Michigan
12-5, 3-4Big Ten
Northwestern
4-13, 1-6Big Ten
U-M Hangs On to Win Five-Game Thriller at Northwestern
10/13/2000 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Site:Â Evanston, Ill. (Welsh-Ryan Arena)
Result:Â Michigan 3, Northwestern 2 (15-12, 15-13,14-16, 14-16, 15-12)
Records:Â U-M (12-5, 3-4 Big Ten), NU (4-13, 1-6 Big Ten)
Next U-M Match:Â Saturday, Oct. 14 -- at Wisconsin (Madison, Wis.), 7 p.m. CDT
EVANSTON, Ill. -- The University of Michigan volleyball team played its third consecutive five-game match in the Big Ten Conference and came away victorious for the second time during that stretch with a 3-2 (15-12, 15-13, 14-16, 14-16, 15-12) win over Northwestern Friday (Oct. 13) at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Sophomore middle blocker Katrina Lehman (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Marian HS), who hit .667 (4-0-6) in game five alone, enjoyed a career night, with a career-best 21 kills to go along with a hitting percentage of .472 (21-4-36) and a team-best five blocks.
Michigan fell behind early in game one as Northwestern scored the first six points of the match, prompting Michigan head coach Mark Rosen to call a timeout. Michigan used the timeout to go on a 5-1 run, with three points coming off the serve of Alija Pittenger (Virginia Beach, Va./First Colonial HS), including her only ace of the match. The Wolverines, who hit .265 (16-7-34) for the game, maintained their momentum with strong attacking, led by Joanna Fielder (Costa Mesa, Calif./Newport Harbor HS), who hit .571 (5-1-7) for the game. Trailing 10-8, Michigan went on a 5-0 run that included two block assists from Lehman. After Northwestern cut the deficit to one (13-12), Pittenger connected on a kill from the back row to help Michigan to a 15-12 game-one win.
Again the Wolverines struggled out of the gate in game two as Northwestern jumped out to a 3-0 lead. Northwestern maintained its advantage and led 8-5 before an ace from Shawna Olson (Wheaton, Ill./St. Francis HS) returned the momentum to Michigan's side. The Wolverines, who were outhit .186 (15-7-43) to .167 (20-11-54) in game two, drew even after a kill from Nicole Kacor (Chicago, Ill./Mother McAuley HS). Michigan's comeback was keyed by Pittenger, who hit .333 (6-2-12) in game two and had amassed 14 digs through the first two games. Pittenger finished with a match-best 24 digs to go with a hitting mark of .343 (18-6-35). A pair of kills from Lehman helped Michigan gain a 14-11 lead, but Northwestern cut the deficit to 14-13. A kills from Fielder ended the Wildcat comeback and gave Michigan a 15-13 win.
In game three it was Michigan jumping out to the early lead, scoring the first three points of the game including an ace from Cobey Shoji (Honolulu, Hawaii/Punahou HS). After Northwestern knotted the game at three apiece, Michigan went on a 6-2 run that included a pair of kills from freshman Chantel Reedus (Woodridge, Ill./Downers Grove HS). Kills from Lehman and Kacor helped the Wolverines push their lead to 13-6, causing Northwestern to use a timeout. Michigan was unable to put the Wildcats away as they went on a 6-0 run to cut the lead to one (13-12), but blocks from Fielder and Reedus gave Michigan match point. However, Northwestern quickly regained the momentum and converted the final three points of game three for a 16-14 win.
Michigan answered the challenge in game four and took charge early. After Northwester cut the lead to one (3-2), Michigan responded with a 7-0 run that was keyed by five straight points off the serve of Shannon Melka (Wheaton, Ill./St. Francis HS). The Michigan run was aided by block assists from Lehman and Reedus as well as a kill from Pittenger. Northwestern again mounted a comeback and after a 6-0 run had cut the Michigan lead to 10-9. Following a kill from Lehman and another Michigan point, Northwestern kept coming back and tied the game at 12. The two teams traded points before a kill from Kacor gave Michigan match point at 14-13. Northwestern, however, staved off several match points and again completed a improbable comeback for a 16-14 win to push the match to a deciding fifth game.
After Northwestern converted the first two points of game five, Michigan came back with four of the next six points to tie the score at four. With the score tied at six, Michigan grabbed a two-point lead following kills from Kacor and Fielder. However, Northwestern would not let Michigan pull away as the Wildcats came back to tie the score at nine. Kills from Lehman and Reedus pushed Michigan's lead back to two at 11-9 and it turned out to be a lead Michigan would not relinquish. With a 14-12 lead, a block by Kacor finally finished off Northwestern as Michigan won game five 15-12 and the match 3-2.
Michigan, which is now 12-5 overall and 3-4 in the Big Ten, finishes its weekend conference road trip on Saturday (Oct. 14, 7 p.m. CDT) with a match at Wisconsin that will be televised live on Midwest Sports Channel.
MATCH BESTS
Kills: U-M 88 (Katrina Lehman 21); NU 71 (Erika Lange 20)
Assists: U-M 78 (Shannon Melka 75); NU 61 (Kelli Meyer 56)
Service Aces: U-M 4 (Four players with 1); NU 5 (Erica Knavel 2)
Digs: U-M 72 (Alija Pittenger 24); NU 66 (Meyer 14)
Blocks: U-M 9 (Lehman 5); NU 24 (Lange 20)
NOTES
• Nicole Kacor finished with her fifth straight double-double in kills (17) and digs (11).
• Michigan is now 3-2 in five-game matches in 2000.
• Michigan has beaten Northwestern in 12 consecutive matches, including six straight at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
QUOTES
Michigan Head Coach Mark Rosen
On the match in general ... "I am glad to see that we stayed tough in game five and showed some guts to pull that game out after we had several match points in games three and four. However, this team needs to learn how to put teams away and we certainly had our share of opportunities to do that tonight. At the same time, any win on the road in this conference is a big win and we will take it, learn from it and get better."
On the play of Katrina Lehman ... "Katrina is a player who has gotten better for us every week and we are getting these types of performances from her more and more often. She is very athletic and as a result is pretty active in the middle for us. She and Shannon [Melka] are starting to get on the same page and when they click in the middle everything else we do opens up."
