Michigan
10-10, 2-6Big Ten
Indiana
16-4, 4-4Big Ten
Wolverines Rally to Wild Win at Indiana
10/18/2008 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Site: Bloomington, Ind. (University Gym)
Result: #22 Michigan 3, Indiana 0 (--25-23, 25-22, 38-36)
Records: U-M (16-4, 4-4 Big Ten), Indiana (10-10, 2-6 Big Ten)
Attendance: 716
Next U-M Event: Saturday, Oct. 24 -- vs. Iowa (Cliff Keen Arena), 7 p.m.
Boxscore
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The No. 22-ranked University of Michigan volleyball team rallied three times on Saturday night (Oct. 18), including a marathon 38-36 third-set win to clinch a victory over host Indiana, 3-0 (25-23, 25-22, 38-36), in University Gym. Freshman Alex Hunt(Granger, Ind./South Bend St. Joseph) returned to her home state and led all attackers with 16 kills, while juniorJuliana Paz(Porte Alegre, Brazil/Iowa Western CC) added a double-double with 13 kills and 13 digs, and sophomore Lexi Zimmerman (Barrington, Ill./Barrington)dished out 51 helpers to key the win.
Michigan jumped out to a 3-0 lead in set one only to see Indiana fire back to tie the set 6-6. The lead flipped back and forth throughout the set with neither team grasping more than a two-point advantage. With the set tied at 20-all, Indiana reeled off three of the next four points to take a 23-21 lead and force U-M into its second timeout. The Maize and Blue responded by scoring four straight points on a kill from senior Beth Karpiak(LaGrange, Ill./Lyons Twp.) and three IU errors to cap a come-from-behind 25-23 win.
Set two was a mirror image of the opening frame as the teams exchanged leads throughout the entire set with Michigan finding itself down late again, 22-18.From that point, Michigan found its offensive rhythm, using solid serving from senior Kerry Hance(Los Angeles, Calif./Marymount) and timely hitting by Paz and Hunt to reel off four straight points to tie the set at 22-all. Following the second IU timeout of the frame, UM continued to roll, using another Paz kill and a service ace from Hance to cap another comeback win, 25-22.
Set three was a memorable one that saw the Hoosiers again jump on top of the Wolverines, only to see Michigan claw its way back midway through the frame. Down by as much as four, U-M put together a scoring streak piloted by Hunt and Paz to take a 13-11 lead. Michigan built the lead to 19-16 on terminations from Karpiak and Hunt before IU responded to tie the set 19-all. Down the stretch, both squads exchanged leads and U-M faced match-point 24-23, but IU rallied to tie the set at 24-24 -- the first of 12 ties in a marathon set that finally ended on a kill from Paz with Michigan outlasting Indiana, 38-36.
The Wolverines hit .313 on the night and were paced by Hunts .406 clip while holding IU to a .217 attack percentage. Michigan also received a stellar defensive effort with 51 team digs, including 13 from Paz and 11 from freshman Sloane Donhoff(Louisville, Ky./Assumption). The Wolverines also did the job at the net, combining for nine team blocks, including six block assists from Zimmerman.
The Wolverines will be back in action next weekend when they return to Cliff Keen Arena to face Iowa on Friday (Oct. 24) night at 7 p.m.
Contact: Matt Fancett (734) 763-4423
