Michigan
13-6, 5-3Big Ten
Illinois
15-3, 6-2Big Ten
U-M Loses to Illinois, Misses Chance at Big Ten Lead
10/18/2003 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Site:Â Ann Arbor, Mich. (Cliff Keen Arena)
Score:Â Illinois 3, Michigan 1 (25-30, 30-24, 30-26, 30-23)
Records:Â U-M (13-6, 5-3 Big Ten), Illinois (15-3, 6-2 Big Ten)
Next U-M Event:Â Friday, Oct. 24 -- at Minnesota (Minneapolis, Minn.), 7 p.m. CDT
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan volleyball team looked like it was on its way to a fourth straight victory in Big Ten play after a strong performance in the opening stanza, but the Wolverines stalled in the final three frames and suffered a 3-1 defeat (30-25, 24-30, 26-30, 23-30) to visiting Illinois Saturday (Oct. 18) at Cliff Keen Arena. Senior Erin Moore (Tiffin, Ohio/Columbian HS) led the Wolverines with 20.5 points in the match with 16 kills, a team-high seven blocks and 10 digs.
Michigan had a chance to move into a tie for first place in the Big Ten standings, as league-leading Penn State was swept by Minnesota, but the Wolverines could not capitalize on the opportunity, hitting just .193 for the match after coming out in game one and lighting up the gym with a .333 hitting percentage.
In game one, the teams spent about half the game feeling each other out before the Illini took a five-point lead at 20-15. Michigan, almost out of the game, went on an eight-point run behind the serve of junior Alicia Boswell (Long Beach, Calif./Wilson HS), who notched an ace during the run. Leading 23-20, the Wolverines held on for the opening-frame win as junior Jennifer Gandolph (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove HS) notched three kills and Moore tallied two down the stretch to give U-M a 30-25 victory.
Illinois jumped out to a big lead in game two, leading by 10 on two occasions. Down 24-14, the Wolverines tried to get something going, subbing sophomore Candace Gay (Detroit Mich./Sacred Heart HS) in for freshman Megan Bowman (St. John, Ind./Lake Central HS). Gay contributed a block and two kills in the final stages of the game and was part of a six-point run by the Wolverines late in the frame, but Illinois' lead was too much to overcome as a kill by the Illini snapped the run and ended game two with a 30-24 score.
In game three, Michigan broke away from a 16-16 tie and went on a four-point run to take a 20-16 lead. The Wolverines clinged to the lead, but Illinois stepped up and took five of six points in one stretch to take a 26-24 lead and turn around the game. U-M got within one point at 26-25, but the Illini finished the game with four of the last five points to win 30-26.
Michigan fell behind early in game four when Illinois reeled off six straight points to take a 14-10 lead, which proved to by insurmountable for U-M. The Wolverines tried to get back into the game and force a fifth and deciding set trailing 25-23, only to watch the Illini capture the final five points of the match to win 30-23.
Gay finished the match with a career-high eight kills and hit a career-best .312 (8 kills, 3 errors, 16 attacks). Gandolph, despite 13 errors, led the team with 17 kills and recorded her 11th double-double of the year with a team-best 14 digs, while freshman Danielle Pflum (Martinsville, Ind./Martinsville HS) added 10 kills before leaving the match with an injury.
Defensively, five Wolverines topped the 10-dig mark, including junior Lisa Gamalski (Milwaukee, Wis./Catholic Memorial HS) and senior Nicole Poquette (Grand Haven, Mich./Grand Haven HS), who tallied 13 and 11, respectively. Junior Sarah Allen (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Mechanicsburg HS) also added 10 digs.
The Wolverines, who are a perfect 3-0 on the road in the Big Ten, will hit the road next weekend for a pair of conference matches, traveling to Minnesota and Iowa. U-M will visit the Golden Gophers on Friday, Oct. 24, followed by a trip to Iowa City to face the Hawkeyes on Saturday, Oct. 25. Both matches are slated for a 7 p.m. CDT start.
QUOTES
Michigan Head Coach Mark Rosen
On the match ... "I think it was a little like Wisconsin's match where we weren't fired on all cylinders. Our team is a team that we have specific roles that each player has to fill for us to be successful. They are all different, and each person has different responsibilities. I didn't think we had all cylinders fired tonight, and everybody wasn't filling their role. All night long it was just a process of trying to get us to do the things we have to do to be successful. You have to give Illinois credit. Illinois is a very good team. They pose a problem because they are big and physical. They have some things that they do that are very very hard for us to stop. They were playing over the top of us with (Lisa) Argabright at 6'5". I think those are points you have to give up. And you have to say those are points they are going to get and move on. But there are lots of little stuff that we didn't do well that made that insurmountable."
On Candace Gay's play ... "She did a great job coming in here. I didn't think we were very good in that second middle spot, opposite of Erin Moore. We weren't doing a very good job. I thought she got us started a little bit. She did a great job. She came in and gave us a little more offense. I think she did a nice job blocking-wise. I was proud of what she did."
On the difference between play in the first game and the rest of the match ... "Illinois played a little better. I thought they controlled the ball. They really won game one on two occasions. We were down, then we came back and served tough on two rotations and got them off-balance, they made some errors, then we got back into some pretty good rhythm. It wasn't like we dominated them in game one. In games two, three and four they did a better job of controlling the ball, and we weren't as consistent."
NOTES
• Michigan is 12-2 when winning game one and suffered its second loss of the season after winning the opening frame.
• Jennifer Gandolph has notched 10 or more kills in all but three of her appearances this season, including five consecutive matches.
• Erin Moore has recorded 10 or more kills in all but two of her matches, including eight straight.
• Moore improved her career kill total to 1,160 -- 111 shy of the school record, held by Karen Chase (1,291 from 1995-98).
• Moore tallied seven blocks for the third straight match.
• Nicole Poquette went over the 10-dig mark for the fourth time this season. Poquette has recorded 10 or more digs in each of her last two matches.
• Sarah Allen's 10 digs marked the ninth time this season she has topped the 10-dig mark. Allen, who has recorded 10 or more digs in four of her last five matches, has 10 career 10-dig performances.
• Candace Gay saw her first action since Sept. 20 against Valparaiso and recorded a career-high eight kills and hit a career-best .312.
• Senior Chantel Reedus (Woodridge, Ill./Downers Grove South HS) subbed into the second game, marking her first action since going down with an injury on Sept. 26 against Ohio State.
