Michigan
7-21,5-14Big Ten
Purdue
20-8,14-5Big Ten
Wolverines Drop Senior Night Match to No. 13 Purdue
11/24/2023 9:40:00 PM | Volleyball
» Kendall Murray led the team with 11 kills.
» Morgan Burke earned a double-double with 28 assists and 11 digs.
» All 10 Wolverines who played tallied a dig in the match; Hannah Grant and Morgan Burke led the way with 11 apiece.
» Michigan will host Indiana on Saturday night (Nov. 26) in the final match of the 2023 season.
ANN ARBOR Mich. -- In a night honoring its five-person senior class, the University of Michigan volleyball team fell to No. 13-ranked Purdue (18-25, 22-25, 17-25) in three sets at Cliff Keen Arena on Friday evening (Nov. 24).
Kendall Murray led Michigan offensively with 11 kills on the night. Valentina Vaulet and Jacque Boney both finished with eight kills while Vaulet added three aces. Morgan Burke tallied her fourth career double-double with 28 assists and 11 digs, while Hannah Grant matched Burke with 11 digs for the team lead.
The Boilermakers opened the match on a 2-0 run and kept the lead until a kill from Boney at 5-4 gave U-M its first advantage of the night. Purdue (20-8, 14-5 Big Ten) responded and took the lead back at 7-6 before a kill from Vaulet evened the match at seven. The Wolverines took the lead again at 9-8 on a kill from Amalia Simmons, but a 7-1 run from Purdue shifted the momentum in favor of the Boilermakers and the lead proved too big for a Wolverine comeback. A back-row kill from Murray held off Purdue at set point, but the Boilermakers capitalized on their second chance and took the first set, 25-18.
Purdue started the second set off on an 8-1 run which forced an early Michigan timeout. Vaulet tallied back-to-back kills for the Wolverines after the stoppage, but Purdue used a 3-0 run to extend its lead to 11-3. Despite the potent Boilermaker offense, Michigan pulled within striking distance at 14-12 after a 9-3 run that featured kills from five different Wolverines and aces from both Vaulet and Grant. Purdue then called a timeout and it was a back-and-forth affair from there, with both teams using short scoring runs to keep the set close. After the Boilermakers extended their lead to five at 22-17, Michigan used its second timeout of the frame and responded with a 3-0 run on a kill from Nyambio and two aces from Vaulet. The teams alternated the next five points of the frame, however, which was enough for Purdue to take the second set by a 25-22 score.
The teams traded the first 20 points of the third set, and a kill from Vaulet tied things up at 10 before Purdue went on a 3-0 run for a 13-10 lead. Kills from Vaulet and Murray brought Michigan back to within one, but U-M errors and a .323 Boilermaker hitting percentage prevented the Wolverines from keeping pace. Purdue finished the set on a 7-2 run and took the final set of the night, 25-17.
Michigan (7-21, 5-14 Big Ten) will wrap up its 2023 season with a match against Indiana at home inside Cliff Keen Arena on Saturday (Nov. 25) at 6:30 p.m. The match will be streamed live on B1G+.
