'M' spikers wake up, sweep 'Cats

Blue improves to 3-0 in Big Ten

For the first five minutes, the Michigan volleyball team struggled. Then, the Wolverines woke up and routed a sloppy Northwestern team, 15-11, 15-7, 15-11.

After two Northwestern points and 14 side outs, the Wolverines (3-0 Big Ten, 10-4 overall) finally got on the board - and they did it in style, scoring seven of the next eight points.

The Wolverines are off their best start in the Big Ten since 1992, when they went 4-0. That is largely a result of getting back to the basics - well-balanced attackers combined with a strong defense.

"This is by far the best Michigan team I've been on," junior Sarah Jackson said. "We play defense better than any team I've been on. We've got well-rounded attackers, it's not just one or two people."

JOHN KRAFT/Daily Michigan freshman outside hitter Sarah Behnke sends one of her many kills behind the Northwestern defense. Behnke also served well in helping the Wolverines move to 3-0 in conference play.

The Wolverines made the victory look easy, and it was, largely because Northwestern (1-2, 10-4) was doing all of the work for them. Thirty of the 45 points Michigan scored were a result of errors by the Wildcats.

"We're struggling right now to play consistent volleyball," Northwestern coach Kevin Renshler said. "Right off in the first game, we missed six serves. It was a case where Michigan didn't have to do anything."

But the Wolverines did do something - particularly freshman outside hitter Sarah Behnke.

Behnke has played solidly in the absence of outside hitter Karen Chase, who is sidelined with back injury. It seems every week another aspect of her game improves. First, it was her attacking, then it was her passing. Last night, it was her serving. In the second game, the Wolverines unleashed a streak of eight straight points on Behnke's serve, including three consecutive aces.

"We have a rule that once you ace a player, you keep going after that player," Behnke said.

Because of that rule, Northwestern outside hitter Jennifer Higgins was the victim of all three of Behnke's aces.

The serving game as a whole was a strength for the Wolverines. In games one and three, Michigan tried to serve short to disrupt Northwestern's attack patterns.

"That caused them problems, and they got sloppy," Michigan coach Greg Giovanazzi said. "In game two, Sarah just blew them off the court."

It was almost as if two different matches were being played. In games one and three, the Wolverines relied on forcing Northwestern errors and on a solid defense, ending long rallies with kills. In the second game, Michigan was much more aggressive, netting many quick points with service aces and a strong power game, led by Behnke's serving. Both methods worked effectively and served to disrupt the Wildcats, throwing them off guard.

"We have a tendency to go back to the old ways," Renshler said. "In my humble opinion, I don't think the old ways are going to win."

The old ways are not going to win for Northwestern - 30 straight Big Ten losses before a victory this past weekend proved that. Renshler said the old ways are a slow style of volleyball that fails to get the whole team involved. In order to win, the Wildcats have to go around the opposition. They're not big enough to through them.

But the Wildcats failed to do that, particularly in the third game. They challenged Michigan at the net and, as a result, got blocked nine times, six times in the final game alone.

The key to the match was the second game, in which the Wolverines jumped out to a 14-4 lead, tearing the heart out of the Wildcats. "We didn't play with a lot of heart in game two," Renshler said.

Heart was something the Wolverines didn't have to worry about, although Giovanazzi was a little concerned that his team might look past the game to Michigan State on Friday.

"Just walking into the gym tonight and seeing the look on the players faces, I knew that they were ready to play tonight," Giovanazzi said.

10-02-97