Michigan
15-14, 9-10Big Ten
Wisconsin
22-8, 13-6Big Ten
Wolverines Come Up Short in Fierce Battle with Badgers
11/29/2002 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Cliff Keen Arena)
Result: #15 Wisconsin 3, Michigan 1 (30-26, 24-30, 30-27, 35-33)
Records: U-M (15-14, 9-10 Big Ten), Wisconsin (22-8, 13-6 Big Ten)
Next U-M Match: Saturday, Nov. 30 -- vs. Northwestern (Cliff Keen Arena), 7 p.m.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan volleyball team came up just a little short in one of the hardest-fought matches of the season tonight (Friday, Nov. 29), as the Wolverines fell to the 15th-ranked Wisconsin Badgers 3-1 (30-26, 24-30, 30-27, 35-33) in front of 1,016 fans at Cliff Keen Arena. U-M made big runs late games three and four but was not able to steal wins from the resilient Badgers. The loss, just the second at home this season, drops Michigan (15-14, 9-10 Big Ten) to eighth in the Big Ten Conference standings with one match remaining in the regular season.
Michigan had to make some lineup adjustments tonight due to lingering injuries. Carrie Ritchie (Mansfield, Ohio/Madison Comprehensive HS), who has played libero nearly all season, started her third match of the season as an outside hitter in the place of Chantel Reedus (Woodridge, Ill./Downers Grove South HS). Reedus entered the match in game two to replace Jennifer Gandolph (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove HS), who hit .300 (6-3-10) in game one and made only brief appearances in games two and three. Sarah Allen (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Mechanicsburg HS) filled in as the libero.
Ritchie made the most of her stats and led the team with 16 kills, hit .412 (16-2-34) and completed her third double-double of the season with 12 digs. Setter Lisa Gamalski (Milwaukee, Wis./Catholic Memorial HS) also hit well, posting a .474 attack percentage on 10 kills and one error in 19 attempts. She also added 49 assists and eight digs, just missing another triple-double.
Erin Moore (Tiffin, Ohio/Columbian HS) also posted a kill-dig double-double with 14 kills and a team-high 14 digs. She contributed three blocks, sharing the team lead with Katrina Lehman (Bloomfield, Hills, Mich./Marian HS).
The reworked lineup did not hamper the Wolverines for most of the match, however. U-M dropped the first game 30-26 but tied the match at one game each with a 30-24 victory in game two.
Following the intermission came some of the most exciting volleyball action all season at Cliff Keen Arena. Michigan kept the game close and was tied with Wisconsin at 10-10 before the Badgers extended their lead to 24-16. On service rotations by Lehman, Nicole Poquette (Grand Haven, Mich./Grand Haven HS) and Ritchie, Michigan put together a 10-4 run to draw within two points at 28-26. A pair of Wisconsin errors kept U-M in the game at 29-27, but the Badgers were able to find another point for a 30-27 victory.
It was Wisconsin (22-8, 13-6 Big Ten) that mounted the comeback in game four. Michigan took a late three-point lead at 27-24 on a Badger error. However, a block and a kill pulled Wisconsin within one point at 27-26. The Wolverines took a point on a kill by Reedus, but once again Wisconsin found a way back into the game and tied the score at 28-28. Wisconsin forced match point but allowed Michigan to tie the score at 29-29 due to a bad set.
The teams traded points and tied the game four more times until Wisconsin used a kill to once again force match point. With the score 34-33, the Badgers put away another kill to end the game at 35-33 and win the match 3-1.
The Wolverines host Northwestern at 7 p.m. Saturday (Nov. 30) at Cliff Keen Arena in the team's final regular season match. Michigan's seniors -- Lehman and student assistant Sarah Peura -- will be recognized prior to the match.
NOTES
• The NCAA Tournament selection show will be televised live at 9 p.m. Sunday (Dec. 1) on ESPNEWS.
• Jennifer Gandolph has 396 kills through 29 matches (106 games). With just four more kills, she will become the first Michigan player to post 400 or more kills since Nicole Kacor (1998-2001) tallied 405 in 31 matches (111 games) during the 1999 season.
• Michigan set the school record for block assists in a season (478) with 12 block assists tonight (Nov. 29) against No. 15 Wisconsin.
• Michigan has 288 team blocks, the second-most blocks by U-M in a single season. The Wolverines need 16.5 blocks tomorrow night against Northwestern to tie the single-season record of 304.5 team blocks set in 1988.
QUOTES
Michigan Senior Middle Blocker Katrina Lehman
On the third game ... "We came out in the third game with a lot of momentum from the second game. We came out here and we had some hope. We really thought we could do it. Every time they got a point, we got a point. It just went back and forth and back and forth, but they just slowly took the lead and slowly stole the momentum from us."
On the fourth game ... "[At the end] I think a lot of it had to do with the fact that they just have bigger girls. They had more blocks tonight, and they really found the areas in our blocks. They are big girls, a lot bigger than me."
On the NCAA Tournament ... "I think tomorrow is absolutely a necessity. We have to win to stay at .500. If we lose, we'll drop below .500 and [the NCAA selection committee] won't even look at us, so we have to win tomorrow night. It's going to be really emotional for me, but I feel like we have a lot of people who are ready to play really well tomorrow night. I think we are going to pull it off."
