Michigan
1-1,0-0Big Ten
Sacred Heart
0-1,0-0NEC
Michigan Sweeps Sacred Heart for First Win of Season
8/26/2023 3:44:00 PM | Volleyball
» Michigan defeated Scared Heart in straight sets for the first win under head coach Erin Virtue.
» Lydia Johnson made her career debut and registered seven kills, seven service aces and five blocks.
» Scottee Johnson led U-M with 33 assists, and Jacque Boney led in kills with 13.
» Thirteen Wolverines saw action in the match, with three making their career debut.
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. -- The University of Michigan volleyball team swept Sacred Heart in three sets (28-26, 25-13, 25-15) on Saturday (Aug. 26) at Margot Connell Recreation Center to pick up the Wolverines' first win of the 2023 season as they closed out their stay at the Boston College Invitational.
The victory also was the first for head coach Erin Virtue at Michigan.
Lydia Johnson made her debut for the Wolverines and had an impressive match with seven kills on 17 attacks. She also added seven aces and five blocks. Jacque Boney led the team with 13 kills on 20 attacks and Valentina Vaulet reached double-digit kills (10) for the first time in her career. Scottee Johnson tallied 33 assists on the day.
Sacred Heart (0-1) started off the match strong, taking six of the first seven points. Lydia Johnson ended the run with her first career kill and service ace. Boney added her first kill of the match to bring the Wolverines back to down two at 6-4. The Pioneers extended their lead to 15-9 after another scoring run to force a Michigan timeout.
After the timeout, U-M took five straight and six of the next seven points, with Boney adding two kills and a block assist with Lydia Johnson in that span. The set stayed close with Sacred Heart reaching 20 points first and the Wolverines close behind at 18. Three straight points for the Wolverines tied the match at 22.
Michigan (1-1) earned the first set point after a kill from Vaulet but could not convert. The Pioneers earned the next set point at 25-24, but a kill from Lydia Johnson tied it at 25. Vaulet once again gave the Wolverines set point but was stopped once again by Sacred Heart. Tied at 26, Vaulet added another kill to put the Wolverines once again at set point and a bad set from the Pioneers gave Michigan the first set 28-26.
The second set started out with the Wolverines taking seven of the first 10 points highlighted by two kills for Vaulet and an ace each from Kendall Murray and Lydia Johnson. Sacred Heart called its first timeout of the second set after Murray gave Michigan a 10-6 lead with a kill. Michigan took the next two points and 10 of the next 15 to take a 20-11 advantage. The Pioneers were unable to come back as two kills and an ace from Boney and a kill from Scottee Johnson gave U-M the second set 25-13.
Boney started the third set with back-to-back kills as Michigan took a 2-1 lead and did not trail for the rest of the set. Lydia Johnson tallied four straight service aces to put the Wolverines up 6-1. After a 4-0 run from the Pioneers, Virtue called a timeout.
U-M came out of the timeout and took seven of the next eight points with four blocks highlighting the run, with Lydia Johnson and Serena Nyambio were involved in three of them with Murray helping on the other two. The Pioneers ended the run with a kill, but the Wolverines then took five of the next six points to extend their lead to 19-9. Lydia Johnson added her final kill of the match to get Michigan to 20. Mira Chopra tallied two kills and a service ace in the final five points for the Wolverines. Murray had the final kill of the match clinching the set and match for Michigan with a 25-15 final set.
The Wolverines will return home for their first home match of the season on Tuesday (Aug. 29) at 6 p.m. when they face off against Western Michigan at Crisler Center.
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