Late Surges, Blocks Lift No. 6 Minnesota to Sweep of Michigan (RV)

  0 Wendy Mayer | October 07th, 2017 | Big Ten, College - Women's Indoor, News

MATCH STATS

  • No. 6 Minnesota def. Michigan (RV) 3-0 (25-21, 25-21, 25-20)
  • Minnesota moves to 15-2, 4-2 B1G; Michigan falls to 12-6, 2-4 B1G
  • Ann Arbor, Michigan
  • Attendance: 1,395
  • Box Score

 

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – No. 6 Minnesota dominated the net, putting up 14 blocks and hitting at a .354 clip, as the team extended its win streak to three matches with a road sweep of Michigan on Saturday afternoon. The loss was the Wolverines’ first at home in nine matches.

Senior middle blocker Molly Lohman put up 10 blocks and freshman opposite Stephanie Samedy added nine to lead the Gopher block. Sophomore outside hitter Alexis Hart and freshman outside Jasmyn Martin carried the offense with 14 and 10 kills respectively. Senior libero Dalianliz Rosado led the backcourt defense with 15 digs.

Redshirt sophomore middle Cori Crocker, senior middle Claire Kieffer-Wright and junior outside Carly Skjodt paced the Michigan offense with 12, 10 and nine kills respectively. Freshman middle Kiara Shannon and sophomore setter MacKenzi Welsh notched three blocks apiece. Welsh also chipped in three of the team’s five aces. Junior libero Jenna Lerg pulled up a match-high 17 digs, followed by senior outside Adeja Lambert (10).

The Gophers outblocked the Wolverines 14-5 and outdid Michigan .354 to .202 in hitting efficiency. Michigan outserved Minnesota 5-1. Both teams managed 43 kills, but the Gophers made just eight errors, compared to 21 for Michigan.

Michigan snapped a 9-all tie and built the largest lead of Set 1 at 17-12. Five different players tallied kills in the stretch, including three by Crocker. Minnesota turned the tables, finishing the stanza on a 13-4 run. A 7-2 run, with by back-to-back stuffs by Lohman and Samedy, knotted the score at 19. A Lambert kill gave Michigan a brief 20-19 lead, before the Gophers notched five straight to pull away for good at 24-20. Lohman added four more blocks in the final run. A Michigan service error capped the 25-21 win.

Michigan again owned the first half of Set 2, jumping ahead 16-7 before succombing to the Gophers. The Wolverines scored seven of the first nine with two kills each by Crocker and Skjodt. Crocker tacked on two more kills and a block as Michigan pushed ahead by nine at 16-7. Minnesota grabbed a 20-18 lead with a 13-2 run of its own. Three kills and three blocks by Samedy buoyed the Gophers in the rally. Martin chipped in three putaways and Martin notched two in the stretch. Michigan was within one three times, last at 22-21, before a service error coupled with a kill and a block by Lohman wrapped up the comeback and the 25-21 win.

Michigan led by as many as three on four occasions in Set 3, last at 14-11, but could not hang on for the victory. Down 14-11, Minnesota charged back to a 16-15 lead with help from two Pittman kills and two Wolverine miscues. Michigan answered with five of the next seven as Lambert turned in two kills and a block, putting the Wolverines up 20-18. Minnesota stole away the set and grabbed the sweep with a final 7-0 run. Four Michigan errors aided the final run.

 

PRESS RELEASES

Courtesy: Minnesota Athletics

The No. 6 University of Minnesota earned a 3-0 sweep over No. 22 Michigan, today in Ann Arbor, Mich. The Golden Gophers (15-2, 4-2 in the Big Ten) trailed in all three sets, but came back to win, 25-21, 25-21, 25-20.

As a team, Minnesota hit .354 and added 14 blocks, while it limited the Wolverines to hit .202 and five blocks. Both teams had 43 kills, while Michigan held a 40-37 dig advantage.

Alexis Hart led the Gophers with 14 kills and hit .324 in the match. Jasmyn Martin added 10 kills and hit .400, while Stephanie Samedy had seven kills and a career-best nine blocks. Regan Pittman added six kills, did not commit an error in 10 attempts (.600) and had three blocks. Molly Lohman added 10 blocks, had five kills, two digs and an ace. Samantha Seliger-Swenson had 34 assists and seven digs, while Dalianliz Rosado had 15 digs.

Minnesota returns to Maturi Pavilion Wednesday night as the Golden Gophers host No. 18 Purdue at 6 p.m. The match will be televised live on Big Ten Network. The match also marks the Gophers’ Dig Pink event, which raises breast cancer awareness.

Set Breakdown:
First Set: Minnesota utilized eight blocks and hit .345 to come back and win the first set, 25-21. Tied at 9-9, Michigan later took a 13-10 lead and pushed the lead to four at 16-12 off a joust at the net. The four-point Michigan lead forced Minnesota to call a timeout. With the score at 17-12, Minnesota added three-straight points. As Michigan built up another four-point lead at 19-15, the Gophers came back and tied the set at 19-19 off a Hart kill, including three points during Rosado’s serve rotation. After Lohman produced her fourth block of the set, the Wolverines called a timeout. Lohman and Samedy, however, provided another block out of the break for a 22-20 lead. Minnesota finished off the set with two more blocks and closed out the set on a Michigan service error to go up, 1-0.

Second Set: Minnesota erased an eight-point deficit to eventually tie the set at 17-17 and later take the set, 25-21. After the Wolverines took a 7-2 lead, Minnesota called their first timeout. A Martin kill cut the lead to 9-5, but Michigan pushed the lead to seven at 13-6 early in the second set. The Gophers used their second timeout of the set when Michigan continued to push its lead to 15-7. Trailing 16-8, the Gophers rattled off four straight and cut the lead to five as Michigan called a timeout. After six points on Hart’s serve rotation, the Gophers cut the lead to two at 16-14. Minnesota continued the comeback and tied the set at 17-17 off a Martin kill, while Samedy gave the Gophers the 18-17 lead and forced Michigan to call a timeout. Pittman pushed the Gopher lead to 20-18 off a kill, while Hart added Minnesota’s 22nd point at 22-20. The Gophers closed out the comeback off another block from Samedy and Lohman to go up, 2-0.

Third Set: Michigan opened the set with a 4-1 lead, only to have the Gophers tie the set at 5-5. Michigan took a 9-6 lead, and later a 14-11 lead. The Gophers however, battled back and tied the set at 15-15 off a Michigan ball handling error and took a 16-15 lead off a Pittman kill as Michigan called a timeout. The two teams traded points through 18-18 as Michigan came back with a 20-18 lead as Minnesota called a timeout. The Gophers came out of the break and held a three-point swing to take a 21-20 off a Samedy kill. The small run forced Michigan to call its second timeout of the set. Minnesota pushed it lead to match point off a Hart kill, while Michigan committed an attack error to give the Gophers the 3-0 win.

 

Courtesy: Michigan Athletics

The No. 22-ranked University of Michigan volleyball team took an early lead in every set Saturday (Oct. 7) but fell in straight sets (21-25, 21-25, 20-25) to the No. 6-ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers inside Cliff Keen Arena.

The loss snapped Michigan’s perfect record when playing in Ann Arbor this season. The Wolverines were previously 8-0 and had dropped just three sets through that time.

Sophomore Cori Crocker tied her career high and led the Wolverines with 12 kills at a .320 clip, while senior Claire Kieffer-Wright also finished in double figures with 10 kills at a .353 hitting percentage. Freshman Kiara Shannon led Michigan in blocks (three) for the first time in her career, and junior Jenna Lerg led all players with 17 digs.

A service ace by sophomore MacKenzi Welsh gave the Wolverines the first point of set one, but the Gophers responded with a 4-0 run. From there, Michigan inched back, and a kill off the block by Crocker for a 10-9 lead sparked a 7-3 run that put Michigan up, 16-12, and forced a Minnesota timeout. Despite the surge by the Maize and Blue, Minnesota used seven blocks during a 13-5 run to take a 25-21 first-set victory.

Michigan again took an early lead in the second set as the Wolverines jumped out to a 7-2 advantage and coerced a Minnesota timeout. Using kills by Crocker, Carly Skjodt and Adeja Lambert, the Wolverines’ lead continued deep into set two, until an 11-2 Gopher run flipped the score for an 18-17 Minnesota lead. Following a Michigan timeout, a Gopher attack error tied the score at 18-18, but Minnesota used another point-scoring run to take set two, 25-21.

The Wolverines jumped out to a 5-2 lead in set three, and though the Gophers closed the gap at 9-8, Michigan maintained its lead until a ballhandling error allowed Minnesota to tie things up at 15-15. The following kill put the Gophers up by one, but back-to-back kills by Kieffer-Wright and Lambert put Michigan back on top before Minnesota tied the score again at 17-17. The teams traded points until a kill by Lambert and a Gopher attack error gave Michigan the edge at 20-18, but seven unanswered points allowed Minnesota to take set three, 25-20.

No. 22-ranked Michigan will return to play on Friday (Oct. 13) when they head to New Brunswick, New Jersey, for a match against Rutgers that will begin a four-match road swing for the Wolverines. First serve for Friday’s contest is set for 7 p.m.

» The loss snaps Michigan’s perfect 8-0 win streak when playing at home this season.
» Cori Crocker tied her career high with a team-leading 12 kills.
» Kiara Shannon led Michigan in blocks for the first time with three block assists.

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About Wendy Mayer

Wendy Mayer

Wendy Mayer has worked in athletics media relations for the last 20 years. The Northwest Missouri State alumna is currently senior writer for Volleymob.com after spending the last 15 years with Purdue athletics.

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