Michigan
13-6
Notre Dame
14-5
U-M Delivers Key Non-League Win, Sweeps No. 21 Irish
10/18/2000 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Site:Â Ann Arbor, Mich. (Cliff Keen Arena)
Result: Michigan 3, #21 Notre Dame 0 (15-6, 16-14, 16-14)
Records:Â U-M (13-6), UND (14-5)
Next U-M Match: Friday, Oct. 20 -- vs. Iowa (Cliff Keen Arena), 7 p.m.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan volleyball team upped its 2000 record to 13-6 by disposing of No. 21 Notre Dame in a three-game sweep (15-6, 16-14, 16-14) Wednesday night (Oct. 18) before a partisan crowd at Cliff Keen Arena. The Wolverines, who hit .313 (64-23-131) for the match, were energized by the play of senior co-captain Sarah Behnke (Baroda, Mich./Lakeshore HS), who came off the bench to collect a match-best 14 kills and hit at a scorching rate of .650 (14-1-20).
Michigan came out very strong in game one and played one of its most complete games of the season. After Notre Dame took an early 2-1 advantage, the Wolverines rattled off 10 straight points, with five of the points coming off the jump serve of sophomore Katrina Lehman (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Marian HS). Michigan's attacking in game one sizzled as the Wolverines hit at a .429 (15-3-28) clip, with senior Joanna Fielder (Costa Mesa, Calif./Newport Harbor HS) collecting five kills.
Notre Dame answered the Michigan run with a 3-1 run of its own to cut the deficit to 12-6. That was as close as the Fighting Irish would get, however, as Michigan ran off the final three points of the game, which included a kill from freshman Chantel Reedus (Woodridge, Ill./Downers Grove South HS). Junior setter Shannon Melka (Wheaton, Ill./St. Francis HS) clicked well with the outside hitters and middle blockers as four different Wolverines amassed at least three kills in the game.
Game two began much like the first as the two teams traded the first six points before a 3-0 Notre Dame run gave the Irish a 6-3 lead. The Fighting Irish eventually pushed their lead to six at 11-5 and 13-7 as Michigan's attacking cooled off to a rate of .143 (17-11-42) for game two. Michigan continued to hang in the game, however, and cut the lead to 14-10 after a block assist and service ace from Melka forced a Notre Dame timeout.
The Wolverines were able to maintain their momentum coming out of the timeout and recorded five straight points off the serve of Reedus. One of the points during the 5-0 run came from Behnke, who came off the bench to hit .800 (4-0-5) in game two. After trading sideouts, the Wolverines scored the final point of game two on a Notre Dame hitting error to complete the 16-14 comeback.
Notre Dame bounced right back in game three and jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead, but Michigan regained its attacking rhythm and slowly crept back into game three, buoyed by a hitting mark of .377 (32-9-61). A pair of kills from Reedus and block assists from Lehman and senior Alija Pittenger (Virginia Beach, Va./First Colonial HS) helped Michigan cut the deficit to 6-3.
Notre Dame was able to keep Michigan at bay for most of game three and held leads of between three and five points until Fielder took the ball with the Maize and Blue trailing 14-9 and served four straight points. Two more kills from Reedus, who hit .400 (7-1-15) in game three, and a Fielder ace cut the gap to two at 14-12.
After a kill from Behnke, who continued to dominate with a game-three hitting rate of .600 (10-1-15), shaved the deficit to a single point, Lehman took over. The sophomore middle blocker sandwiched two kills around a block assist with Reedus for the final three points of the match as Michigan pulled off another 16-14 comeback to win the match in a three-game sweep.
Michigan returns to Big Ten Conference action with a tilt vs. Iowa on Friday (Oct. 20) at 7 p.m. in Cliff Keen Arena.
MATCH BESTS
Kills: U-M 64 (Sarah Behnke 14); UND 43 (Kristy Kreher 13)
Assists: U-M 54 (Shannon Melka 47); UND 39 (Denise Boylan 30)
Service Aces: U-M 6 (Alija Pittenger 2); UND 4 (Boylan, Keara Coughlin 2)
Digs: U-M 46 (Pittenger 12); UND 38 (Boylan 9)
Blocks: U-M 4 (Katrina Lehman 3); UND 14.5 (Malinda Goralski 8)
NOTES
• Michigan matched its season best in a three-game match with 64 kills. The Wolverines also collected 64 kills in a sweep of Arkansas (Sept. 16).
• Shannon Melka's 47 assists is her second-highest total for a three-game match this season. The highest was 52 vs. Arkansas (Sept. 16).
• Alija Pittenger, who hit .348 (12-4-23), amassed a match-best 12 digs and registered a Michigan-best two aces in the win over Notre Dame. She also recorded her 10th double-double of the season in kills (12) and digs (12).
• Michigan is now 6-1 at home this season and finishes its non-conference schedule with a 10-1 mark.
QUOTES
Michigan Head Coach Mark Rosen
On the match in general ... "Anytime you go up against a team ranked in the Top 25 and your team hits .313, it is nice to see. We executed our offense really well for the majority of the match and I think that showed in the numbers our kids put up throughout the lineup. We beat a good team tonight and this is another key win on our resume over a team that has a chance to win its conference."
On the key to victory ... "As I have said before, we are at our best when we have balance offensively. We had three outside hitters hit .318 or better tonight and our middles were pretty efficient as well. When you have that type of balance you have a great chance to be successful, and Shannon Melka deserves a lot of credit for spreading the ball around so well."
