Michigan
11-0
Marquette
9-3
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marquette | 16 | 19 | 15 | 0 |
| MICHIGAN | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
U-M Downs Marquette Behind Hunt's Record, Plays Dayton Tonight
9/18/2009 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Cliff Keen Arena)
Event: Michigan/adidas Invitational
Score: #6 Michigan 3, Marquette 0 (25-16, 25-19, 25-15)
Records: U-M (11-0), Marquette (9-3)
Next U-M Event: Friday, Sept. 18 -- vs. Dayton (Cliff Keen Arena), 7:30 p.m.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Behind a program-record nine service aces from sophomore Alex Hunt (Granger, Ind./South Bend St. Joseph), the No. 6-ranked University of Michigan volleyball team improved to 11-0 on the season with a 3-0 (25-16, 25-19, 25-15) win over Marquette at the Michigan/adidas Invitational on Friday afternoon (Sept. 18) in Cliff Keen Arena.
Veronica Rood
Senior Veronica Rood (Temperance, Mich./Bedford) led the way with nine kills, while Juliana Paz (Porto Alegre, Brazil/Iowa Western CC) added eight and Hunt contributed six. Meanwhile, junior setter Lexi Zimmerman (Barrington, Ill./Barrington) tallied 28 assists.
The deciding set three saw a tight one to start as the Wolverines held just a one-point lead, 9-8, before Hunt took to the service stripe, serving for nine straight points, including three aces in the run. Hunt's string helped the Wolverines build an 18-8 lead they took to the 25-15 victory.
Set two was the closest of the contest with Michigan unable to pull away until midway through the frame. Tied at nine apiece, Michigan used runs of 4-1 and 5-2 to build an 18-12 advantage. The Wolverines received key kills from sophomore Courtney Fletcher (Duluth, Ga./Northview) and senior Megan Bower (Indianapolis, Ind./Cathedral) as well as a Hunt ace to cap the 25-19 win.
In the opening set, the Maize and Blue held Marquette to a .038 attack percentage en route to a 25-16 win. Six different Wolverines registered kills in the set, with Paz leading the group with four.
The Wolverines are back in action tonight (Friday, Sept. 18) when they host Dayton to cap day one of the Michigan/adidas Invitational. Match time is set for 7:30 pm with live stats and live audio available via MGoBlue.com
NOTES
• Michigan runs its winning streak to 11 matches to start the 2009 campaign. The Wolverines have started each of the past three seasons 13-0.
• Michigan extends its program record of consecutive sets won to 24.
• Sophomore Alex Hunt sets the new single-match record for service aces with nine, eclipsing the previous best of eight set by Katie Bruzdzinski (Sept. 17, 2004 vs. Virginia Tech) and Juliana Paz (Sept. 12 vs. VCU).
• The Wolverines remain perfect all-time versus Marquette, moving to 4-0. All four match wins have been Michigan sweeps.
QUOTES
Michigan Head Coach Mark Rosen
On the win over Marquette ... "I was really pleased with the way we played. They run a tough system; we faced it last year at Georgia Tech where their head coach came from. They are very quick and like to disrupt things, but I thought we did a good job today. We were very aggressive with our serve game today, as evidence by Alex breaking the record, and I think that forced them out of system, which is good. When they are able to get into system they are very tough, but we were able to get them out of that. Overall, I am very pleased with the effort and we need to continue to build on it tonight."
