Michigan
21-12 (8-12)
Iowa
13-19 (2-18)
Michigan Closes Regular Season With Iowa Sweep
11/25/2006 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
IOWA CITY, Iowa -- The balanced attack of the University of Michigan volleyball team was too much for the host Iowa Hawkeyes to handle on Senior Night, as the Wolverines earned a 3-0 sweep (30-18, 31-29, 30-26) Saturday night (Nov. 25) in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Junior Stesha Selsky (Manhattan Beach, Calif./Marymount) spread her sets across the net, setting up four Wolverines to achieve double-digit kills, led by 20 terminations for junior Katie Bruzdzinski (Naperville, Ill./Naperville North), who bounced back in style from an eight-kill performance in the previous match. Sophomore Beth Karpiak (La Grange, Ill./Lyons Township) had 13 kills in the match, followed closely by a career-best 11 kills for junior Sarah Draves (Ypsilanti, Mich./Ypsilanti) in two games of action and 10 kills for fifth-year senior Erin Penn (Dexter, Mich./Dexter). Freshman Megan Bower (Indianapolis, Ind./Cathedral) finished one dig shy of her career-best with 23, while Selsky's stat line included 55 assists, 11 digs, two kills and two aces.
Michigan handled Iowa in game one, leading the entire way and using eight kills from Bruzdzinski and five from sophomore Beth Karpiak (La Grange, Ill./Lyons Township) to route the Hawkeyes, 30-18. Bruzdzinski put together three kills in the early goings to help Michigan build a 7-2 lead, then recorded four of Michigan's final six kills to push a 20-16 Wolverine lead to a U-M win. Sophomore Kerry Hance (Los Angeles, Calif./Marymount) added back-to-back aces and five digs in the period, while Bower dug up 11 balls.
Michigan needed a late comeback to down the home Hawkeyes in game two, rallying twice from game point and gutting out a 31-29 win. Iowa took an early lead and held on for dear life, despite a number of Michigan surges. The introduction of Draves into the line-up invigorated the Wolverine attack on the left, leading to six kills in two-thirds of the period from the tallest player in Michigan volleyball history -- including four in a row that kept the Wolverines within a point of the Hawkeyes from 24-23 to 27-26. Iowa pushed game point at 29-27, but took back-to-back kills from Bruzdzinski on the left side to even the score at 29-29. From there, Penn slammed a ball home on the right side, and Selsky served an ace for the clinching point to make it 31-29.
Michigan closed out the match with an aggressive effort from the entire offense, outlasting the Hawkeyes after a 19-19 knot midway through the period. Selsky spread the Wolverine offense down the stretch, setting five Michigan attackers for kills and serving up her second ace of the night to swing the tide. Draves polished the match off with her career-best 11th kill of the match to win it, 30-26.
Michigan will await the NCAA Volleyball Selection Show on Sunday afternoon (Nov. 26) to see if the Wolverines will earn an at-large bid to the 2006 NCAA Tournament. The selection show will take place on ESPNews between 3-4 p.m., with full brackets available shortly thereafter on NCAAsports.com. Michigan's 21 victories match the most wins since 1981, when U-M posted 40 victories and won the Big Ten Conference crown. The Wolverines won 21 matches in 1997 and 2003, advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament in both campaigns.
N O T E S
Fifth-year senior Erin Penn competed in her 125th match with the Maize and Blue. Penn is third on U-M's all-time matches played list, just one behind former Wolverine Jeanine Szczesniak (1995-98) who holds second place.
Michigan won its 21st match, equaling the program's most victories since 1981. Michigan won 21 matches in 1997 and 2003. The Wolverines won an astounding 40 matches in 1981, finishing with a 40-17 record.
Head coach Mark Rosen equaled his Wolverine record for most wins in a season with 21, and posted his most regular-season wins at the helm of the Maize and Blue program.
Contact: Richard Retyi (734) 763-4423
