Nov. 6, 2004
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Michigan Wolverine volleyball team pulled out a 3-2 win over Purdue in a match that came down to the final two plays. Michigan won the match 22-30, 21-30, 30-25, 30-19 and 15-13. One match highlight came as redshirt junior Leah Wischmeier tallied her 1,000th-career kill. The Brownstown, Ind., native posted 22 kills on the night, moving her career total to 1,001.
"It sounds strange, but I wish it never would have happened because I wish we had won that third game," Wischmeier said. "I should never have gotten to 22 kills, but Michigan played well in Games 3, 4 and 5 and they made some adjustments. I am not concerned about stats; they will take care of themselves. I just want our team to do well and hopefully make the NCAA Tournament."
The deciding fifth game featured 11 ties and five lead changes, before Michigan clinched the match on a block by Lyndsay Miller and a Katie Bruzdzinski service ace. The Wolverines scored first at the teams tied at 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, before Purdue gained a two-point advantage at 7-5 after a kill by Wischmeier and a UM hitting error. A pair of Jennifer Gandolph kills tied the score at 8-8. Purdue gained a 10-9 advantage on a kill by freshman Sammi Mader (Algonquin, Ill.). Kills from Megan Bowman and Bruzdzinski put Michigan on top 12-11, but Purdue tied it up at 12 and 13 on kills from Wischmeier. The Miller block and the Bruzdzinski service ace sealed the Wolverines the come-from-behind win at 15-13.
Purdue started the match on a roll, hitting .469 to Michigan's .214 effort in Game 1 as Wischmeier put down eight kills. The Boilermakers scored four of the first five points, but the Wolverines pulled within one at 7-6. Purdue put together an 8-2 run including five UM errors and an ace by sophomore Brittany Dildine (West Lafayette, Ind.) to go up 16-8. The teams traded the next several points, before Michigan managed two kills in a row to pull within six at 21-15. Up by five at 22-17, Purdue rattled off three-straight points on a pair of kills by senior Kim Cappa (West Lafayette, Ind.) and a block by junior Renata Dargan (New Lenox, Ill.) and senior Kim McConaha (Centerville, Ind.). The score stood at 26-20 after a pair of UM kills, but Wischmeier supplied four kills over the final six serves to seal the 30-22 Purdue win.
Game two started as a back-and-forth battle as the teams tied at each point one through four. Michigan took a 5-4 lead, but Purdue scored four straight on kills by Mader and Wischmeier as well as a block by Cappa and freshman Emily Williams (Mishawaka, Ind.). The Wolverines responded with five of the next six points to take a 10-9 lead on an ace by Erin Cobler. The Boilermakers answered with a 6-1 run including kills from four different players to take a 15-11 advantage. A 4-1 rally pulled Michigan within one at 16-15, but another 5-1 Purdue run, including two Williams kills, pushed the margin to five at 21-16. UM made it 23-20 but the Boilermakers scored six straight to make it 29-20. A Cappa kill two plays later gave Purdue the 30-21 win.
The Boilermakers took an early 6-3 lead in Game 3. Down 9-6, Michigan put together an 8-2 run including five Purdue miscues to take a 14-11 advantage. The Boilermakers pulled within two at 16-14 on a UM error, but the Wolverines used a 5-1 run to make it 21-15. Two more Michigan errors helped Purdue get within three at 22-19, but a trio of Wolverine points boosted the lead back to six. Back-to-back McConaha kills made it 25-21, and a UM miscue cut the lead to four again at 28-24, but a pair of Bruzdzinski kills over the last three plays clinched a 30-25 win for Michigan. Purdue hit just .085 to UM's .208 in the stanza.
"I just really can't explain what created the change in momentum," head coach Dave Shondell said. "Sometimes, it is just that 12 minutes in between games. That seemed to be the case as we kind of owned the match in the first two games and when we came back out they made some adjustments that helped them. They started to play Gandolph all the way around and I think that gave them a lift emotionally and we didn't have anybody come out and provide that for us."
Michigan carried the momentum into Game 4, taking a 3-0 lead to start the stanza. The Wolverines upped their lead to seven at 10-3 on a Stesha Selsky ace. A 4-0 Purdue run a few plays later, which included a pair of Mader kills and solo block by Williams, pulled Purdue within three at 11-9. Kills by Williams and McConaha made it a two-point game at 12-10, but an 11-6 Michigan rally gave the Wolverines a commanding 23-16 lead. UM ended the game on a 7-3 run capped by a Gandolph service ace, to tie the match at two games apiece with the 30-19 win.
Wischmeier led the Boilermakers with 22 kills, while McConaha added 20 and Cappa accounted for 11. Five Purdue players reached double digit dig tallies, led by senior Daren Poe (Martinsville, Ind.), who posted 22. Dildine, junior Lauren Berg, Dargan and McConaha also pulled up double-figure digs with 18, 13, 12 and 12 respectively. Dargan led the Boilermaker blocking front with five stuffs.
Purdue (12-12, 5-9 Big Ten) return to action at 7 p.m. Wednesday when it takes on instate rival Indiana in Bloomington.