Michigan
7-22,5-15Big Ten
Indiana
21-12,11-9Big Ten
Michigan Takes Hard-Fought Home Loss Against Indiana to Close Out 2023 Season
11/25/2023 10:26:00 PM | Volleyball
» Michigan fell to Indiana in four sets (19-25, 21-25, 25-18, 23-25).
» Jacque Boney led the team in kills with 14, tying her career high.
» Maddi Cuchran set a new career high with three aces.
» All 12 active players saw action in all four sets.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- In its final match of the 2023 season, the University of Michigan volleyball team fell to Indiana in four sets (19-25, 21-25, 25-18, 23-25) on Saturday night (Nov. 25) at Cliff Keen Arena.
Jacque Boney tied her career high for the third time this season with 14 kills on 26 total attempts. She added five block assists, her most since September. Kendall Murray joined Boney with double-digit kills with 10 kills and added nine digs. Both setters registered double-digit assists with Morgan Burke tallying 26 and Scottee Johnson adding 10. Hannah Grant led the team in digs with 13, while Maddi Cuchran led the team in aces with three, a new career high.
In a back-and-forth first set, Michigan (7-21, 5-14 Big Ten) had the lead early and went up 6-3 after a kill from Boney. The Hoosiers (20-12, 10-9 Big Ten) responded with a 5-1 run which put them up 8-7 for their first lead of the match. Burke tallied a kill, and a service ace from Valentina Vaulet gave Michigan back the lead at 10-9. Indiana retook the lead with a 4-0 run before a 7-3 run by the Wolverines gave Michigan a 17-16 advantage. Four different Michigan players registered a kill in the run, while Scottee Johnson added a service ace. Indiana ended the set on a 9-2 run to take the first set 25-19.
Indiana took the first point of the second set on a solo block before a 4-0 run by the Wolverines. Cuchran tallied two aces, while Murray added a kill. Indiana stayed in it and tied the score at 10 before taking the lead at 12-11. U-M then retook the lead after a 3-0 run with a kill from Boney, a block from Vaulet and a combined block from Lydia Johnson and Boney. After an attack error from the IU setter, Michigan led 16-13 to force a Hoosiers timeout. When play resumed, Indiana went on an 8-2 run and took a 21-18 lead. Michigan tied the score at 21 after two kills from Murray and an IU attack error. A 4-0 Indiana run capped off a 25-21 set and a 2-0 match lead.
Both teams fought hard early in the third set, and with it tied at 9, Michigan went on a 9-1 run led by Grant from the service line to stake itself to a, 18-10 lead. Vaulet tallied an ace early in the run before Grant took over after an IU point. Four Hoosiers attack errors helped the Wolverines, while three different U-M players tallied kills. Indiana then took seven of the next 13 points, but Michigan held a 23-18 advantage. A kill from Murray and IU handling error followed and U-M took the set 25-18.
The Hoosiers took an early lead in the fourth set and Michigan was never able to pull in front. The Wolverines tied the score three times early, including at 9. However, IU strung together four straight points to go up 13-9. The Hoosiers stayed in front until a 5-1 run cut the U-M deficit to 20-17. Boney tallied two kills on the run and Cuchran registered her third ace. After trading the lead twice more, at 22 and 23, the final time courtesy of Boney's 14th kill. Michigan could not keep the momentum going and the Hoosiers took the final two points and the match.
The Wolverines finished its first season under head coach Erin Virtue with a win over Sacred Heart at the Boston College Invitational, a victory over North Carolina during the Big Ten/ACC Challenge and a three-match home win streak versus Ohio State, Iowa and Maryland in late October and early November.
