
With the momentum on U-M's side, U-M took the lead from the first point of the fourth set and never looked back, closing out the match with a 25-15 victory.
In total, Michigan hit .377 as a team while holding Navy to just .121. The Wolverines held the advantage in blocking (19-3), service aces (9-7), digs (46-40) and kills (51-42).
Grant finished with a match-high 16 digs to go along with a career-best four service aces, while sophomore Jess Mruzik added eight kills, 12 digs and a pair of service aces. Sophomore setter Scottee Johnson had a season-high 43 assists to go along with eight digs, two aces and a block.
Michigan returns to action on Friday (Sept 10) in its first home match of the 2021 campaign, taking on Duke inside Crisler Center at 7 p.m.
