Wolverines to Open Big Ten Play in Hoosier State
9/22/2014 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 22, 2014
| UPCOMING SCHEDULE | ||
  U-M at No. 15 Purdue (West Lafayette, Ind.) |  U-M at Indiana (Bloomington, Ind.) | |
| Friday, Sept. 26 | Saturday, Sept. 27 | |
| 7 p.m. | 7 p.m. | |
| | BTN Plus | Live Blog | | Live Blog | |
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The First Serve
The University of Michigan volleyball team (5-5, 0-0 Big Ten) opens the Big Ten schedule this weekend with a pair of road matches. The Maize and Blue faces Purdue (10-2, 0-0 Big Ten) on Friday night (Sept. 26) at 7 p.m. in West Lafayette, Ind. That match will be streamed on BTN Plus via BTN2GO. Michigan stays in the Hoosier State to face Indiana (9-3, 0-0 Big Ten) on Saturday night (Sept. 27) at 7 p.m. in Bloomington. Michigan enters the weekend set coming off a 2-1 record at the Michigan Invitational that included three-set sweeps of Youngstown State and Eastern Michigan.
Scouting the Opposition
Purdue
The Boilermakers went 2-1 at Purdue Active Ankle Challenge, defeating Morehead State and Notre Dame in three sets while falling to Saint Louis in five. In the win over the Fighting Irish, Annie Drews had a match-high 12 kills, while Amanda Neill had 16 digs. Drews leads Purdue, averaging 4.15 kills per set, while Neill has 3.80 digs per set. Setter Val Nichol has 11 assists per set, and Kierra Jones leads the Boilermakers with 51 total blocks.
Indiana
Indiana went 2-1 at the Hoosier Classic this past weekend, defeating Buffalo and Western Illinois while falling to Butler. Taylor Lebo had 17 kills, and Courtney Harnish dug 21 balls in the four-set win over Buffalo. Amelia Anderson leads the Hoosiers with 3.39 kills per set, while Harnish is averaging 4.78 digs per set. Megan Tallman has 11.70 assists per set, and Awele Nwaeze leads the team with 42 total blocks.
Purdue/Indiana Series Records
The Boilermakers hold a 46-24 all-time series advantage on the Wolverines heading into Friday's contest. The two teams met just once last season, with Purdue winning in four in Ann Arbor on Oct. 26. The last meeting in West Lafayette happened on Oct. 26, 2012, with Purdue winning in three sets. The last win for Michigan at Purdue was on Oct. 23, 2010, as Alex Hunt had 26 kills, and Lexi Zimmerman dished out 56 assists in a five-set win ... Michigan has a 36-34-1 series advantage on Indiana going into Saturday's match. The two teams met in the last match of the regular season in 2013, with the Wolverines winning in four sets on Nov. 29. Molly Toon had 16 kills, while Lexi Dannemiller recorded 48 assists. Michigan has won six straight matches vs. the Hoosiers.
Big Ten Leaders
Junior Tiffany Morales is eighth in digs per set (4.32/s). Junior Carly Warner is eighth in the league in assists per set (9.66/s). Sophomore Abby Cole is ninth in points per set (3.96/s) and 11th in blocks per set (1.11/s). As a team, Michigan is second in the Big Ten in digs per set (15.13/s).
Big Ten Openers
Michigan is 14-18 all-time in Big Ten openers. Last year, the Maize and Blue fell to Ohio State in three sets in the conference lidlifter on Sept. 27, 2013. Michigan's last win in a Big Ten opener was on Sept. 21, 2012, in a four-set win over Indiana.
Morales Moving Up the Dig List
Junior Tiffany Morales has an even 1,200 career digs heading into Big Ten play, which puts her seventh on Michigan's all-time digs list. She passed Katie Bruzdzinski (2004-07) this weekend after averaging 5.30 digs per set in the Michigan Invitational. She needs 87 digs to move past Kerry Hance (2005-08) for sixth place on the list. Stesha Selsky (2004-07) holds Michigan's all-time mark with 2,178 career digs.
Up Next
Michigan will play both its matches against in-state rival Michigan State next week. The Wolverines host the Spartans Tuesday night (Sept. 30) at 8 p.m. with the match televised on the Big Ten Network. Michigan then visits MSU Friday night (Oct. 3) at 7 p.m.
