Michigan
25-11
Louisville
30-4
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michigan | 25 | 22 | 25 | 27 | 3 |
| LOUISVILLE | 15 | 25 | 22 | 25 | 1 |
So Sweet: Wolverines Upset No. 9 Louisville in NCAA Second Round
11/30/2012 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Site: Louisville, Ky. (KFC Yum! Center)
Event: NCAA Tournament (Second Round)
Score: Michigan 3, #9 Louisville 1 (25-15, 22-25, 25-22, 27-25)
Records: U-M (25-11), LOU (30-4)
Next U-M Event: Friday, Dec. 7 -- vs. Michigan State - NCAA Regional Semifinal (Berkeley, Calif.), 5 p.m. PST
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The University of Michigan volleyball team will play in the NCAA Sweet 16 for the second straight season after knocking off No. 9 Louisville in four sets (25-15, 22-25, 25-22, 27-25) on Friday (Nov. 30) at the KFC Yum! Center. Juniors Lexi Erwin (Spring, Texas/Woodlands College Park) and Molly Toon (Middleton, Wis./Middleton) as well as fifth-year senior Claire McElheny (Westfield, Ind./Brebeuf Prep) notched double-digit kills to send U-M to Berkeley, Calif., for next Friday's (Dec. 7) regional semifinal against an opponent yet to be determined.
Erwin had 24 kills and made it a double-double with 12 digs and a service ace in the fourth set. Toon hit .306 to go along with her 19 kills and McElheny had five blocks on the night in addition her 12 terminations. Sophomore Lexi Dannemiller (West Chester, Ohio/Lakota West) had a double-double with 62 assists and 16 digs. Freshman Tiffany Morales (Redondo Beach, Calif./Redondo Union) led Michigan with 17 digs and classmate Krystalyn Goode (River Hills, Wis./Nicolet) had six assisted blocks. Freshman Lindsey Lerg (Farmington Hills, Mich./Mercy) had a career-high 15 digs, while junior Ally Sabol (Los Angeles, Calif./Marymount) added 12 digs.
The Wolverines hit .389 and received six kills from Toon to take set one 25-15. U-M led 5-3 in the first set after an Erwin kill. That was the start of three straight points for the Maize and Blue as Goode and McElheny combined for a block and Louisville had an attack error. The Cardinals climbed back in the set, tying it at nine on a block from Gwen Rucker and Emily Juhl. Michigan answered that run, scoring the next five points, highlighted by back-to-back Toon kills for a 14-9 advantage. A Goode kill extended the Wolverine lead to 17-12 as UofL called timeout. Dannemiller delivered a service ace out of the timeout, which was followed by a McElheny kill, giving U-M a seven-point lead. Toon then delivered back-to-back kills for a 21-12 advantage. Erwin's kill gave Michigan a 24-14 lead and the Maize and Blue closed out the set on a Cross termination.
There were nine ties in the second set, but Louisville rallied late to tie the match at 1-1. A service ace from freshman Lindsey Lerg (Farmington Hills, Mich./Mercy) gave Michigan a 3-2 lead to open the second set. Toon's termination put U-M on top 7-5 and a Cross roof made it 8-6 Maize and Blue. Michigan extended the lead to 11-7 on kills from Toon and Erwin. The Wolverines took a 15-11 lead on a Cardinal error and Erwin kill, forcing UofL to burn a timeout. Louisville then started a comeback, cutting the U-M lead to 16-15 after a Gwen Rucker kill and taking a 17-16 advantage on back-to-back Michigan errors. The Cardinals took a 19-17 lead on a tip kill from Lola Arslanbekova. Michigan came back to tie it at 20 on a block by Goode and McElheny, but Louisville went up 23-21 on a Wolverine error and took the set 25-22 on an Arslanbekova termination.
U-M took a 4-3 lead in the third set on another block from Goode and McElheny. That was the start of a 4-0 run as McElheny added two kills and Goode had a termination. An Erwin kill put Michigan up 9-5 and four straight points from the Wolverines made it 14-7. That run was capped by a McElheny termination. A Toon kill gave Michigan a 16-11 lead and McElheny's kill made it 18-12. Michigan built a 20-14 lead on a Cardinal attack error, but UofL started its comeback. Arslanbekova's kill put the Cardinals down 20-16. A termination from Tanya Lukyanenko and a Gwen Rucker kill shaved the advantage to just 21-19. That's when Toon took over. She had kills at 22-20 and 23-21. A block from McElheny and Goode made it 24-21 and Toon's kill gave Michigan the 25-22 win in set three.
The two teams traded side outs through the first 14 points of the fourth set before an Arslanbekova kill gave Louisville an 8-7 lead. Brooke Mattingly's kill gave the Cardinals an 11-9 lead, which was followed by a Hannah Kvitle service ace. An Erwin kill cut the Louisville lead to 12-11, but the Cardinals scored the next two points to build a three-point advantage. Back-to-back Louisville block put the Cardinals ahead 17-13 as the Wolverines called timeout. Another Cardinal block, the 15th of the night, made it 19-14. Back-to-back Erwin kills cut the Cardinal lead to 21-18 and a UofL attack error trimmed the Wolverine deficit to 22-20. An Erwin kill and service ace made it 23-22 and a termination from Toon tied the set at 24-all. The teams traded points before a Goode block gave the Maize and Blue match point. Toon completed the comeback with a kill, sending the Wolverines to the regional semifinals.
Michigan hit .251 on the night, including hitting .389 in the first set. Louisville hit .217 on the night. The Wolverines held an 83-80 dig advantage. The Cardinals ended the match with 17 blocks, compared to 8.5 for Michigan. The Maize and Blue had three service aces for the match.
NOTES
• Michigan advances to the regional semifinals for the fifth time in school history (2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012).
• For the second straight season, the Maize and Blue defeated a seeded team on its home court in the second round. U-M defeated No. 6 Stanford in four sets on Dec. 3, 2011.
• U-M improves to 6-5 against ranked opponents this season. This includes four straight wins over ranked opponents.
• The Wolverines had 83 digs as a team for the second straight match in the NCAA Tournament. That is a season high in digs.
• Michigan and Louisville are now tied 3-3 in the all-time series.
• U-M improves to 5-5 in four-set matches this season.
• The Wolverines had five players in double figures in digs (Tiffany Morales, 17; Lexi Dannemiller, 16; Lindsey Lerg, 15; Lexi Erwin, 12; Ally Sabol, 12) for the second straight match in the NCAA Tournament.
• Lexi Erwin tallied 20-plus kills for the eighth time this season and the 10th time in her career. It also is her 31st double-figure kill match of the year.
• Lexi Erwin picked up her 16th double-double of 2012 and 25th in her career as she had 24 kills and 12 digs. Lexi Dannemiller had her 14th assist-dig double-double of the year and her 30th of her career as she had 64 assists and 16 digs.
• Lindsey Lerg had a career-high 15 digs. Her previous career high was 12 against Tennessee in the NCAA Tournament first round yesterday.
• Krystalyn Goode had a career-high six blocks. Her previous high was five, set six times in 2012.
