Michigan
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Western Michigan
4-0,0-0MAC
Michigan Drops Home Opener to Western Michigan
8/29/2023 9:36:00 PM | Volleyball
» Michigan fell in three sets to Western Michigan in the Wolverines' 2023 home opener.
» Kendall Murray led the Wolverines with eight kills and Morgan Burke led the team in assists (21).
» Scottee Johnson registered eight assists and hit 2,000 for her career.
» 13 Wolverines saw action in the match.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan volleyball team dropped its home opener to the visiting Western Michigan Broncos in straight sets (17-25, 21-25, 19-25) on Tuesday evening (Aug. 29) at Crisler Center.
Kendall Murray led the Michigan offense with eight kills on the night and Serena Nyambio finished close behind with seven. Setter Morgan Burke registered a career-high 21 assists, while Mira Chopra had a strong night at the service line and tallied three aces. Setter Scottee Johnson tallied eight assists on the evening which puts her at 2,000 in her career; she is the ninth player in program history to reach the 2,000 mark for assists.
Western Michigan (4-0) got off to a strong start by taking six of the first seven points in the match. Valentina Vaulet got the first kill of the night for the Wolverines to make the score 6-2 following a Michigan timeout, but the Broncos continued their strong offensive attack and eventually took an 11-point lead in the set, which forced U-M to burn its second timeout. Behind some mistakes from WMU and an ace from Maddi Cuchran, the Wolverines got within eight points, 24-17, but a Michigan attacking error gave Western Michigan the first set, 25-17.
Michigan (1-2) fell behind early again in the second set, losing the first four points of the frame which forced an early timeout. Lydia Johnson got U-M on the board with a kill following the stoppage, and Michigan kept things close throughout the second set until WMU went on a four-point run to make the score 22-16. U-M then used its second timeout of the set and rallied for a 4-0 run which included two aces from Chopra, but the Wolverines were unable to complete the comeback and dropped the second set by a 25-21 score.
The Wolverines took their first lead of the match early in the third set when an ace from Chopra put Michigan up, 3-2, and Jacque Boney added back-to-back kills for a 5-3 U-M lead. From there, neither team led by more than two until a timeout was called with the set tied at 16. Unfortunately for the Wolverines, WMU took the next three points and seven of the next nine, which forced Michigan to use another timeout, down 23-18. A service error gave U-M the point out of the timeout, but the Broncos took the next two points to win the set 25-19 and clinch the three-set sweep.
The Wolverines will head to Arkansas this weekend (Sept. 2-3) for the Wooo Pig Invitational. U-M's first match of the tournament is scheduled for 2 p.m. CT on Saturday (Sept. 2) against Colorado State, and Michigan will close out the weekend with a match against host school No. 21-ranked Arkansas on Sunday (Sept. 3) at 11 a.m. CT.
