Northwestern
Michigan
Women's Volleyball Drops Thriller To Michigan, 3-2
10/13/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 13, 2000
EVANSTON, Ill. - The Northwestern (4-13, 1-6) volleyball team fell behind 2-0, before winning back-to-back games, forcing a game five. The 'Cats could not hold on to pull out the win, falling to Michigan (12-5, 3-4) 3-2.
Game scores were 12-15, 13-15, 16-14, 16-14, 12-15.
The Wildcats scored the first point of the match on a Lindsay Pavlik (Laguna Beach, Calif./Mater Dei) kill, and would go on to score five more between side outs before the Wolverines got on the board. From there neither team took control of the game, until Michigan evened the score at 10. U-M went on a 3-0 run, halting NU's scoring, making it 13-11. After a Pavlik kill put the 'Cats within one, the two teams sided out seven times before Michigan scored the reamaining two points to win the first game.
Game two was much of the same. NU took the early lead, but Michigan fought back. After trading points, the Wolverines finally put it away, winning game two 15-13.
NU got off to a slow start in game three, but came from behind to win. Down 13-6, NU's Erika Knavel (Elm Grove, Wis./Brookfield East) went back to serve, and the 'Cats went on a 6-0 run to make the score 13-12. Michigan's Joanna Fiedler recorded a kill for a sideout, and the Wolverines would take a 14-13 lead. A Michigan hitting error evened the score and a Sarah Ballog kill gave NU the lead at 15-14. NU won the game on a Michigan hitting error, 16-14.
In game four, Michigan took an early lead before the 'Cats turned up the heat and answered the challenge. NU was down 10-3 before clawing back, to tie the score at 12 on a Ballog kill. The two teams sided out six times before the 'Cats tied the game at 14. A Michigan hitting error gave NU a 15-14 lead, and freshman Molly Kamp (Stevensville, Mich./Lakeshore) put the game away with a kill, forcing the deciding game five
Game five was even more intense as the two teams battled for the win. The Wildcats took an early 2-0 lead, but the Wolverines reignited their fire and never looked back, winning game five, 15-12 for the match.
Freshman Erika Lange (Orland Park, Ill./Carl Sandburg) led the 'Cats with 20 kills and put up one block solo and 13 block assists, as the team recorded a season-high 24 blocks. Lange hit at a .406 clip on the night. Senior Carmen Burbach (Columbus, Neb./Scotus Central Catholic) inched closer to making Wildcat history. The outside hitter needed only 22 digs coming into tonight's match to reach the 1,000 dig plateau, she recorded 11 in the contest. Sophomore setter Kelli Meyer (Madison, Wis./Edgewood) was just shy of tallying the rare triple-double with 56 assists, 14 digs and nine blocks on the night.
Michigan's Katrina Lehman led all hitters with 21 kills on the night. The Wildcats out hit the Wolverines .214 to .213.
The 'Cats are back in action Saturday, Oct. 14, when they host Michigan State at 7 p.m.
