Michigan
19-7, (7-7Big Ten)
Iowa
9-16, (1-13Big Ten)
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iowa | 19 | 16 | 23 | 0 |
| Michigan | 30 | 30 | 30 | 3 |
Selsky Records 2,000th Dig in Michigan Win Over Iowa
11/5/2007 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Cliff Keen Arena)
Score: Michigan def. Iowa 3-0 (30-19, 30-16, 30-23)
Records: U-M (19-7, 7-7 Big Ten), Iowa (9-16, 1-13 Big Ten)
Next U-M Event: Friday, Nov. 9 -- Wisconsin (Madison, Wis.), 7 p.m. CST
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan volleyball team swept the Iowa Hawkeyes in decisive fashion, winning 3-0 (30-19, 30-16, 30-23) Monday night (Nov. 5) in Cliff Keen Arena. Senior Stesha Selsky (Manhattan Beach, Calif./Marymount) became the third player in Big Ten Conference history to reach the 2,000 dig milestone.
In a match televised live on the Big Ten Network, Selsky reached the plateau in game one with her ninth dig of the frame, joining NCAA all-time digs leader Paula Gentil and current Wisconsin libero Jocelyn Wack above the 2,000 mark. Prior to the 2007 season, only four NCAA Division I players had recorded 2,000 or more digs in their careers.
With the win, Michigan improves to 19-7 and 7-7 in the Big Ten, moving into a three-way tie for third place in the conference with Illinois and Purdue. Iowa falls to 9-16 (1-13 Big Ten) and remains last in the conference race.
The Wolverines allowed the Hawkeyes just six ties and one lead for the entire match, with U-M never trailing in games one and two and falling behind 5-4 early in game three for its only deficit of the night. Each of the Wolverines' active roster players saw the floor, with senior Katie Bruzdzinski (Naperville, Ill./Naperville North) paving the way for victory with 16 kills on a .351 attack percentage. Senior Lyndsay Miller (Ida, Mich./Ida) cracked double-digits with 11 kills and hit a team-best .429.
Selsky finished with 20 digs, including her aforementioned nine in game one and six in game three. Miller had a team-best seven blocks, while junior Beth Karpiak (La Grange, Ill./Lyons Township) added four to go with nine kills.
Michigan made its case early in game one, jumping out to a seven-point, 11-4 lead, using six kills from Bruzdzinski and Selsky's work on the floor to stymie the Iowa attack. Miller recorded three of her blocks in the frame, while freshman Lexi Zimmerman (Barrington, Ill./Barrington) kept the Hawkeyes off balance with three kills on six swings and five digs.
Game two was no contest as Michigan built a 22-9 lead, burning both of Iowa's timeouts and cruising to a 14 point win. Bruzdzinski terminated on seven of her nine swings with no errors, while Karpiak was a wall at the net with three rejections.
Iowa showed life in game three, battling near the midway point to trail the Wolverines by just one, 12-11, but Michigan built its lead down the stretch to win by seven, 30-23. Miller had six kills and hit .625 in the game and added three blocks to her total.
Michigan plays two more matches this week, beginning with a tough test in Madison, Wis., at No. 11 Wisconsin Friday (Nov. 9), before playing at red-hot Illinois in Champaign, Ill., on Saturday (Nov. 10). Both matches begin 7 p.m. CDT.
NOTES
• Senior Stesha Selsky became just the third player in Big Ten Conference history to record 2,000 digs in a career. Prior to the 2007 season, just 24 NCAA Division I volleyball players had recorded 2,000 or more digs in a career.
• Senior Stesha Selsky broke her own single-season digs record against Iowa, passing her 2005 total of 590. Selsky currently has 596 digs in her senior season.
• Senior Lyndsay Miller took sole possession of second place on U-M's all-time blocks list with seven rejections vs. the Hawkeyes. Miller now has 442 blocks in her career -- just 26 shy of a new U-M record.
• Now 11-2 at home, Michigan ties its record for most home wins in a season. U-M posted 11-win home seasons in 2000, 2001, 2002 and most recently 2004, with the best home winning percentage being .846 in 2002 (11-2). With two matches left in Cliff Keen, Michigan will need one win to break the most home wins and a sweep to beat the best home winning percentage.
• Michigan is one win shy of recording its fourth 20+ win season under head coach Mark Rosen in the last five seasons. Michigan has only had eight 20+ winning seasons in program history with four of them occurring during the Rosen reign.
QUOTES
Michigan Head Coach Mark Rosen
On the match ... "We were consistent and it's hard to keep your focus when you overmatch a team. I think we made some good adjustments from the first match. We executed very well and our kids did well with doing something a little different. Iowa does a lot of off speed and they take teams out of system by shooting balls to the corners. We adjusted our defense and our team did a good job of adjusting to something we don't do too often. We closed very well tonight. We got to play a lot of players which is important because you never know when they'll be called on to play an important role. I thought our starting four were steady and it allowed us to play our younger players. We didn't drop down when our subs came on and our level even got a little higher. They work hard in practice every day and they took advantage of their opportunities."
On the play of Lexi Zimmerman ... "I thought Lexi (Zimmerman) did a very nice job tonight. She has been getting consistently better -- especially her defense -- and she played a complete game tonight."
On the play of Katie Bruzdzinski ... "Katie (Bruzdzinski) played a great game tonight and she put up some big numbers for us."
On the play of Stesha Selsky ... "Stesha not only played a good game but she's had a good career. When you get 2,000 digs and put that into perspective it's amazing. Only three players in Big Ten history have 2,000 digs in their careers and in a great conference with great players and a great history that is impressive. I think she also did very well with 20 digs in a three-game match."
On upcoming matches at Wisconsin and Illinois ... "We need to be ready to play a very physical team. Our blocking has improved in the last few weeks and we'll need that when we go on the road at Wisconsin and Illinois. We need to keep our blocking at a high level."
