Michigan
3-16,1-9Big Ten
Northwestern
10-10,4-6Big Ten
Twenty-Kill Nights From Vaulet, Murray Not Enough as U-M Falls to Northwestern in Five
10/21/2023 11:50:00 PM | Volleyball
» Michigan fell 3-2 to Northwestern on Satirday night.
» Valentina Vaulet and Kendall Murray each tallied 21 kills.
» Morgan Burke set a new career high with 49 assists.
» Maddi Cuchran led Michigan in digs with 18 and earned her first career kill.
EVANSTON, Ill. -- In a five-set battle, the University of Michigan volleyball team fell to Northwestern (13-25, 25-19, 25-16, 26-28, 11-15) on Saturday might (Oct. 21) at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
With the match tied heading into the fifth set, Michigan started with kills from Kendall Murray and Valentina Vaulet. NU tied the match at 2-2 before a Vaulet kill re-established the Michigan lead. A block from McBurrows and Nyambio and an ace from Vaulet forced a NU timeout with U-M ahead 5-3 lead. Out of the timeout, Northwestern tied the match at 5-5 and 7-7. The Wildcats went ona 5-2 run to take a 12-9 lead and a Michigan took a timeout. Serena Nyambio and Vaulet earned a block, and Vaulet tallied her 21st kill of the match, but NU cloed out the set and the game with a 15-11 win.
Murray and Vaulet both had a match-high 21 kills, with Vaulet setting a new career high and Murray tying her career high. Morgan Burke set a new career high with 49 assists and added seven digs and two kills. Maddi Cuchran led the team in digs with 18. Brooke Humphrey and Murray joined Cuchran with double-digit digs.
Michigan (3-15, 1-8 Big Ten) got off to a strong start in the first set and took a 5-1 lead, Four different Wolverines tallied kills during the stretch, with Murray tallying two. Northwestern (10-10, 4-6 Big Ten) tied the match at 8-8, and Saj McBurrows tallied a kill to knot the score at 9-9. From there, NU went on runs of 7-0 and 6-0 to take a 22-10 lead. Three U-M points were matched by the Wildcats, who took the set 25-13.
NU started the set with a block assist and led until Michigan grabbed and 11-10 advantage. Mira Chopra entered the match with Michigan down 10-8 and served, starting with an ace, until U-M led 13-11 and forced a Wildcats timeout. Burke and Nyambio combined on a block out of the break before kills from Vaulet and Burke gave Michigan a 15-11 lead. NU tied the match at 16, 17, 18 and 19, but Michigan closed out the on a 6-0 run for a 25-19 win.
The Wolverines took the third set 25-16, started by a 3-0 run to strat it. NU tied the match at 3-3, then led until Michigan pulled ahead 9-7 thanks to a service ace and from Burke and two kills from McBurrows. Michigan controlled the rest of the set with Scottee Johnson and Chopra tallying aces and five different Wolverines collecting kills.
The fourth set was a battle that saw five lead changes and 11 ties. Michigan took a 7-3 lead behind a pair of kills from Murray and Boney. The Wildcats called a timeout down 9-5, but U-M was able to keep the lead until the match was tied at 14-14. Vaulet and Murray tallied kills in the stretch and Nyambio and McBurrows combined on two blocks. The teams split the next 16 points with no team having bigger than a two-point lead. With NU leading 21-20, Michigan knotted the score -- one of six ties at the end of the match. At 26-26, NU scored back-to-back points to take the set 28-26 and forced the decisive fifth set.
With its three-match road swing complete, the Wolverines will return home to host No. 11 Penn State on Friday (Oct. 27) at 7 p.m. at Crisler Center. The contest will be boradcast live on Big Ten Network.
