Michigan
2-11,0-4Big Ten
Wisconsin
13-0,4-0Big Ten
Michigan Falls to No. 1 Wisconsin to End Road Trip
10/1/2023 4:09:00 PM | Volleyball
» Michigan fell to top-ranked Wisconsin 3-0 (25-13, 25-15, 25-14) to close out a two-game road trip.
» Kendall Murray led Michigan with six kills.
» Scottee Johnson tallied 21 assists, six digs and three kills.
MADISON, Wis. -- The University of Michigan volleyball team fell to No. 1-ranked Wisconsin in three sets (25-13, 25-15, 25-14) on Sunday afternoon (Oct. 1) at UW Field House.
Kendall Murray led the Wolverines with six kills and added five digs and two blocks. Valentina Vaulet and Jacque Boney both had five kills, with Serena Nyambio and Saj McBurrows adding four kills each. Scottee Johnson had 21 assists with three kills and six digs.
Wisconsin (13-0, 4-0 Big Ten) took a quick 4-1 lead and extended it to 8-2, with Michigan's points coming via a Murray kill and a Murray and Nyambio block. The Wolverines got back-to-back points with kills from Boney and Johnson to make the score 10-5, but Wisconsin ran off six straight points to take a 16-5 lead. U-M tried to come back with three runs of two points which included three aces from Johnson, Brooke Humphrey and Vaulet across the six points. Boney tallied a kill to hold off a Badgers' set point, but a UW kill on the next point gave Wisconsin the set 25-13.
Michigan (2-11, 0-4 Big Ten) had a better start in the second set and tied the score twice early with a Murray kill at knotting the score at 2. Wisconsin then went on a 4-0 run that pushed its lead to 6-2. Two kills from Johnson and a solo block from Nyabmio brought the Wolverines back in it, cutting the Wisconsin lead to 8-5. The Badgers took five of the next six points to extend their lead to 13-6, but U-M cut the Wisconsin lead to 13-8 after a Badger service error and another ace from Humphrey. The teams split the next three points and the score stood at 16-11 in favor of the Badgers. After two consecutive Wisconsin points, Michigan took a timeout. After another Wisconsin kill, the Wolverines put together a 3-0 run with two kills from McBurrows. It was not enough as the Badgers then took six of the last seven points to take the second set 25-15.
The third set was similar to the second set as the Wolverines tied it early, this time with a block from Boney and Murray, but fell behind the Badgers. Wisconsin managed to fight for a 10-6 lead with Boney, Nyambio and Vaulet registering kills for Michigan in the stretch. U-M got the score to 10-8 thanks to kills from Nyabmio and Murray, but the Badgers responded with two kills of their own. A 3-0 run by UW prompted a Michigan timeout, but the Badgers responded by taking four of the six points to push their lead to 19-11 to force U-M timeout. Out of the second timeout, Michigan took two of the next three points with a Vaulet kill and Badgers service error but fell 25-14 in the final set.
The Wolverines will return home for a three-game homestand which starts on Friday (Oct. 6) at 6 p.m. when they host Northwestern at Crisler Center. The match will be broadcast live on Big Ten Network.
