BY MARK BURNS
Daily Sports Writer
Published November 12, 2008
Twenty minutes before the Michigan volleyball team started its match against Ohio State last night, the Michigan student section, The Zone, started yelling the “Ohio…Sucks” chant at the Buckeye players.
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“In every sport, Ohio State and Michigan are big rivals, and they knew this was the big rivalry week,” Michigan coach Mark Rosen said. “They were ready for it.”
Michigan (9-6 Big Ten, 21-6 overall) clearly fed off that emotion. After a Buckeye service error on the first play of the game, the Wolverines stormed out to a 10-5 lead in the first set and never looked back, sweeping the Buckeyes in three sets (25-16, 25-14, 25-15).
“We executed our serves from the very start,” Rosen said. “(Sophomore setter) Lexi (Zimmerman) ran a great offense. We were able to adjust to what they were doing defensively and then use that against them.”
Ohio State’s game plan was to shut down certain players on the court.
But Zimmerman managed to read how the Buckeye defense stacked up against the Wolverine hitters, Rosen said.
“Lexi does a really good job of running a balanced offense, so that way the blockers can’t commit on a certain hitter,” freshman right side hitter Alex Hunt said.
The Buckeyes (2-13, 11-16) had no answer for the 19th-ranked Wolverines’ consistent offensive attack. Michigan had six players with at least six kills during the match.
“They fed right into our game plan tonight,” Zimmerman said.
Michigan succeeded on more than a third of its kill attempts against the Buckeyes compared to Ohio State’s dismal .021 success rate from the floor.
Junior outside hitter Juliana Paz led the Wolverines’ explosive attack with 10 kills while sophomore middle blocker Karlee Bruck had nine of her own.
The win put Michigan’s home record to 12-1 on the year.
When Michigan hosts Michigan State this Friday in a rematch game, the Wolverines will hope to increase its winning streak to four as it heads into the last few weeks of conference.
Over 5,000 fans inside the Breslin Center helped propel the Spartans to give the Wolverines their first loss of the season on Sept. 27.
And when Michigan takes on its in-state rival, the Zone and the marching band will be ready.
