Volleyball wins! Going to Semifinals
Michigan just beat #2 Stanford 3 sets to 1. The win puts Michigan Volleyball into the National Semifinals for the first time in program history. Michigan will play Texas on Thursday December 13 in Louisville, KY.
Penn State will play Oregon on December 13th in the other semifinal.
December 9th, 2012 at 1:34 AM ^
I wanted to be the important one and start this thread.
Congrats the volleyball team though! Beat the horns!
December 9th, 2012 at 1:34 AM ^
Go Blue!!!!
December 9th, 2012 at 1:35 AM ^
That was a great match. Nice job ladies
December 9th, 2012 at 1:35 AM ^
Great match. Job well done. Took a punch in the first set and gave it all to take the next three.
Everybody did great but special shout out to Lexi Erwin for an outstanding game and helping to figure out the Stanford block.
Congrats and beat the Longhorns on Thursday.
Great to be a Wolverine.
December 9th, 2012 at 1:36 AM ^
Amazing win! Hope they can keep this rolling into the Final Four!
December 9th, 2012 at 1:37 AM ^
I haven't gotten that excited for volleyball since......ummmmm...
Go Blue!
December 9th, 2012 at 1:38 AM ^
Paz was on the team?
That both works as a joke and I believe it was her senior year when we made our only previous Elite Eight appearance.
December 9th, 2012 at 1:50 AM ^
2009 was an awesome season
December 9th, 2012 at 1:38 AM ^
Congratulations to the University of Michigan Women's Volleyball team on their first ever NCAA Final Four!
Having been there during the days of Zimmerman, Hunt, and Paz, this group is something else! Taking down Stanford in 4 in NoCal is a real milestone achievement for this team and for the Rosens, who have taken this program all the way up to un-dreamed-of heights!
Good luck next week against Texas (and hopefully, Oregon/Penn State), and Go Blue!
December 9th, 2012 at 1:40 AM ^
Penn State is so good at volleyball...
December 9th, 2012 at 10:52 AM ^
Was it not Stanford who last beat them? So applying the transitive property:
Michigan > Stanford > Penn State. It's all quite elementary.
~Herm
December 9th, 2012 at 11:48 AM ^
Michigan took them to five sets back in October.
December 9th, 2012 at 1:40 AM ^
Awesome news. Really happy for them. Does anyone know if the final four is going to be on TV or just ESPN3?
December 9th, 2012 at 1:43 AM ^
All three matches are on ESPN2, I beleive.
December 9th, 2012 at 1:43 AM ^
Per the bracket I printed out from NCAA.com, game will be on 12/13. Time is TBA. It will be on ESPN2.
December 9th, 2012 at 1:57 AM ^
Coverage begins at 7 pm eastern time on 12/13. I am not sure which match will be shown first.
December 9th, 2012 at 12:20 PM ^
Gametracker for volleyball is completely useless, other than seeing the score. Cartoon court with none of those little school-color golf-tee people to give you an idea of who's playing when or where, or who's responsible for the comic strip SPLAT at the end of the play.
December 9th, 2012 at 1:40 AM ^
Beating Stanford at Home(it was basically a home match this time) 3 times in 4years knocking them out...The all time winningest VB team...GO BLUE! BEAT TEXAS!
December 9th, 2012 at 1:42 AM ^
I'm a fervent follower of volleyball and Michigan was taking it to #2 Stanford like I've never seen before. Pulling off an upset over Stanford again in the tourney speaks volumes to the evolution of Michigan Volleyball. I can't believe I cheered for Michigan to win and beat a west coast team in Stanford. Unbelieveable kill percentage and assist for the Maize and Blue girls that I haven't seen all season long. For all Michigan fans in the Louisville, KY area go support your team. Volleyball is an amazing sport that brings highs and lows and its the first time Michigan is in the National Semifinals. I've been fortunate to get tickets from a friend that goes to UK this week and will be cheering for a PSU vs. Michigan title game.
Good luck versus Texas. They have some outstanding hitters and a very high kill percetange and Michigan is going to have to adjust to Texas power stye of playing.
December 9th, 2012 at 1:41 AM ^
Great win! That's two Top-10 teams taken down so far in this tournament run! Ended #9 louisville's season back in the 2nd round on their home floor (and where the Finals will be played) and now just took down #2 stanford for the 2nd year in a row on the west coast!
Great milestone for the program. Just two more wins, and Michigan will be the only team in NCAA history to win a national championship without ever having won their conference. Amazing.
GO BLUE!! Beat texas!
December 9th, 2012 at 2:12 AM ^
Go blue!
December 9th, 2012 at 3:19 AM ^
I lived with a volleyball player.
She saw a TV commercial about buying cars in SE michigan and asked us where that was..
it goes on, but go team!
December 9th, 2012 at 3:58 AM ^
This is awesome. That was a great match. I am riding this victory early into the morning and combining it with the Saturday night open thread. PBR stays flowing!! Hell of a job girls
December 9th, 2012 at 7:10 AM ^
Great job! I'm always concerned when Michigan plays a west coast team late at night. From the time stamps of the posts, it looks like the match ended about 1:30 am Eastern Standard Time. It has to be difficult to mantain a high level of energy that late.
December 9th, 2012 at 7:57 AM ^
Congrats to the team on earning their first trip to the Final Four. Go Blue!
Highlights of the Stanford match:
December 9th, 2012 at 8:25 AM ^
In the spirit of the excitement of women's volleyball and beating penn state, watch these highlights from the 1998 final where Long Beach beat psu. Might be the best in history. Yes, that is the Misty May setting....and my sister in law as the Game 5 13 and 14 point assassin.
December 9th, 2012 at 9:55 AM ^
AKA.... FINAL FOUR!!!!!!!!
December 9th, 2012 at 11:01 AM ^
Congrats to the Michigan women's volleyball team! It was such an exciting match last night. The great thing too looking ahead is that the team only has one senior on the roster. This is definitely some great experience for them and next year should be exciting as well. Beat Texas!!!!!
December 9th, 2012 at 11:57 AM ^
I haven't really followed volleyball, but always got the impression that it was dominated by the Pac 10 schools. So I was surprised to see 2 Big 10 teams in the final four. Can someone please give a quick run down of the power teams and where Michigan has been historically . Thanks!
December 9th, 2012 at 12:26 PM ^
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NCAA_Women%27s_Volleyball_Championship
That's a list of every Final Four since the NCAA began sponsoring womens athletics in 1982. Final Fours don't tell the whole story, but the trend is definitely there as far as west coast dominance in the past being edged away a bit by midwestern schools in more recent years.
December 9th, 2012 at 6:52 PM ^
Oddly enough, penn state and nebraska have had very solid programs for quite a number of years.
December 9th, 2012 at 12:16 PM ^
Go Blue! Go volleyball! Why not win it all?
December 9th, 2012 at 12:14 PM ^
seems like we have stanford's number in recent history. way to finish girls!! texas will be tough but if we can limit their sophomore who's really really good we have a good shot. texas is very tall so it'll be a battle. but this is awesome making history for michigan. if we can beat texas we could beat penn state like we did earlier this year. but let's focus on texas first as this will be a difficult task.
December 9th, 2012 at 12:24 PM ^
Go Blue! Beat Texas!
December 9th, 2012 at 12:43 PM ^
With more to be had, good luck Ladies, take it to the Longhorns and hopefully it will be an all B1G Final where we "Shock The World"!!!
Beating Stanford on their home court basically and so late at night is impressive as hell. This can only make the team tougher and more resilient going forward and having already beaten Louisville on the same court for the Final Four is also helpful I would have to think.
Go Blue!!! Let's make MGoSoftball wrong and make this the next Championship to be had by the Wolverines!!! Sorry MGo, just sayin'
December 9th, 2012 at 1:14 PM ^
I hope they do win a NC. This would certainly take the program to the next level. Unranked M rolls through the traditional powers: the landscape has changed.
I will be in the center of the Diag signing Yellow and Blue if they win. I have to admit that I did not see this coming.
I watched the entire game last night and we dominated. Even in the first set which we lost, I thought we were the better team. It didnt look close to me.
December 9th, 2012 at 1:04 PM ^
Give an assist to Bo:
This is a team with depth and cohesion, but no dominant player.
That’s why when Rosen brought out Bo Schembechler’s “The Team” video clip after road losses to Illinois and Northwestern in mid-November, it resonated.
The Wolverines felt the U-M legend was talking to them and they’ve embraced the concept ever since.
(from Free Press article titled U-M volleyball team flying high -- all the way to the Final Four)
December 9th, 2012 at 4:45 PM ^
HAILS YES!!!!