MATCH STATS
- Michigan defeats Michigan State, 3-0 (25-20, 29-27, 25-23)
- Michigan improves to 18-11; Michigan State drops to 19-7
- Ann Arbor, Michigan
- Attendance: 1800
- Box Score
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The Wolverines move to 8-9 in Big 10 play after upsetting Michigan State on Wednesday. The last time these two teams met was earlier this season when Michigan State defeated Michigan 3-1. This marks the first win over a top 25 ranked team for Michigan this season.
Michigan hit .291 on the night, with a .342 hitting percentage in the third set, as they held the Spartans to a .273 clip. Michigan State out-blocked Michigan 8-4.
Michigan State setter Rachel Minarick totaled 38 assists, 9 digs, and two kills. On the other side of the net, Mackenzi Welsh tabbed 42 assists and three digs.
Two Michigan players posted double-figure kills with Carly Skjodt leading the pack at 17 kills and 12 digs for her sixth double-double of the season on a .351 clip. Sydney Wetterstrom had a career-high 15 kills on an impressive .423 hitting percentage.
Michigan State’s offense was led by Autumn Bailey, who had 14 kills with 11 digs for her ninth double-double of Big Ten play on a .273 hitting percentage. Brooke Kandra posted 11 kills with just one error on a .476 clip.
Both teams will continue with Big 10 play as Michigan State hosts Indiana and Michigan hosts Purdue.
PRESS RELEASES
Courtesy of Michigan Athletics
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Behind a career-high 15 kills from sophomore Sydney Wetterstrom and a match-high 17 kills and 12 digs from junior Carly Skjodt, the University of Michigan volleyball team defeated the No. 8-ranked Michigan State Spartans in straight sets (25-20, 29-27, 25-23) on Wednesday night (Nov. 15) inside Cliff Keen Arena.
The victory is the Wolverines’ (18-11, 8-9 B1G) first win over a top-25 opponent this season. Additionally, the 3-0 sweep marks Michigan’s second consecutive home sweep of rival Michigan State and its fourth consecutive home win over the Spartans. Overall, the sweep is the Wolverines’ 11th of the season.
Individually, Skjodt led all players with 17 kills, while Wetterstrom totaled a career-high 15 kills. Sophomore setter MacKenzi Welsh guided the offense to a .291 team attack percentage with 42 assists.
Skjodt also recorded 12 digs in the match for her sixth kill-dig double-double of the season. Junior libero Jenna Lergalso finished with 12 digs, which led all players.
Michigan got off to a quick start, jumping ahead to an early 7-2 lead behind the serving of senior Claire Kieffer-Wright, who picked up two service aces early on. The teams then traded points before a block by Wetterstrom gave the Wolverines an 11-6 lead, which forced Michigan State to call a timeout. Though the Spartans cut Michigan’s lead to just three points at 17-14 and again at 23-20, six kills from Wetterstrom and four from Skjodt allowed the Wolverines to lead the entire set and hang on for a 25-20 first set win.
After a back-and-forth start to the second set, Michigan State managed to pull ahead to an 11-8 lead before the Wolverines called a timeout. Michigan then rallied for a 5-2 run to tie the score at 13, and the teams played nearly point for point from there. With 25 tie scores and 14 lead changes, the second set featured diving plays and do-or-die efforts, including a long rally where senior Katherine Mahlke crashed into the scorer’s table to keep the ball in play. Despite the lack of true momentum swings, Michigan surged late with back-to-back kills from Mahlke and Wetterstrom to clinch a pivotal second set, 29-27.
Michigan State took an early lead in the third set before kills from Skjodt and freshman Kiara Shannon flipped the score and put the Wolverines up, 6-5. The Spartans then tied the score on 10 different occasions, but Michigan responded with a go-ahead point each time. After the teams traded points to force a tie score at 22, Skjodt took control, recording a kill and service ace for consecutive points and a 24-22 Michigan lead. The Spartans took the next point on a timely cross-court kill, but a Michigan State service error followed to give the Wolverines a 25-23 third set win.
Courtesy of Michigan State Athletics
No. 8 Michigan State fell on the road at Michigan on Wednesday night, dropping a 3-0 decision (20-25, 27-29, 23-25). It was the first Big Ten loss for MSU to a team not ranked seventh or above in the AVCA national poll, and MSU falls to 19-7 overall and 12-5 in Conference play Michigan is now 18-11 and 8-9 in Conference action.
The two teams have split their season meetings for the eighth straight season, and each team won on its home floor. Michigan retains the State Pride Flag for the second straight season, winning four sets over the two matches between the teams to MSU’s three.
Michigan had a lead as large as seven points in the first set, as MSU twice cut it to three-point deficits before falling by a 25-20 margin. The second set was a dogfight – the frame was tied 25 times and featured 14 lead changes, eventually going to the Wolverines by a 29-27 edge. The third set followed the script of the second, as the frame was tied ten times as the Wolverines put it away by a 25-23 score.
Autumn Bailey racked up 14 kills and 11 digs, recording her ninth double-double of the Big Ten season while hitting .273. Brooke Kranda hit a team-best .476 and had 11 kills, and Alyssa Garvelink had nine kills and six blocks, leaving her one kill shy of reaching 1,000 in her career.
Carly Skojdt had 17 kills to lead the Wolverines, hitting .351 and adding 12 digs for a double-double. Sydney Wetterstrom hit a team-best .423 and compiled 15 kills on the night.
MSU hit .273 compared to .291 for the home team, and out-blocked the hosts 8-4 to tie MSU’s high in a Big Ten match this season.
The Spartans’ home schedule comes to a close on Saturday when MSU hosts Indiana at 8 pm at Jenison Field House. Following the match, the Spartans will honor their seven seniors.
QUOTABLE
“This is always a heated, passionate rivalry. We were unable to establish any flow or rhythm. It was probably a great match for some of the fans to watch, because the action was back and forth with big swings. We need to clean up some things and really focus on being purposeful and more polished as we head into these final three matches – this is the time of the season where you’re likely to get everyone’s best game, as you saw tonght..”
– Head Coach Cathy George
TOP PERFORMERS
- Autumn Bailey had her ninth double-double of the Big Ten season, compiling 14 kills and 11 digs.
- Alyssa Garvelink had nine kills, hit .467, and added six blocks (one solo)
- Brooke Kranda had 11 kills and hit .476 and two digs.
- Rachel Minarick ha 38 assists, nine digs, and a solo block.STATS AND STORYLINES
- MSU and Michigan have split their two regular-season meetings in each of the last eight seasons.
- MSU had eight blocks, tying their Big Ten match high for the Spartans this season, previously done against Penn State in State College and against Michigan at Jenison Field House.
- Alyssa Garvelink had nine kills, pushing her career total to 999.
GAME REPLAY - SET ONE: The home team jumped out to an early 7-2 lead in the opening set, posting a pair of aces in addition to three kills. MSU started to move in on their hosts, cutting it to 8-6 with a 4-1 run, capped by an Autumn Bailey block. Michigan went back on a run and went ahead by as many as seven points (13-6 and 16-9), as MSU had as many errors as kills (5) and Michigan also had a pair of blocks and two aces. MSU cut into the lead and trimmed it to three points, 17-14, on a pair of blocks by Alyssa Garvelink. Michigan called a time out and came out of the break scoring five of the next seven points to take a 22-16 lead, at which point the Spartans called their own time out. Sophomore Sydney Wettersrtom compiled six kills for the home team and hit .556, with just one error on nine swings. Carly Skodjt had four kills but hit just .083. Bailey and Garvelink each had three kills, and Garvelink added a pair of blocks.
- SET TWO: MSU took its first lead of the night at 5-4 after a Jamye Cox service ace, and had a lead as large as three points (11-8) after a 3-0 run that gave the visitors their largest lead of the night. The Wolverines battled back with a 4-0 run to take a 12-11 lead, and from there, the teams engaged in a point-for-point battle. The teams couldn’t get separation of more than a point, though the lead changed 14 times in the frame and featured 25 tie scores. MSU committed an error as a swing went off the pin to give the home team a 23-22 lead, but Bailey put down a thundering kill to tie it, and Michigan was called for a back-row attack to get MSU to set point. UM called a time out, and the teams traded kills – two each for the team’s big hitters, as Bailey and Skojdt kept their teams in the match. Tied at 27-all, a tip by setter McKenzi Welsh gave the Wolverines set point, and they closed it out with a kill by Wetterstrom – her 11th of the night – to take a 29-27 set two victory. Brooke Kranda led MSU with seven kills in the frame, while Bailey had six kills, three digs and two blocks.
- SET THREE: The third set started the way the second played out- a point-for-point battle as the teams battled for a leg up. A Kranda kill- her 10th of the match – brought MSU within a point at 9-8, but the Wolverines pulled ahead with a 4-2 run that made it 13-10. MSU got back within a point at 14-13 on kills by Bailey and Toliver, and stayed within striking distance. Trailing 16-15, Meredith Norris came on to serve, and she delivered an ace in her first attempt to tie it, but the Wolverines tried to pull ahead again to put some separation between themselves and their visitors. With UM up 19-17, MSU got an error from the Wolverines and a kill from Kranda to tie it up at 19-19. Another point-for-point battle ensued, as the teams were tied at every point to 23-23. Skojdt, who tied it at 23-23 with her 17th kill of the night, served up an ace to get her team to match point. Bailey fended it off with her 14th kill to make it 24-23, but a service error for MSU ended the match . Bailey had five kills in the frame, and Garvelink had four to push her game total to nine, just one shy of her reaching 1,000 in her career. The Spartans hit .441 in the third set – by far their best hitting effort – with 17 kills and just two errors.
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