Michigan
14-11, 8-7Big Ten
Minnesota
27-3, 14-1Big Ten
Michigan Home Winning Streak Ended by No. 6 Gophers
11/15/2002 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Cliff Keen Arena)
Result: #6 Minnesota 3, Michigan 0 (30-26, 30-24, 32-30)
Records: Michigan (14-11, 8-7 Big Ten), Minnesota (27-3, 14-1 Big Ten)
Next U-M Match: Saturday, Nov. 16 -- vs. Iowa (Cliff Keen Arena), 7 p.m.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan volleyball team's nine-match home winning streak came to an abrupt halt tonight (Friday, Nov. 15) against the sixth-ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers. The Gophers' tough defense helped put away the Wolverines in three games (30-26, 30-24, 32-30) in front of 1,096 fans at Cliff Keen Arena.
The Wolverines were led by juniors Nicole Poquette (Grand Haven, Mich./Grand Haven HS) and Erin Moore (Tiffin, Ohio/Columbian HS). Poquette recorded 10 kills in 18 attempts with zero errors for a .556 hitting percentage, while Moore led the team with 12 kills. Moore also tied sophomore Carrie Ritchie (Mansfield, Ohio/Madison Comprehensive HS) for the team lead in digs with eight. Katrina Lehman (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Marian HS) led the way at the net with five blocks.
Minnesota, which has lost just five games in its last nine matches, started the night off right by hitting .298 (22-8-47) in game one. Despite being outhit, Michigan (14-11, 8-7 Big Ten) was able to stay with the Gophers in the beginning, tying the score at 10-10 and taking a four-point lead at 17-13. Things changed quickly, though, as a service rotation by Minnesota's Lindsey Vander Wall earned the Gophers eight unanswered points and gave them a 21-17 lead. Minnesota rode the momentum and finished out the game with three kills by Erin Martin for a 30-26 victory.
Michigan turned around its hitting in game two, much in part to the effort of Jennifer Gandolph (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove HS), who hit .545 (6-0-11), but the Wolverines still struggled. Minnesota took an early five-point lead at 6-1 and never looked back. Michigan made a run to get back into the game on a service rotation by Lehman, closing to within four at 17-13, but lost the match 30-24 to fall behind two games to one.
The Wolverines kept game three close, as the score was tied 20 times throughout the game. Michigan found itself with the lead at 29-28 but the Gophers tied the game at 29-29 with a kill. A U-M attack error gave Minnesota match point, but the Gophers committed an error to let Michigan back into the game at 30-30. A Minnesota kill and a Michigan error gave the Gophers the game by a score of 32-30 and a three-game sweep of the match.
Michigan returns to the court tomorrow night (Saturday, Nov. 16) for a at 7 p.m. match against Iowa. The contest will be shown tape-delayed at 4 p.m. Sunday (Nov. 17) on Fox Sports Chicago. Fans can receive free admission to support the Wolverines just by showing their ticket stubs from the Michigan-Wisconsin football game Saturday afternoon.
QUOTES
Michigan Head Coach Mark Rosen
On the match ... "I thought Minnesota played really well. I thought we came out in the first two games very uninspired. In game one, we played well early but as soon as they kind of broke away from us, it was like the wheels kind of came off. We weren't very focused, we weren't very disciplined and we weren't very inspired. It was interesting to watch the first two games. The crowd was very quiet and very unenthused. It wasn't the crowd's fault; it was our fault. We were playing very inspired, and that was the response we got."
On bouncing back for tomorrow's match ... "That's going to be the biggest challenge facing our team. We have the ability and we have the personnel, but they've got to come in tomorrow night and be ready to accept the challenge. There is no question we are capable of doing that, but we have to answer the challenge of rebounding and stepping up."
