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Post by aaronic on Sept 15, 2007 21:03:17 GMT -5
Whoa Michigan being pushed into the corner in this one.
So far: game is tied 2-2.
G1: 30-17 GTU
G2: 30-24 UM
G3: 32-30 GTU
G4: 30-25 UM
Right now they're in G5 with Michigan leading 7-5.
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Post by aaronic on Sept 15, 2007 21:10:53 GMT -5
Tied at 11 in G5.
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Post by aaronic on Sept 15, 2007 21:18:04 GMT -5
Michigan pulls out another one in five games (AT HOME!)
Wolverines win 3-2; 15-12 in G5.
Good job. And good effort to GTU!
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Post by gtvbjt on Sept 16, 2007 0:02:11 GMT -5
It's not "GTU" .. it's just GT
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Post by Phaedrus on Sept 16, 2007 8:21:26 GMT -5
Great match. The Michigan faithful brought their leftover enthousiasm from thumping ND in football to Keen Arena.
Michigan looked stunned to start, first game wasn't close. Second game Michigan made good adjustments and figured out where Tech was going and made critical stops. Brudzinski's jump serves helped a lot. Third game could have been the killer for Michigan, losing 32-30 is pretty crushing, but they came back hard at Tech. Tech kind of seemed discombobulated in the fourth, just didn't react as well as they did earlier. They had a few passing errors, a few service errors and bang, they were done. Fifth game was close until the changeover, and it wasn't so much Michigan asserting themselves but Tech making mistakes in a row at the wrong time after the changeover that doomed them.
Mary Ashley Tippins really impressed, she is a freshman setter for Tech that came in to set for Niekamp this tournament because Niekamp had mono. She did a great job, nice quick feet and great courage in letting the sets fly fast. She had to deal with better passes than Lexi Zimmerman though.
My first look at Zimmerman and I am impressed, very disciplined, very cool and had great quick feet. Hands are fast and plays defense well. She just needs time to get the timing down with her middles.
Both teams played good defense with Tech getting the slight edge on blocks and Michigan the slight edge on digs. Tech had the far flashier digs mainly because they switched into a middle up defense in certain situations and they beach dug a lot of balls.
Michigan's main problem is ball control, Zimmerman had to run down a lot more passes than Tippins did and Michigan had to do more out of system improvising. Michigan also has to learn to deal with tips, expecially the the deep corner tips that Tech seems to have perfected, Talisa Kellogg was making a career out of it Saturday.
Tech is all upside, even though they lost. Getting Niekamp back is key although they will do well with Tippins until then.
It was great fun at Keen on Saturday. Well worth the price of admission.
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Post by bulldog4 on Sept 16, 2007 11:45:18 GMT -5
How good is Michigan? Barely beating GT at home concerns me a little. I know they are unbeaten with a win at Hawaii (which is not nearly as big as originally thought), but are they a top ten team? Is Michigan a top 5 team in the Big Ten?
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Post by The Bofa on the Sofa on Sept 16, 2007 12:47:32 GMT -5
How good is Michigan? Barely beating GT at home concerns me a little. I know they are unbeaten with a win at Hawaii (which is not nearly as big as originally thought), ? ? ? Yeah, Hawaii hasn't been all that dominating, but they have played pretty well since that first weekend. Hawaii is pretty clearly a top 20 team. Anytime you can beat a top twenty team on their home court, I think it is a very good win. |
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Post by Phaedrus on Sept 16, 2007 12:53:48 GMT -5
Michigan is a good team. But I see their chances as hinging on the two things I mentioned: Zimmerman connecting with the middles and RS on the quicks and getting the ball control to run in system. If they can do that they will be top half of Big Ten for sure. if not, I can see them lingering around the middle and still making the dance.
They can't afford to be all Katie all the time any more in order reach the next level.
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Post by Barefoot In Kailua on Sept 16, 2007 15:33:19 GMT -5
I may have to rethink my original perspective on the Wolverines. They haven't looked great since leaving Hawai'i. They barely beat a Hawai'i team who played a pretty lousy match that night. Maybe Michigan is not as good as I suspected earlier.
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Post by StuffU on Sept 16, 2007 15:43:53 GMT -5
How good is Michigan? Barely beating GT at home concerns me a little. I know they are unbeaten with a win at Hawaii (which is not nearly as big as originally thought), but are they a top ten team? Is Michigan a top 5 team in the Big Ten? This Big 10 isn't looking that great right now, and Michigan should have just as much of a claim to Top 4 in the Big 10 as anyone else. Aside from Penn State, what other Big 10 team has a better win (much less a road win) than at Hawaii? Wisconsin? no ... and they just scraped by LMU in 5 Minnesota? no ... Ohio State? no ... Purdue? no ... Michigan certainly has to be in the talk for Top 4 in the conference this year. At this point, they're really one of the bright spots for the Big 10. If they can maintain their home court, and pull off a few big road wins, they'll most certainly be among the Top 5 ... upper Top 5, perhaps. I think it is highly possible having seen the inconsistency of the other teams normally in the hunt for the Big 10. |
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