Michigan
16-14, 10-10Big Ten
Northwestern
17-15, 10-10Big Ten
Michigan Defeats Northwestern to Cap Regular Season
11/30/2002 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Cliff Keen Arena)
Result: Michigan 3, Northwestern 1 (30-23, 27-30, 30-25, 30-21)
Records: U-M (16-14, 10-10 Big Ten), Northwestern (17-15, 10-10 Big Ten)
Next U-M Match: TBA; NCAA Selection Show -- Sunday, Dec. 1, 9 p.m. (ESPNews)
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan volleyball team closed the regular season with a 3-1 (30-23, 27-30, 30-25, 30-21) victory over the Northwestern Wildcats tonight (Saturday, Nov. 30) in front of 1,023 fans at Cliff Keen Arena.
The win puts Michigan, which finishes the regular season with a 16-14 record overall and a 10-10 mark in Big Ten Conference play, in a tie with Indiana and Northwestern for sixth place in the final conference standings. The Wolverines find out if they will be heading to the 64-team NCAA Tournament with the airing of the selection show at 9 p.m. tomorrow night (Sunday, Dec. 1) on ESPNEWS.
Michigan put itself in contention for a bid by playing one of its best home matches of the season. The Wolverines posted their second-highest block total with 15, tied the season high in services aces with eight and hit .258 (61-19-163) against the Wildcats. Senior Katrina Lehman (Bloomfield, Hills, Mich./Marian HS), playing in her final home match, posted a team-high eight blocks and added eight kills and one service ace.
Sophomore Jennifer Gandolph (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove HS) led Michigan with 17 kills and added 14 digs and five blocks. Carrie Ritchie (Mansfield, Ohio/Madison Comprehensive HS), filling in for the injured Chantel Reedus (Woodridge, Ill./Downers Grove South HS), also had a double-double with 10 kills and 14 digs. Junior captain Erin Moore (Tiffin, Ohio/Columbian HS) just missed a double-double with 14 kills and nine digs.
Michigan opened the night with an impressive first game in which it hit .367 (13-2-30), served up four aces and slammed home five blocks. The Wolverines broke open the game on a service rotation by Ritchie which turned a four-point lead into a nine-point lead at 16-7. A rotation shortly after by Gandolph capped a 14-5 run and gave Michigan a 12-point lead at 21-9. The Wildcats clawed their way back but it was not enough. Michigan went on to take a one-game lead with a 30-23 victory.
Northwestern (17-15, 10-10 Big Ten) and Michigan had nearly identical marks in every statistical category in game two except the Wildcats posted one more service ace, one more block and one fewer service error than the Wolverines. Those three things accounted for the three-point difference in the final score. The Wolverines trailed much of the game but took a four-point lead at 25-21. The lead did not last long, as Northwestern fought back and tied the game at 25-25. The Wildcats went on to take the game 30-27 and even the match at one game each.
Game three was also close, but once again it was a service rotation by Ritchie that broke open the game. With the score tied 14-14, she led Michigan to a 17-14 lead, and the Wolverines never looked back. Michigan kept the Wildcats from tying the score and went on to a 30-25 victory.
Michigan owned the fourth game from the start. A service rotation by Moore included in a pair of kills by Gandolph and gave the team to a 4-0 lead from the start. U-M extended the lead to 12-6 during a service rotation by Gandolph that featured four consecutive Northwestern errors. Michigan rode out the lead for a 30-21 victory to win the match 3-1.
NOTES
• Jennifer Gandolph finished the regular season with 413 kills in 30 matches (110 games). She is 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.
• With 24 block assists tonight, Michigan increased the school record for block assists in a season to 502.
• Michigan just missed the school record of 304.5 team blocks in a single season. The Wolverines finished tonight's match against Northwestern with 15 team blocks for a season total of 303, the second-most blocks by U-M in a single season.
• Head coach Mark Rosen has helped Michigan increase its number of conference wins each of the four years he has been in charge of the program. The Wolverines won seven Big Ten matches in 1999, eight in 2000, nine in 2001 and 10 this season.
• Michigan finished the Big Ten season with 10 conference wins, a mark it has reached just four times in 20 years of conference play. The squad won 10 conference matches in 1991 under the guidance of Peggy Bradley-Doppes, while Greg Giovanazzi led the Wolverines to 11 Big Ten wins in 1992 and 1995 and a school-record 13 conference wins in 1997.
QUOTES
Michigan Head Coach Mark Rosen
On making the NCAA Tournament ... "I think we have a very slight chance. I think last weekend really sealed our fate. If we could have won last night (against Wisconsin), that might have balanced it out. With our record, we are at least eligible. I think we had some good wins. It will be interesting with Michigan State being in a position to get in because we beat them twice. That is something that the committee will have to look at. We'll definitely be up for those last couple of spots where it's going to be a hard decision, but I wouldn't say we have a lot of hope. We have a little glimmer, so we'll just see what happens. We'll be ready to go if we get the call."
U-M Sophomore Outside Hitter Carrie Ritchie
On coming into a must-win match ... "We were trying not to put too much pressure on ourselves. Limiting our errors has been our big focus in practice all week. We knew if we could stick together and play hard with lots of intensity, we'd be fine."
On serving ... "I think it's because I have gotten the chance to serve the last two weeks. Since I had been libero, I just kind of went for it. I think that for anybody who gets to serve and gets and ace, it's a big momentum builder. It's a good rallying point for any team."
On Katrina Lehman ... "She's a great teammate and a great friend. I'm going to miss her a lot. I know the team's going to miss her a lot. Whatever middle is coming in next year or is on the team now has some big shoes to fill. She's a great player and a great blocker, and I'm really going to miss her."
U-M Senior Middle Blocker Katrina Lehman
On her last match at Cliff Keen Arena ... "It felt great tonight. It was a really great game. I was just really happy that in our last match here we could pull off the win. It just leaves a good taste in everybody's mouth. Even if we don't get into the NCAA [Tournament], at least our last match here was a victory."
