Michigan
3-12,1-5Big Ten
Nebraska
15-0,6-0Big Ten
Michigan Falls To No. 2 Nebraska in Front of 7,800 Fans
10/7/2023 11:18:00 PM | Volleyball
» Michigan fell to No. 2 Nebraska in a three-set battle (27-29, 17-25, 14-25)
» Valentina Vaulet led Michigan in kills with eight on the night.
» The match was played in front of a crowd of 7,831 for the second largest in program history.
ANN ARBOR, Mich -- In front of a crowd of more 7,831, the University of Michigan volleyball team fell to Nebraska in three sets (29-27, 25-17, 25-14) on Saturday night (Oct. 7) at Crisler Center.
Valentina Vaulet led the team in kills with eight and added three digs. Scottee Johnson tallied 23 assists and eight digs. Brooke Humphrey registered 14 digs to lead the team, while Jacque Boney and Saj McBurrows tied for second on the team in kills with six.
Michigan (3-12, 1-5 Big Ten) got off to a hot start in set one taking a 2-0 lead after kills from McBurrows and Humphrey. The Wolverines worked their lead up to 9-4, forcing a Nebraska timeout. During the run, Kendall Murray tallied a kill and service ace back-to-back. U-M kept the Huskers at bay after the timeout with two kills from Vaulet. The Cornhuskers brought it back to 14-12, but Michigan pulled away again after two kills from Boney to make the score 18-15. Mira Chopra registered a service ace and Vaulet tallied another kill to force the second Huskers timeout with the score 20-16. Two straight points from Nebraska forced a Michigan timeout. The Huskers brought the score within one at 23-22 and forced another Michigan timeout. McBurrows tallied a kill out of the timeout to put Michigan at set point, but they could not close it out. After three more set points Michigan was unable to clinch the set. The Huskers finished on their first set-point chance and took the set 29-27.
Nebraska (14-0, 6-0 Big Ten) started off strong in the second set and eventually took a 6-1 lead. Serena Nyambio ended the run with a kill. After a timeout from Michigan, Boney tallied a kill before a service ace from Maddi Cuchran which brought the score to 8-4 Nebraska. The Wolverines continued to fight back and after kills from Nyambio and Vaulet, the Huskers led 12-9. U-M got it within two (12-10) after a kill from McBurrows which forced a Cornhusker timeout. Michigan took a timeout after a 5-1 run that increased the Nebraska lead to 19-13. U-M tallied a few more points, but the Cornhuskers took the set 25-17.
In the third set, the teams battled to start with the match tied multiple times. A kill from McBurrows knotted the match at 3 and a kill from Murray tied the match at 5. Nebraska went on a 4-0 run to force a timeout from U-M. Michigan fought for three more points before another timeout with Vaulet tallying two kills. Out of the timeout, McBurrows registered a kill off a set from Johnson and the score stood at 16-9. U-M had a few more kills from Murray and Vaulet, but Nebraska took nine of the final 14 points to take the set 25-14 and the match 3-0.
The Wolverines will wrap up their three-game homestand on Wednesday (Oct. 11), when they face off against No. 16 Minnesota at 8 p.m. airing live on the Big Ten Network.
