MATCH STATS
- #21 Michigan def. N.C. State 3-0 (25-23, 26-24, 25-22)
- Michigan moves to 8-2; N.C. State falls to 4-6
- Ann Arbor, Michigan
- Attendance: 1,304
- Box Score
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The No. 21 Wolverines won the opening match of their own Michigan Classic, squeaking past a feisty N.C. State team in three close sets. Meanwhile, Wolfpack outside hitter Bree Bailey joined the 1,000-kill club in the loss.
Michigan overcame a deficit in blocks (7-6) and aces (4-3) with seven kills (47-40) accounting for the winning points. UM also outhit the Wolfpack .348 to .291.
Junior outside hitter Carly Skjodt (13) and senior outside Adeja Lambert (12) led the Wolverine attack with double-digit kill efforts. Skjodt hit at a .500 clip and added a team-best eight digs, while redshirt sophomore middle blocker Cori Crocker managed nine kills at a team-leading .727 clip. Junior libero Jenna Lerg also chipped in eight digs, while Lambert added seven.
Senior outside Julia Brown paced N.C. State with 12 kills, while hitting at a team-best .400 clip and serving up three aces. Bailey added 11 kills and three blocks. Senior middle Kaitlyn Kearney put up a team-best four blocks, while junior setter Kylie Pickrell managed a team-leading seven digs.
Michigan ran out to an 11-6 lead in Set 1, aided by three Lambert kills and three Wolfpack errors. N.C. State cut the margin to two at 15-13 as five different players turned in kills. The teams traded points over the next 10 serves. Putaways by Skjodt and Crocker pushed the Wolverine lead to 22-18, but the Wolpack answered with three of the enxt four points. A Sydney Wetterstrom kill put Michigan ont he hill at 24-21. A Claire Kieffer-Wright putaway capped the set three points later.
After trailing 3-0 in Set 2, N.C. State scored six of the next eight points, with help from three UM miscues, to push ahead 6-5. Michigan regained the lead at 8-7 on a service error and kept the Wolfpack at bay, eventually going up by four at 15-11 on a kill and a block by Skjodt. N.C. State chipped away, eventually tying the score at 21 with a 3-0 run capped by a block by Pickrell and Kearney. Down 22-21, the Wolfpack scored three of the next four, including two on Michigan errors, to earn their first chance at the set at 24-23. The Wolverines stole away the victory with three straight points, the last on a Skjodt putaway.
Michigan built a 12-8 lead in Set 3 with kills by five different players. N.C. State closed to within one at 18-17 with a 4-0 run, including kills by Brown, Bailey and Kearney. The Wolverines boosted the edge to four again at 23-19 with putaways by Crocker, Lambert and Skjodt. The Wolfpack would not go quietly, however, scoring three of the next four, thwarting one UM match-point try at 24-21. A Kieffer-Wright kill prevented N.C. State from completing the comeback.
PRESS RELEASES
Courtesy: Michigan Athletics
A .348 team attack average and a match-high 13 kills by junior Carly Skjodt propelled the No. 21-ranked University of Michigan volleyball team to a 3-0 sweep (25-23, 26-24, 25-22) of North Carolina State on Friday night (Sept. 15) inside Cliff Keen Arena to kick off the Michigan Challenge.
» The sweep is Michigan’s sixth of the season, and the win is Michigan’s fourth-straight at home this year.
» Michigan finished the match with a .348 team attack average, marking its third-highest this season.
» Carly Skjodt led all players with 13 kills and posted a season-high .500 attack average in the win.
» Cori Crocker ended with nine kills at a career-high .727 attack percentage.
The win marked the Wolverines’ sixth clean sweep of the season and fourth straight victory inside Cliff Keen Arena this year.
Leading the offense was Skjodt, whose 13 kills came via a season-high .500 attack average, while senior outside hitter Adeja Lambert posted 12 kills at a .375 clip. Sophomore middle blocker Cori Crocker added nine kills for a career-high .727 attack average.
The Maize and Blue took the first point of the match on a kill by Lambert and never lost the lead in set one. Despite hitting for a .440 average and holding the Wolfpack to a .286 clip, Michigan never led by more than five. It was a race to the finish as the Wolverines took the first set, 25-23.
Michigan jumped out to a 3-0 lead in set two, but nine tie scores and four lead changes again made it difficult for either team to gain an edge. Skjodt finished the second set with six kills to go with Lambert’s five, but it was senior middle blocker Claire Kieffer-Wright who picked up a clutch kill late in the set to tie the score at 24-24. From there, an N.C. State attack error and a final kill by Skjodt gave the Wolverines a 26-24 second-set victory.
The Wolfpack out-hit the Wolverines with a .481 attack average in the third set, but once Michigan did not trail after taking a lead at 4-3 on a kill by Kieffer-Wright. U-M stretched the lead to as many as six points in the third set, but N.C. State rallied late to come within one at 18-17 and force a Michigan timeout. Thanks to five kills by Skjodt and four kills on just four swings by Kieffer-Wright, Michigan took set three by a 25-22 score.
Junior libero Jenna Lerg and Skjodt both finished with eight digs, and Lambert added seven. Kieffer-Wright, Lambert, Crocker and Skjodt each posted two blocks.
Additionally, Michigan posted a .348 team attack average in the win, which marks its third-highest attacking percentage so far this season.
Courtesy: N.C. State Athletics
NC State volleyball’s Bree Bailey recorded her 1,000th career kill Friday night against No. 21 Michigan, but the Wolfpack was edged in straight sets by the Wolverines, 3-0 (25-23, 26-24, 25-22), inside Cliff Keen Arena.
Bailey, who transferred into the NC State program after spending her first three seasons at Arizona State, becomes just the 12th Wolfpack player to reach the milestone. She entered the match with 991 to her credit and accomplished the feat on her ninth kill.
One weekend after teammate Julia Brown surpassed the mark, Bailey joins the 1,000 kill club as NC State is one of just six schools to have two players on its roster with 1,000 or more kills.
No. 21 Michigan, which advanced to the third round (Sweet 16) of the NCAA Tournament last season, improves to 8-2 on the year and NC State falls to 4-6 with four of its losses against top-25 opponents.
Quoting Hampton-Keith
Overall thoughts…
“We continue to push ourselves and step up to the challenge of our schedule,” said head coach Linda Hampton-Keith. “I’m proud of our team’s effort tonight, we just didn’t execute small details when the sets were tight and against good teams you have to be clean late in the set.
“These close matches are preparing us for our conference season and we have one more opportunity tomorrow to put together a complete match before heading back to Raleigh and opening ACC play.”
Worth Noting
– NC State dropped its first two sets by two points and the third set by three points.
– The Wolfpack out-blocked the Wolverines, 7-6, headlined by Kaitlyn Kearney with four blocks.
– NCSU turned in its strong offensive showing in the third set, as the Pack hit .481 with 16 kills on 27 swings with only three errors.
Match Rewind
– NC State had a tough start to the match, as 21st-ranked Michigan rushed out to an 11-6 lead to force a Wolfpack timeout.
– A 4-1 run a few rallies later trimmed the NCSU deficit to 16-14 in the first set following a kill from Julia Brown.
– Freshman Melissa Evans and Kearney combined on a block assist to narrow the tally to 22-20.
– The Wolfpack fought off two set-point opportunities with a solo block by Kearney and a kill from Bailey, resulting in a Michigan timeout at 24-23.
– Unfortunately, a kill for the Wolverines followed out of the break to give UM a 1-0 lead in the match.
– The second set was tightly contested, as neither team led by more than three points early.
– Three consecutive points helped the Wolverines grab a 15-11 lead, but the Wolfpack countered with a 4-1 run to narrow the deficit to 16-15.
– Trailing 21-18, NC State won five of the next six rallies to take a 23-22 lead, forcing a UM timeout.
– A kill by Bailey gave the Pack set point, 24-23, but Michigan scored three unanswered points to clinch the set, 26-24.
– Michigan won three successive rallies to take a 12-8 advantage in the third set, but NC State did not go away and rallied to cut the UM lead to 18-17 after a kill from Kearney.
– The Wolverines went on a 3-1 run out of the timeout en route to the 25-22 third-set win and 3-0 victory in the match.
Top Performers
– Brown led the Wolfpack offensively with 12 kills to go along with a .400 attacking percentage.
– Bailey swatted 11 kills and Evans chipped in with seven.
– At the setter position, Pickrell dished out 32 assists in addition to seven digs.
– Libero Grace Irvin and defensive specialist Kassie Kasper each logged six digs.
Up Next
NC State will conclude play in the Michigan Challenge against Milwaukee Saturday evening. First serve is slated for 5 p.m. inside Cliff Keen Arena.
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