Wolverines to Head East for Matchups with No. 19 Penn State, Rutgers

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan volleyball team (6-17, 4-10 Big Ten) will head east for two conference matchups. Michigan will take on No. 19-ranked Penn State (15-8, 9-5 Big Ten) on Friday (Nov. 10) at 7 p.m. in State College, PA., then will face off against Rutgers (10-14, 2-12 Big Ten) on Sunday (Nov. 12) at 1 p.m. in Piscataway, N.J. Both matches will be streamed live on B1G+.

Notes

• Michigan is in the midst of a three-match win streak after back-to-back sweeps of Iowa and Maryland. The Wolverines have won 10 of the last 14 sets with their last loss coming against Penn State at Crisler Center on Oct. 27.

• The Wolverines are one of the best-serving teams in the Big Ten, ranking first in aces per set (1.79) and second in total aces (147). Michigan passed Indiana last weekend for the conference lead in aces per set and ranks 44th nationally. U-M trails the Hoosiers (175) in total aces.

• Six players in the Big Ten have had six aces or more in a match this season, and Michigan has three of them. Lydia Johnson had seven against Sacred Heart (Aug. 26), Kendall Murray had six against Bowling Green (Sept. 15) and Valentina Vaulet had six against Northwestern on Oct. 6.

• Vaulet had another strong weekend with 21 kills and six aces. She now ranks second on the team in kills with 188 and is tied with Murray for the team lead in aces at 29. In the match against Iowa, Vaulet led the team in kills with 12 and hit .346. She also added five total blocks (two solo, three assists). Vaulet is coming on strong toward the end of the season and has 73 kills in the last six matches. She ranks fifth in the Big Ten in aces per set and 22nd in kills per set.

• Jacque Boney has reached double-digit kills in each of the last four matches and has hit .427 over that stretch. Against Maryland, she led Michigan in kills with 14 and hit .500 on 24 attacks. Boney also added five blocks with one solo and four assists. She ranks third on the team in kills with 187 and is second in blocks with 55. In the conference, Boney ranks 26th in kills per set with a 2.46 average.

• Hannah Grant returned to the lineup against Penn State (Oct. 27) and has started the last three matches as the team's libero. Grant tallied 20 digs, including a team-leading 12 against Iowa. She ranks ninth all-time in program history with 1,212 and is 74 digs away from entering eighth place.

• After a strong match as a substitute, Morgan Burke took over as the team's setter and has tallied 224 assists in the six matches since earning the starting job. She had 33 in both matches over the previous week and recorded a double-double against Maryland with 10 digs. She also added three service aces in Maryland to tie her career high.

• Over the last six matches, Serena Nyambio has tallied at least for blocks, reaching a career-high seven in back-to-back matches. She now leads the team in blocks with 74 and recently passed her freshman-year total of 62.

• Three players have more than 180 digs this season. Brooke Humphrey leads the team with 206 and is averaging 2.51 per set -- more than double her career average. Murray ranks second on the team with 183, a single-season career high. Maddi Cuchran ranks third with 182 digs and recorded 11 against Iowa last Friday.

• Penn State 15-8 overall and 9-5 in the Big Ten, good for a third-place tie in the conference standings with Purdue. The Nittany Lions hold a 55-6 advantage in the all-time series, but the Wolverines swept then No. 9-ranked PSU the last time the two teams met in State College (Sept. 24, 2022). This season, Penn State defeated Michigan in four sets on Oct. 27 at Crisler Center. Murray led the team in kills (19) and digs (14), while Nyambio had seven blocks and Burke had 41 assists.

• Rutgers is 10-14 overall and 2-12 in the conference. Michigan is 11-0 all-time against the Scarlet Knights and swept Rutgers in both matches last season. U-M closed out last season with the Scarlet Knights at home with Boney leading the way with four blocks, and Grant led the team in digs with nine.