The weekend wasn't supposed to end like this. Not for the Michigan women's volleyball team.
On Friday, it was hard for the Wolverines not to expect two victories. They were fortunate to come away with one.
Michigan split the weekend, beating Indiana on Friday, 4-15, 15-5, 6-15, 15-12, 15-13, and losing to Purdue, 15-8, 10-15, 15-6, 15-12, on Saturday.
"I'm going to (reevaluate) our goals, and how we're going to reach them," Michigan coach Greg Giovanazzi said. "Our training may change, and our personnel may definitely change."
The match against the Hoosiers (2-8 Big Ten, 8-14 overall) proved to be a gut-wrenching fight to the finish. Each team that served first managed to get out to an early lead and win that game.
The Wolverines (3-7, 8-13) got down early, but fought back from two games down to force a fifth game.
"Everyone kept their heads up and didn't crack under the pressure," Kristen Rushiensky said.
Friday was the first time all season that the Wolverines managed to win a game five in four tries.
"Of the five-gamers we've lost this year, we were up 2-1 (in each of them)," Giovanazzi said. "This time we were down 2-1 and we won."
Rushiensky and Karen Chase led the way for the Wolverines with 16 kills each, along with Jeanine Szczesniak's .375 hitting percentage.
"(Linnea Mendoza) played a smart game setting, keeping us out of sync," Indiana coach Katie Weismiller said.
Along with Mendoza's 45 assists, the Wolverines got important contributions from several players who haven't seen much playing time. Maggie Cooper and Darlene Recker played heavy minutes, including crucial moments in game five, with the score 12-11.
"Darlene was playing well, so I wasn't going to take her out," Giovanazzi said. "It seemed every time Maggie would go in, she'd make something happen and then Sarah (Jackson) would come back in fresh."
Purdue (4-6, 11-11) was supposed to be a less threatening opponent for the Wolverines than Indiana was. Unfortunately for Michigan, it didn't turn out that way.
"I'm really concerned," Giovanazzi said. "All year we've said we're a better team than (this). This match shows that we really aren't right now."
The Boilermakers got out to early leads in each game, and as a result went up two games to one. The match was still within reach for the Wolverines. In game four, Michigan was leading, 12-3, with the game all but sealed and looking for yet another decisive fifth game.
But the Wolverines let the game, and consequently the match, slip away, dropping 12 straight points.
"We just weren't executing," Szczesniak said.
To Purdue's credit, it played well, especially down the stretch. The Boilermakers made an excellent defensive performance with 28 team blocks, preventing Michigan's spikes from hitting the ground. Laura Grimes led the Boilermakers on offense with an amazing 25 kills and .489 hitting percentage.
Linsey Ebert had a team-high hitting percentage of .440, while Chase and Rushiensky recorded 17 and 16 kills, respectively.
The weekend was a crucial one because Indiana, Michigan and Purdue were all bunched up in the conference between sixth and eighth place. So instead of being in the desired sixth place, the Wolverines dropped to an eighth-place tie with Iowa.
JEANNIE SERVAAS/Daily
With assists, like this one that set up a Linsey Ebert kill, Michigan setter Meg Akehi helped the Wolverines to a win over Indiana. Akehi and her teammates, however, didn't have quite as much success in a four-match loss to Purdue.