Michigan
12-12, 6-9Big Ten
Michigan State
11-14, 4-11Big Ten
Michigan Completes Season Sweep of Michigan State
11/9/2005 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan volleyball team won its fourth straight State Pride Series with a 3-0 (30-26, 33-31, 30-27) sweep of Michigan State Wednesday night (Nov. 9) in Cliff Keen Arena in front of the 11th largest home crowd in U-M volleyball history. The match will televised tape-delayed by Comcast Local at noon Saturday (Nov. 12).
| | Pflum had 14 kills and only three errors in 37 swings. |
Sophomore Lyndsay Miller (Ida, Mich./Ida) and Pflum led the Wolverines with 14 kills each on the night, while sophomore Katie Bruzdzinski (Naperville, Ill./Naperville North) added 12 kills and 13 digs for her ninth double-double of the season. Sophomore Stesha Selsky (Manhattan Beach, Calif./Marymount) added a team-high 14 digs, closing within 32 digs of 10th place on Michigan's career digs list.
The win keeps Michigan's postseason fires burning, evening the Wolverines' record at 12-12 and moving them into sole possession of sixth place in the Big Ten Conference standings with a record of 6-9. Michigan State falls to 11-14 and 4-11.
The Wolverines battled through 11 ties in game one to take the lead for good at 26-25 and claim a 30-26 victory. Bruzdzinski finished with a game-high five kills, while Miller and Pflum each added four terminations and Selsky had six digs. With the score knotted at 25-25, Pflum put the Wolverines up by one and the U-M defense forced Michigan State into an attack error to make it a two-point, 27-25 advantage. Michigan State closed the gap to one on a U-M service error, but a kill by fifth-year senior Candace Gay (Detroit, Mich./Sacred Heart) and Michigan State's ninth attack error of the period gave Michigan a one-game lead.
Michigan overcame a 27-20 deficit in game two, outscoring MSU 13-4 down the stretch to take a two games to none lead, 33-31. Miller and Plfum each tallied five kills in the period, while Bruzdzinski kept Michigan alive with six digs. The Wolverines were down 27-20 with Michigan State holding serve when Miller bombed the first of her four kills down the stretch to electrify the crowd and make it 27-21.
Bruzdzinski served for five points in a row, recording one ace as Miller hammered three more kills and Pflum added one as U-M closed the gap, 27-26. Michigan State pulled ahead two, 28-26, before an MSU attack error and a combo block by Gay and Pflum knotted it at 28-28. The Spartans forced a pair of game points with leads of 29-28 and 30-29, but Michigan bounced back on each occasion. Michigan took its first lead of the game, 31-30, but a service error brought the Spartans back from the edge of the cliff. Senior/junior Erin Cobler (Dexter, Mich./Dexter) hammered Michigan's final kill of the game, giving the Wolverines a 32-31 edge, and Cobler and Miller combined to stuff MSU's Katie Johnson on the final play to give U-M a two-game lead.
Michigan fought through 14 ties and seven lead changes to finally wrest game three from the Spartans, taking a 26-25 lead late and never looking back in a 30-27 win. Miller and Pflum each recorded five kills for the second straight game, while three Wolverines recorded five or more digs, led by Selsky's six and five each from Bruzdzinski and Hance. The teams traded the lead 14 times until, deadlocked at 25-25, Pflum nailed three kills in four points to put Michigan up 28-26. Cobler and Gay combined to block MSU on the next point, and Pflum put the match away with the final kill of the night.
Michigan takes on Indiana at 7 p.m. Friday (Nov. 11) in Cliff Keen Arena.
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS (SUBSCRIPTION)
Contact: Richard Retyi (734) 763-4423
