Michigan
8-0
Xavier
8-3
Michigan Rallies From Two Down to Beat Xavier in Five
9/7/2007 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 14 University of Michigan volleyball survived a thriller against Xavier in the tournament finale of the Michigan/Pepsi Challenge, rallying from two games down to win 3-2 (32-34, 28-30, 32-30, 30-19, 15-6) Friday night (Sept. 7) at Cliff Keen Arena. U-M won the one-day, three-team tournament with a 2-0 record.
Seniors Katie Bruzdzinski (Naperville, Ill./Naperville North) and Stesha Selsky (Manhattan Beach, Calif./Marymount) had career nights, rallying the troops back from the edge of defeat, as Bruzdzinski tallied 32 kills and Selsky recorded a career-best 41 digs in the comeback win. Bruzdzinski's feat was the fourth-most kills in a single match in U-M history, while Selsky's performance ranked as the second-most digs in a single match. Freshman Lexi Zimmerman (Barrington, Ill./Barrington) added 75 assists to the cause, which led her to tie for the seventh-most assists in program history.
Bruzdzinski had 21 kills through three games, but she turned it on with nine in game four and two key terminations in game five to help Michigan overcome a seven-point, 25-18 deficit in the third game to rally for the win. Selsky had 11 digs in the first two games, but exploded for 11 digs in the pivotal third frame, a whopping 14 in the fourth game and five in game five to make history.
Senior Lyndsay Miller (Ida, Mich./Ida) tallied 17 kills and hit a team-high .560 in the match, adding six blocks, while fellow junior middle Beth Karpiak (La Grange, Ill./Lyons Township) had 16 kills and three blocks.
Sophomore Veronica Rood (Temperance, Mich./Bedford) bounced back from a tough start to finish with 15 kills, including seven in the must-win third.
Bruzdzinski earned tournament MVP honors, while Selsky, Karpiak and Miller also took home all-tournament team awards.
Game one was a battle of wills between Bruzdzinski and Xavier's Jill Quayle, with Bruzdzinski scoring eight kills and Quayle recording seven. U-M held game point at 29-26, but the Musketeers capitalized on a pair of kills and a block from Quayle to knot it at 29-29. Michigan pulled ahead on its own block from Miller and Zimmerman, but Quayle evened it at 30-30 with another kill. Karpiak's third kill of the period gave Michigan a one-point advantage, but a U-M service error kept it even at 31-31.
Michigan fought hard in game two to knot the match at one game apiece, but Quayle remained red hot with five kills and three blocks to help Xavier stay apace with U-M. Bruzdzinski's seven kills helped the Wolverines come back and knot it up at 28-28, but back-to-back Musketeer terminations gave the visitors a 2-0 lead.
Michigan turned the tide in game three, erasing a seven-point, 25-18 deficit to beat Xavier, 32-30, thanks to seven kills from Rood and six from Bruzdzinski. Selsky was a water bug with 11 digs and Rood had three kills down the stretch, and Michigan recorded two key blocks to turn a 25-18 deficit into victory.
The Wolverines dominated game four, with Bruzdzinski lighting it up for nine kills, while Selsky had an eye-popping 14 digs in a 30-19 win.
In game five, Michigan took a quick 7-3 lead thanks to a balanced attack that saw Bruzdzinski, Rood, Karpiak and senior Sarah Draves (Ypsilanti, Mich./Ypsilanti) each score kills. Zimmerman got into the act to make it 9-4, and strong U-M defense -- and one final kill from Bruzdzinski -- iced the comeback.
Michigan plays a rare midweek non-conference match, traveling to Rochester Hills, Mich., to take on Oakland University Tuesday (Sept. 11) at 7 p.m.
Contact: Richard Retyi (734) 763-4423
