Michigan
25-8
Kentucky
26-6
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michigan | 24 | 25 | 19 | 25 | 15 | 3 |
| Kentucky | 26 | 16 | 25 | 19 | 13 | 2 |
Michigan Rallies Past No. 20 Kentucky and into NCAA Second Round
12/4/2008 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Site: Lexington, Ky. (Memorial Coliseum)
Result: #19 Michigan 3, Kentucky 2 (24-26, 25-16, 19-25, 25-19, 15-13)
Records: U-M (25-8), UK (26-6)
Next U-M Event: Friday, Dec. 5 -- vs. Saint Louis (Lexington, Ky.), 7 p.m.
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- The No. 19-ranked University of Michigan volleyball team knocked off host and No. 20-ranked Kentucky in comeback fashion, 3-2 (24-26, 25-16, 19-25, 25-19, 15-13), Thursday night (Dec. 4) in Memorial Coliseum. Four Wolverines reached double-figure kills, led by 22 from junior Juliana Paz (Porto Alegre, Brazil/Iowa Western CC), while sophomore Lexi Zimmerman (Barrington, Ill./Barrington) dished out 62 assists and senior Kerry Hance (Los Angeles, Calif./Marymount) added a season-high 25 digs in the win.
In the opening set, Michigan jumped out to an early 4-3 lead thanks to a pair of kills by senior Beth Karpiak (LaGrange, Ill./Lyons Township) and a kill by freshman Alex Hunt (Granger, Ind./South Bend St. Joseph). The Wolverines were able to battle through a pair of tie scores to take a 15-13 advantage into the first media timeout. Out of the break, sophomore Maggie Busch (Toledo, Ohio/Toledo Christian) delivered a service ace and the Wolverines used three UK attack errors to build an 18-14 cushion. The Michigan lead swelled to five, 21-16, on kills by Hunt and Paz. The Wolverines stared set-point in the face at 24-21, but the host Wildcats reeled off three straight points to tie the set at 24-all. Following a Michigan timeout, Kentucky scored two straight points to take the opening frame, 26-24. Hunt led U-M with four kills in the loss and the Wolverines hit just .078 as a team.
In set two, the Wolverines raced out to a 7-1 lead, punctuated by a service ace from freshman Sloane Donhoff (Louisville, Ky./Assumption) and a kill from Paz, forcing a UK timeout. Out of the break, Donhoff reeled off back-to-back aces, while Paz and Karpiak added terminations to push the advantage to 13-3. The Maize and Blue maintained its lead throughout the set, never allowing Kentucky within fewer than seven points en route to a 25-16 win. Karpiak and Paz posted five kills each as Michigan hit .417 while holding UK to a .176 clip.
In the third frame, the two teams battled through five ties and a pair of lead changes with Kentucky taking a 15-13 lead into the media timeout. The Wolverines went on a 4-0 run out of the break, keyed by kills from Paz and junior Megan Bower (Indianapolis, Ind./Cathedral) and a pair of UK attack errors, to take a 17-15 run and force UK into a stoppage. Kentucky fought back from there, scoring seven of the next eight points to take a 22-18 lead and forcing U-M to burn both of its timeouts. The stoppages did not change the momentum as Kentucky used three straight terminations down the stretch for a 25-19 victory and 2-1 set lead.
In set four, Michigan found itself down early 5-3 but clawed back to tie the set at six-all. With the set knotted at eight, the Wildcats scored three straight to go up 11-8 and held the lead at 15-12. Michigan went on a mini run to tie the set at 15-all and eventually took a 17-16 lead on a UK attack error. Michigan sustained the lead and pushed it to 22-18 on back-to-back kills from sophomore/freshman Karlee Bruck (Elyria, Ohio/Elyria) and Hunt. In the final minutes, Karpiak,Bower and Zimmerman combined for the final three Michigan points to force a fifth set with 25-19 triumph.
In the final stanza, Michigan raced out to a 5-2 early lead, capped by three straight kills from Zimmerman, Hunt and Bower to force UK into a timeout. The Wildcats fought back, pulling within two, 8-6, as the two teams traded sides for the final stretch. After UK tied the set at eight, Michigan pushed the lead back to 12-9, only to see the Wildcats respond with two straight points to get within one, 12-11. Down the final stretch, the Wolverine attack overpowered UK as Hunt provided the final kill in a 15-13 win.
In addition to Pazs match-best 22 kills, three other Wolverines -- Karpiak (15), Hunt (15) and Bower (12) -- finished in double figures. Five Wolverines -- Hance (25), Bower (21), Paz (18), Zimmerman (11) and Donhoff (10) -- posted double-digit digs, marking the second time this season U-M has seen five players reach 10 or more digs in a match. Donhoff also added a match-best four aces from the serving line.
The Wolverines advance to the second round of the NCAA Championship for the second straight year and seventh time in program history. U-M will face No. 21 Saint Louis on Friday night (Dec. 5) at 7 p.m. in Kentuckys Memorial Coliseum. The Billikens advanced with a 3-0 win over Alabama A&M in the opening match of the Lexington pod.
NOTES
• Michigan is now 8-8 in NCAA tournament play and advances to the second round for the second straight season and seventh time in program history.
• The win Thursday night over Kentucky marked the 25th of the season for U-M, the highest win total ever under head coach Mark Rosen.
• The Wolverines are now 2-2 all-time versus Kentucky with both wins coming on Bluegrass soil.
• Sloane Donhoff's four service aces set a new Michigan NCAA Tournament single-match record, eclipsing the markset by Nicole Poquette vs. Colorado on Dec. 5, 2003.
• Lexi Zimmerman's 62 assists are the second-most by a Michigan player in NCAA Tournament history.
QUOTES
Michigan Head Coach Mark Rosen
Opening Comment ... "I'm really proud of our team. We went out there and competed. I think that we certainly played our best match. And I think a lot of that goes to Kentucky. They are a very good team and I thought that they did a lot of things well to get us out of our comfort zone and we had to battle through a lot of that. We are a very young team and I thought we grew up a lot tonight in those critical situations. I'm just really proud of our team and how we played."
On Kentucky and Michigan being an equal matchup ... "I thought it was a pretty good matchup. They are good. They are a good blocking team. Our whole mentality is that we try to be aggressive in serving. We are not the best blocking team, but we try to be aggressive serving and defending. They served the ball well and they did a good job at getting us off balance. That's something that's really hard to see on video tape. And I don't think we really thought they were going to be that aggressive on tape. They put us on our heals. I thought they did really well through that. I thought Kentucky really evened it because of their tough serving and defense."
On Kentucky's crowd affecting Michigan's play ... "No, we play in the Big Ten and we play against big crowds every night. Wisconsin averages over 4,000, Minnesota is at 3,000, Michigan State set a record against us at 5,300. So we see that quite a bit. I don't really think that the players were affected by it. It was a great environment. The University of Kentucky's a great host and they have been doing a great job, and they had a great crowd that came out tonight. It was a fun environment."
U-M Junior Outside Hitter Juliana Paz
On her thoughts on the match ..."I knew it was going to be a really hard match. That first game was right there in our grasp. We knew that if we wanted to come back, we would have to play really hard. I think that's what we did. We never stopped pushing; we never stopped fighting -- even when things didn't go our way, we just kept fighting."
U-M Freshman Defensive Specialist (and Kentucky native) Sloane Donhoff
On playing against her old coach in the upcoming Saint Louis game ..."I have played for a couple of Kordeses (Saint Louis head coach Anne Kordes) in my day. I'm excited about playing them, but it's just another team that we are playing against. I'm not taking into account that I am playing against someone I know. When a team is on the other side, it's just another team and I am going to play as hard as I can."
