Cole leads Michigan to sweep of No. 8 Nebraska

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Michigan team hit .331 for the match and received a pair of double-doubles and 19 kills from sophomore Abby Cole in a 25-19, 32-30, 25-21 sweep of No. 8 Nebraska on Sunday afternoon inside Cliff Keen Arena.

Cole hit a blistering .621 for the match, committing just one error on the day. Freshman Adeja Lambert had 13 kills and nine digs, while classmate Caroline Knop had a double-double with 12 kills and 10 digs. Senior setter Lexi Dannemiller also tallied a double-double after posting 46 assists and 11 digs. Junior Tiffany Morales led all players with 17 digs, while junior Lindsey Lerg had eight digs and four assists.

The Wolverines came out on fire in the first set, scoring the match's first three points and taking a 5-1 lead after Knop's kill. Michigan went up 10-4 on Lerg's service ace. Lambert's kill put the Wolverines up 17-10 and freshman Claire Kieffer-Wright and Cole combined on a block for a 19-11 advantage. Cole's kill made it 22-17 and the Maize and Blue finished off the set on a Cornhusker attack error.

There were 15 lead changes and eight ties in the second set as the Wolverines, who had 28 kills in the set, won the marathon 32-30. Once again, Michigan scored the set's first three points, but Nebraska battled back to tie the set at eight on a Michigan ball handing error. Nebraska led 19-16 but Michigan scored three of the next four points as Cole's kill tied the set at 20. The Wolverines set up their first set point at 24-23 on Lambert's kill. Michigan and Nebraska both had four set points in the back-and-forth tilt. Dannemiller's kill tied the set at 30. She then followed with a service ace for the 31-30 lead. Lambert ended the set with a kill off a Morales pass as the Wolverines went to the locker room up 2-0.

The Maize and Blue took its first lead of the third set at 6-5 on a Cornhusker error. Michigan had the lead for good at 12-11 on a Nebraska error. It was 16-13 on a Cole kill and 17-14 on Knop's termination. Goode's kill made it 21-17 and Kieffer-Wright forced match point with a kill at 24-20. Nebraska fought off one match point, but Cole ended secured the upset with a termination at 25-21.

The Wolverines had a 57-46 dig advantage and three service aces for the match.