Michigan
10-10, 4-7Big Ten
Purdue
19-3, 8-3Big Ten
Michigan Falls in Three Games at 16th-Ranked Purdue
10/28/2005 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- The University of Michigan volleyball team dropped a scrappy match to the No. 16 Purdue Boilermakers to start the second half of the Big Ten Conference season, losing 3-0 (26-30, 23-30, 20-30) Friday night (Oct. 28) at the Intercollegiate Athletic Facility.
Sophomore Katie Bruzdzinski (Naperville, Ill./Naperville North) led all Wolverines with 11 kills, while sophomore Stesha Selsky (Manhattan Beach, Calif./Marymount) added 17 digs, already posting the seventh-most single-season digs in U-M volleyball history. Senior/junior Erin Cobler (Dexter, Mich./Dexter) and junior Danielle Pflum (Martinsville, Ind./Martinsville) had nine and eight kills, respectively, while fifth-year senior Candace Gay (Detroit, Mich./Sacred Heart) and sophomore Lyndsay Miller (Ida, Mich./Ida) had seven kills apiece.
Michigan fought hard in game one, dropping a close 30-26 affair, but hit progressively worse as the match went on, attacking at a .200 clip in game one, hitting .167 in game two and hitting .085 in game three. On the other side of the net, Purdue outblocked the Wolverines, 12-3, and hit .295 for the match.
The loss drops Michigan to 9-9 overall and 4-7 in the conference, while Purdue improved to 19-3 and 8-3 in the Big Ten.
The Wolverines kept it close in game one, trailing by a single point late, 20-19, but a 9-5 Boilermaker run all but ended U-Ms hopes of an opening-period win in a 30-26 loss. Cobler led Michigan with five kills, while Bruzdzinski and Miller each chipped in four. Michigan took an early 4-3 lead, but the Boilermakers rebounded to build a five-point, 16-11 lead. The Wolverines clawed back to within one thanks to kills by Bruzdzinski, Cobler, Miller and Gay, down 20-19, but a 3-0 run burned Michigan's final timeout and set the Boilermakers on the track to victory.
Michigan fell behind early in game two, trailing by nine, 18-9, and despite four kills from Pflum and six digs from Selsky, the Boilermakers prevailed, 30-23. Michigan fell behind 10-3 and trailed by as many as 10 points, behind 22-12, while hitting .167 in the period.
U-M stayed tight with the Boilermakers in a pivotal third game, but a 10-2 Boilermaker run turned a tie score into a 15-7 Purdue lead and sparked the home team to a 30-20 win and the sweep. Selsky did her best to keep the Boilermakers at bay with six digs in the period, while Bruzdzinski added four kills. Michigan knotted it up at 5-5, but a 6-0 run put Purdue up 11-5 and the Boilermakers parlayed the momentum into an imposing 20-12 lead and rolled behind their crowd to victory.
The Wolverines will take on Illinois Saturday night (Oct. 29) at 7 p.m. CDT in Champaign, Ill.
Contact: Richard Retyi (734) 763-4423
