Michigan
1-3,0-0Big Ten
Colorado State
2-3,0-0Mountain West
Michigan Falls in Hard-Fought Five-Set Match With Colorado State
9/2/2023 6:52:00 PM | Volleyball
» Michigan fell in five sets to Colorado State in the Wooo Pig Invitational.
» Amalia Simmons led the Wolverines on the night with 20 kills.
» Two players registered double-doubles in Scottee Johnson (53 assists, 12 digs) and Kendall Murray (14 kills, 27 digs).
» Four Wolverines registered double-digit kills in the match
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- The University of Michigan volleyball team fell to Colorado State in five sets (25-27, 25-23, 25-22, 18-25, 16-13) on Saturday afternoon (Sept. 2) at Barnhill Arena as part of Arkansas' Wooo Pig Invitational.
Amalia Simmons had a strong day with 20 kills, setting a new career high, and led the team for the first time in her career. Jacque Boney and Kendall Murray both tallied 14 kills on the afternoon with Boney adding three blocks and Murray adding 27 digs, which both led the Wolverines (1-3). Scottee Johnson earned her 24th dig-assist double-double with 59 assists and 12 digs.
Michigan took the first and fourth sets, and Colorado State (2-3) won the second and third, to force a fifth set. The Wolverines got off to a strong start in the final set with a 4-2 lead behind kills from Serena Nyambio, Boney and Simmons. CSU knotted the match at 4 and eventually took a 9-7 lead to prompt a Michigan timeout. Following the timeout, Valentina Vaulet and Nyambio both got a kill to tie the score at nine.
The Rams took the next three points to force another Wolverines timeout. Nyambio brought U-M within two following the timeout and the Maize and Blue fought off match point twice but could not take the final set.
In the first set, the Rams got off to a strong start, earning the first four points of the match. The Wolverines fought back and took the next four to tie the first set at four. No team had a lead bigger than four throughout the set with the Wolverines taking their first lead at 16-15. Michigan led 20-16 after two kills from Simmons and an ace from Lydia Johnson.
The Rams tied it up at 23 and stopped a set point at 24-23. An attack error by Colorado State and a kill from Nyambio forced a Rams timeout with U-M on set point. Out of the timeout, CSU tied it up at 25. Lydia Johnson got back-to-back kills and U-M took the first set 27-25.
Both teams battled in the second set with the score tied at 8 after the first 16 points of the set. The Rams then took eight of the next 12 points to take a 16-13 lead and force a U-M timeout. The Wolverines brought it within one after a kill and ace from Murray and kill from Nyambio. CSU extended its lead to 23-18, but five straight points from the Wolverines tied the set at 23. Two aces from Lydia Johnson and two kills from Simmons highlighted the 5-0 run. The Rams took the next two points and the second set 25-23.
Colorado State got off to a strong start in the third set, leading 8-4 which induced an early Michigan timeout. Out of the timeout, U-M took the next five points with two aces from Scottee Johnson and kills for Murray, Nyambio and Lydia Johnson to take the lead. U-M extended its lead to 14-10 after a block from Lydia Johnson and Boney before the teams split the next eight points to put the Maize and Blue ahead 18-14. The Rams took six of the next seven points to take a 20-19 lead. Michigan tied it at 22 after a kill from Simmons, but the Rams took the final three points of the set to win 25-22.
The Maize and Blue got off to a slow start in the fourth set, falling behind 5-2 before quickly rallying to take a 7-6 advantage. CSU tied the set at 8, but Scottee Johnson put the Wolverines back in the lead, which they kept for the remainder of the set. Following the Johnson kill, Michigan took six of the next seven points. Colorado State got back within two and the Wolverines called a timeout. Returning to action, Boney and Murray had kills with Brooke Humphrey adding a service ace. The Rams burned another timeout, but was unable to overcome Michigan, which won five of the final eight points to take the set 25-18 and forced the deciding set.
The Wolverines will wrap up the Wooo Pig Invitational against host No. 21-ranked Arkansas on Sunday (Sept. 3) at 11 a.m. CDT inside Barnhill Arena. The match will be streamed live on SEC Network+.
