2005 VBW vs. Michigan State -- Notes and Quotes
11/9/2005 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Q U O T E S
Michigan Head Coach Mark Rosen
On the game two comeback... "It was amazing how hard we fought back in game two. We kept chipping away and executed down the stretch and turned an easy Michigan State win into a toe-to-toe battle."
On the play of Danielle Pflum... "We have a lot of players who call for the ball a lot down the stretch and that's what we've been talking about in practice -- that's what we want from our players. Erin (Cobler), Dani (Pflum) and Katie (Bruzdzinski) called for the ball at different times in the match and each had good swings tonight."
On the final five regular-season matches... "We have gotten much better in the last three matches and we're playing our best volleyball in November. Tonight was a collective effort and a lot of individuals did great things to contribute to the win. We're going to take each match as it comes and play them point by point."
U-M Junior Danielle Pflum
On the State Pride Series ... "We have won the State Pride Series each of the last four years and Mark (Rosen) showed us the trophy he made for the series for the first time. It is a mahogany and glass case with a state of Michigan flag inside it -- the flag that Michigan and Michigan State used to trade back and forth during the series. I think it's cool that we get to keep the trophy he made this year."
On the match ... "The biggest thing we worked on tonight was working together as a team. We brought our players in and got in system tonight. The crowd was great tonight and the atmosphere helped us a lot against a tough opponent."
On her performance late in the third game ... "Late in games I ask for the ball a lot and I keep telling Mara (Martin) to look for me because she knows that she can trust that I'll get a good swing each time."
U-M Senior/Junior Erin Cobler
On the game two comeback ... "It's always easier to give up but we've been focusing on taking each game point by point and that mindset worked for us tonight. I was fortunate to get a kill on the second-to-last point when I saw the block was a little off and I just went for it. The momentum of going up two games to none was huge."
On the rivalry ... "It's huge to win the State Pride Series four years in a row. It's a much bigger deal after the fact. It takes some pressure off of us in the Big Ten but we treat it like just another game. It becomes a bigger deal later because it was against our in-state rival."
N O T E S
The crowd of 1,582 fans is the 11th largest home crowd in Michigan volleyball history and the largest crowd of the 2005 season.
Michigan wins the State Pride Series for the fourth year in a row and takes a 9-7 lead in the 16-year history of the competition. Michigan also sweeps Michigan State in the season series with wins of 3-2 and 3-0 and earns a full point for U-M toward the Challenge Cup, giving Michigan a 4.5-1.5 victory in the fall session and possession of the cup for the seventh straight term.
Sophomore Katie Bruzdzinski recorded the 500th dig of her collegiate career with 13 against Michigan State.
Sophomore/freshman Mara Martin moved into ninth place on the all-time list for career assists, adding 44 to her total to give her 1,050 assists in her career. Martin is 182 assists shy of climbing into eighth place on the list.
Martin moved up the U-M single-season assists list with 44 against Michigan State, giving her 1,050 in her freshman year. Martin is 309 assists shy of seventh place on the single-season list.
Sophomore Stesha Selsky is 32 digs shy of 10th place on Michigan's all-time digs list and needs 108 digs to become just the seventh Wolverine to record 1,000 digs in a career.
During a spring cleaning, head coach Mark Rosen found one of the original State Pride Series flags and a state of Michigan flag in volleyball storage. He had the State Pride Series banner embroidered with the years Michigan has won the competition, but the state flag remained undisplayed. Wanting to contribute to the growing history of the rivalry, Rosen built a mahogany and glass display case for the flag and had the trophy engraved with the results of each match in the 16-year State Pride Series. The winner of each State Pride Series with heretofore keep the trophy in its possession until the next year's showdown.
