Michigan
20-12
Santa Clara
22-9
U-M Rolls Past Santa Clara, Advances to NCAA Second Round
12/4/2015 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
» Sophomore outside hitter Claire Kieffer-Wright led Michigan with 13 kills and a career-high eight blocks.
» Four Wolverines tallied double-digit kills, and five players registered double-digit blocks in the effort.
» Michigan advances to the NCAA Tournament second round with the win and will play UCLA Saturday night.
Site: Los Angeles, Calif. (John Wooden Center)
Event: NCAA Tournament (First Round)
Score: Michigan 3, Santa Clara 1 (20-25, 25-17, 25-17, 25-20)
Records: U-M (20-12), SC (22-9)
Next U-M Event: Saturday, Dec. 5 -- at UCLA - NCAA Second Round (Los Angeles, Calif.), 7 p.m. PST
LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- Facing a 1-0 deficit, the University of Michigan volleyball team responded with three straight set victories to defeat the Santa Clara Broncos by a 3-1 score (20-25, 25-17, 25-17, 25-20) Friday evening (Dec. 4) and advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament at the John Wooden Center on the campus of UCLA.
The Broncos took the first point of the match on a Michigan error, but the Wolverines quickly tied the score on a kill from senior Krystalyn Goode. The blast put the momentum in favor of the Maize and Blue, as Michigan jumped ahead on a 6-2 run. Despite the lead, Santa Clara responded with four straight points tie game at 7-all. From there, the set was played point for point, as neither team led by more than two. With the score tied at 20-all, however, the Broncos rallied for five straight points to clinch the set by a 25-20 score.
Santa Clara took the first point of the second set as well, but Michigan rallied for four straight points to go ahead, and the Broncos again rallied from behind to tie the score at 7-7. Though Michigan rebounded to take a 13-10 lead and force a Santa Clara timeout, the Broncos again went on a run to tie the game at 13-all. Despite the tie score, the Wolverines fought for a 17-16 lead. From there, however, the momentum swung in favor of the Maize and Blue, as Michigan score seven straight points on an 8-1 lead to take the set, 25-17.
With the score tied 1-1 following intermission, Michigan took the lead as a kill from junior Abby Cole and a service ace from senior Lindsey Lerg put the Wolverines up 2-0. A 4-2 run in favor of the Maize and Blue then forced a Santa Clara timeout early on, but Michigan could not be stopped. Led by timely kills from sophomore Claire Kieffer-Wright, sophomore Caroline Knop and Cole, the Wolverines took set three by a 25-17 score.
With a 2-1 lead in favor of the Wolverines, the fourth set of the evening featured a hard-fought effort on both sides of the court. The battle featured 10 tie scores and seven lead changes, as neither team led by more than three until late in the set. The last tie score came at 16-16, but Michigan went ahead 18-17 to force a Santa Clara timeout. The Wolverines then hit the court and rallied for three straight points on a kill from junior Kelly Murphy and two consecutive Bronco errors, forcing Santa Clara to call their final timeout of the set. Kills from Murphy and various Bronco attacking errors pushed Michigan to a 25-20 set win and a 3-1 match victory.
Four Michigan players registered double-digits kills on the night for the first time since a 3-2 victory over Michigan State (Oct. 3). Leading the charge was Kieffer-Wright, who tallied 13 kills, while Murphy added 12. Knop added 11 to the mix, and Cole rounded out the group with 10.
Guiding the Michigan offense with to a .190 hitting percentage was senior Carly Warner, whose 38 assists led all players in the match.
Michigan also shined defensively, as five Wolverines registered double-digit digs. Freshman libero Jenna Lerg rallied for 25 on the night, while freshman Carly Skjodt added 12, and Lindsey Lerg picked up 10. Warner also rallied for 11 to earn her 17th assist-dig double-double of the season, while Knop's 11 digs marked her 10th kill-dig double-double of the year.
From the front row, Kieffer-Wright led the Wolverines with a career-high eight blocks, while Cole tallied seven, and Goode rallied for five.
The Wolverines will continue their NCAA Tournament run on Saturday (Dec. 5) when they return to the John Wooden Center to face host and No. 12-ranked UCLA for a match at 7 p.m. PST.
