Michigan
8-0
Coastal Carolina
6-2
U-M Rolls Past Coastal, Picks Up Eighth Straight Win
9/10/2016 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
» Sophomore Carly Skjodt led Michigan in kills for the fourth time this season, tallying 13 and leading all players in the match.
» Michigan will look to clinch its third straight tournament title tonight against host Pittsburgh.
Site: Pittsburgh, Pa. (Fitzgerald Field House)
Event: Panther Invitational
Score: #22 Michigan 3, Coastal Carolina 0 (25-16, 25-22, 25-23)
Records: U-M (8-0), CCU (6-2)
Next U-M Event: Saturday, Sept. 10 -- at Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh, Pa.), 7 p.m.
PITTSBURGH, Pa. -- The 22nd-ranked University of Michigan volleyball team pushed its win streak to eight straight on Saturday morning (Sept. 10) with a three-set sweep (25-16, 25-22, 25-23) of Coastal Carolina inside Fitzgerald Field House at the Panther Invitational.
Leading Michigan in kills for the fourth time this season was sophomore outside hitter Carly Skojdt, whose 13 kills mark her 11th career outing with double-digit terminations. Senior outside hitter Kelly Murphy also added 10 kills at a .400 clip to mark her second match this season with 10-plus kills.
The Wolverines tallied 12 blocks in the contest, as junior middle blocker Claire Kieffer-Wright led the charge with five. Senior hitter Abby Cole and freshman setter MacKenzi Welsh also added four blocks apiece, while sophomore libero Jenna Lerg anchored the defense from the back row with 12 digs.
It was Coastal Carolina that took the first point of the day, and the Wolverines were forced to play catch-up from there. The two squads traded point for point early on until Michigan took its first lead of the match at 11-10 on a kill from Cole. A service ace from Murphy followed, and the Wolverines used the momentum to cruise to a 16-12 lead and force a Coastal Carolina timeout. From there, Michigan took advantage of numerous CCU errors as well as a kill from every Wolverine hitter on the court to take the set, 25-16.
Michigan surrendered just 10 kills to Coastal in the second set, holding the Chants to just a .057 attack average. A tight game, Skjodt and Murphy led the Wolverine offense with a kill percentage of .300 and four kills apiece as the Maize and Blue took set two, 25-22.
Despite a 2-0 Michigan lead, the third set of the match was a hard-fought battle, as the Chants jumped ahead early and forced the Wolverines to come from behind. With 17 tie scores and 10 lead changes, the set belonged to no one until a kill from Skjodt and a double-block from Kieffer-Wright and Welsh put the Wolverines up 23-22 and force a CCU timeout. The surge marked a defining shift in the momentum, however, and Michigan returned to the court with a block and a kill from Murphy to take the set, 25-23.
TWEET OF THE MATCH
2016 wins:
2016 sweeps:
Next up: Pittsburgh, 7:00 p.m. #GoBlue pic.twitter.com/uCpqVHtkvf— Michigan Volleyball (@umichvball) September 10, 2016
The Panther Invitational will wrap up on Saturday evening as Michigan battles host Pittsburgh in a 7 p.m. primetime matchup inside Fitzgerald Field House.
Communications Contact: Katie Gwinn Hewitt
