Michigan
15-12, 9-8Big Ten
Purdue
12-18, 2-15Big Ten
U-M Drops Marathon at Purdue Despite Season Highs
11/22/2002 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Site: West Lafayette, Ind. (Intercollegiate Athletic Facility)
Result: Purdue 3, Michigan 2 (17-30, 36-34, 21-30, 30-24, 15-9)
Records: U-M (15-12, 9-8 Big Ten), Purdue (12-18, 2-15 Big Ten)
Next U-M Match: Saturday, Nov. 23 -- at Illinois (Champaign, Ill.), 7 p.m. CST
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- The University of Michigan volleyball team tallied season highs in kills (83), assists (75) and digs (90), but it was not enough to pull out a victory against Purdue tonight (Friday, Nov. 22) at the Intercollegiate Athletic Facility. U-M fell 3-2 (17-30, 36-34, 21-30, 30-24, 15-9) to the Boilermakers despite several members of the team having career nights statistically, including Lisa Gamalski's (Milwaukee, Wis./Catholic Memorial HS) first career triple-double (10 kills, 63 assists, 12 digs).
Nicole Poquette (Grand Haven, Mich./Grand Haven HS) and Gamalski each recorded a career high in kills with 17 and 10, respectively. Poquette was one of three Wolverines to tally 17 kills, as Jennifer Gandolph (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove HS) and Erin Moore (Tiffin, Ohio/Columbian HS) tied Poquette for the team lead. Gandolph also helped out with the team's defensive effort, recording a career-high 23 digs.
Carrie Ritchie (Mansfield, Ohio/Madison Comprehensive HS) played in the front row for the second time this season, as Chantel Reedus (Woodridge, Ill./Downers Grove South HS) was limited to a defensive specialist role due to injury. Ritchie made the most of the opportunity, tying her season high in kills with 12 and posting a season high in digs with 16.
Michigan (15-12, 9-8 Big Ten) started the match well with a 30-17 victory in game one. The hot-hitting Wolverines posted 21 kills and one error in 41 attempts for a match-high .488 hitting percentage. U-M held the Boilermakers to just 11 kills in the game.
Purdue (12-18, 2-15 Big Ten) caught back up with a victory in game two. The 36-34 battle is the longest game in which Michigan has played using the two-year-old rally-scoring system. The Wolverines took a match-high 66 swings and landed 27 kills, but the Boilermakers countered with 21 kills of their own to even the match at one game each.
U-M returned from the intermission and took a 30-21 decision in game three. Michigan posted 15 kills and a .226 (15-8-31) hitting percentage while holding Purdue to a hitting percentage of just .028 (12-11-36) to take a two-games-to-one lead into the fourth game.
Despite the lead, games four and five were nothing like the beginning of the match as Michigan hit a combined .000 (20-20-80) in the last two games. U-M's poor hitting allowed the Boilermakers to tie the match at two games each with a 30-24 win in game four. In game five, Purdue was nearly unstoppable and hit .421 (9-1-19) to win the game 15-9.
The Wolverines finish the final road trip of the regular season with a match at Illinois tomorrow (Saturday, Nov. 23) in Champaign, Ill. The contest is slated to begin at 7 p.m. CST at Huff Hall.
NOTES
• Before tonight, the longest game in which Michigan participated was a 35-33 loss at then-No. 8 Pepperdine (Aug. 31).
• For the first time this season Michigan had six players record double-digit kills -- Gandolph (17), Moore (17), Poquette (17), Ritchie (12), Gamalski (10) and Katrina Lehman (Bloomfield, Hills, Mich./Marian HS) (10).
• For the first time this season Michigan had five players reach double-digit digs -- Gandolph (23), Ritchie (16), Poquette (13), Gamalski (12) and Moore (12).
