Michigan
21-7, 9-6
Purdue
12-14, 4-11
Michigan Outlasts Purdue in Five-Set Thriller
11/13/2009 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 13, 2009
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Cliff Keen Arena)
Score: #14 Michigan 3, Purdue 2 (25-17, 26-24, 22-25, 22-25, 18-16)
Records: U-M (21-7, 9-6 Big Ten), Purdue (12-14, 4-11 Big Ten)
Next U-M Event: Saturday, Nov. 14 -- vs. Indiana (Cliff Keen Arena), 7 p.m.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 14-ranked University of Michigan volleyball team took the first two sets and then held on for a 3-2 (25-17, 26-24, 22-25, 22-25, 18-16) nail-biting victory over Purdue on Friday night (Nov. 13) in Cliff Keen Arena.
Senior Juliana Paz (Porto Alegre, Brazil/Iowa Western CC) led the way with 20 kills, while sophomore Alex Hunt (Granger, Ind./South Bend St. Joseph) and senior Veronica Rood (Temperance, Mich./Bedford) added 16 and 13, respectively. Junior setter Lexi Zimmerman (Barrington, Ind./Barrington) dished out 52 assists along with 11 digs and sophomore Sloane Donhoff (Louisville, Ky./Assumption) posted a match-best 22 defensive stops.
In the deciding fifth set, Purdue jumped to an early 2-0 lead before the Wolverines answered with six straight points. A 9-5 Michigan lead almost disappeared as the Boilermakers scored three straight to force a U-M timeout. The Wolverines capitalized out of the break and extended their lead to 11-8 and then 14-9. One point away from defeat, Purdue scored five straight to tie the match at 14-all. After a Paz kill, the Boilermakers answered with two straight for a 16-15 lead before U-M got a solo block from Rood and a kill from Paz to finish off an 18-16 win.
The Wolverines stormed out to a comfortable 15-9 lead in the opening set, only to see Purdue pull close with a string of five straight scores to get it to 15-14. U-M then reeled off three straight points out of a timeout and used back-to-back service aces by Hunt to close out a 25-17 victory.
A grueling second set featured 15 tie scores and five lead changes. Locked at 21-all, Hunt put the Wolverines up 22-21 with another service, only to see Purdue battle back and take a 24-22 lead. The Wolverines fired right back with the set on the line, reeling off four straight, all on Purdue attack errors for the 26-24 triumph.
With a 2-1 set lead and 13-10 set-three lead, the Wolverines watched as Purdue used a 7-0 run midway through the frame toward a 25-22 win. The Wolverine offense hit -.059 in the frame with seven attack errors and three service errors.
Michigan controlled the early part of set four until the Boilermakers tied it up at 12-all and never looked back en route to a 25-22 win, tying the match at two sets apiece.
The win sets up a chance at a weekend sweep for the Wolverines for the first time since Sept. 25-27 when they face Indiana on Saturday night (Nov. 14) at Cliff Keen Arena. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. with MGoBlue.com providing live game audio and live stats.
N O T E S
• Michigan posted 11 blocks in Friday's win over Purdue, just the third time this season the Wolverines have eclipsed double digits in blocking.
• The Wolverines posted 10 service aces, including six from Alex Hunt in the win. The 10 aces are the most for Michigan since posting 13 vs. Fairfield on Sept. 11.
• The 52 assists from Lexi Zimmerman marked her the 12th time she has eclipsed 50 in a match this season and the 25th time in her career.
Q U O T E S
Michigan Head Coach Mark Rosen
On the comeback victory ... "It was great to pull this one out. Purdue is good. They are much better than their record reflects. Obviously, I think we could have played better, especially in set three. We hit negative as a team and had only seven kills and we don't do that very much. That allowed them to have some momentum. I am really proud of how our girls responded though when their backs were against the wall tonight."
On the play of the middles, Rood and Karlee Bruck ... "Rood made that stuff block at the end of set five, and I think that was the match right there. If they get that kill, it would have been tough for us to recover. She stepped up big time in a huge moment. Karlee was key tonight too. She got a huge kill down the stretch for us. We were trying to balance out our offense and those two were a big part of that."
On the serving game ... "We served really well, especially in sets one and two. In sets three and four, (Purdue) started passing lights out. Alex and Juliana served really tough and I thought Alex especially had big aces in key moments."
