ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan volleyball team (2-5) will face off against Bowling Green (4-5) in a home-and-home series. On Friday (Sept. 15), the Wolverines will be in Bowling Green, Ohio, for a 7 p.m. contest at Stroh Center, and will host the Falcons on Sunday (Sept. 17) at 2 p.m. inside Cliff Keen Arena. Friday's game match be streamed live on ESPN+, while Sunday's finale will be streamed live on B1G+.

Notes

• Implementing a new 6-2 offense, U-M finished its first home weekend series with a win against North Carolina and a loss to Duke last time out. On Friday night (Sept. 8), the Wolverines handled UNC, sweeping them to earn their second win of the season. In Cliff Keen Arena on Saturday night (Sept. 9), the Wolverines fell to Duke in four sets, losing the second 28-26 and winning the third 25-18.

• Michigan will be without head coach Erin Virtue for the next two weeks as she will be with Team USA in Poland for the FIVB Road to Paris Volleyball Qualifiers. The top two teams will automatically qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Associate head coach Benavia Jenkins will once again fill in as acting head coach for this weekend against Bowling Green.

• So far this season, Michigan is leading the Big Ten in digs per set (16.04) and in team attacks per set (36.79). Nationally, U-M ranks 37th in digs per set, with Fordham (18.83) leading the way. In attacks per set, the Maize and Blue is 36th nationally, with Creighton (39.38) topping the category. U-M also ranks third in the conference in aces per set (2.00) and 39th nationally, trailing Michigan State (2.04) and Indiana (2.10) in the conference.

• Leading the way so far this season is middle blocker Jacque Boney, who leads the U-M offense in kills with 66 and hitting percentage (.373). She also leads the defensive effort with 22 blocks, averaging 1.08 blocks per set. So far this season, Boney is averaging 3.50 points per set, which is more than a full point higher than last season's average of 2.34.

• Kendall Murray led the team in kills against Duke on Saturday, tallying a season-high 16 with a .484 hitting percentage. So far this season, she ranks seventh in the Big Ten in aces per set (0.46) and 25th in kills per set (2.50). Amalia Simmons also had an impressive weekend, tallying 19 total kills with a .375 hitting percentage against UNC.

• Serena Nyambio tallied an impressive 16 kills last weekend, 12 of which were in the four-set battle against Duke. Against the Blue Devils, she reached a season-high .706 hitting percentage as well as six blocks. She now ranks 14th in the Big Ten in hitting percentage (.352), outpacing last season's output (.279).

• Utilizing two setters over the past weekend Scottee Johnson and Morgan Burke had strong weekends. Johnson registered a double-double in both games with a combined 43 assists and 23 digs, while Burke tallied 14 assists against North Carolina and 20 against Duke.

• With 44 kills on the season so far, Valentina Vaulet had a productive weekend, tallying 17 total kills highlighted by a .400 hitting percentage match against UNC. She ranks third on the team in kills per set (2.59) and looks to continue the charge after recently being positioned as an opposite hitter Michigan's 6-2 system.

• Bowling Green comes into the weekend at 4-5 and seeks redemption after falling to the Wolverines in spring scrimmages. Michigan also leads the all-time series 13-2 and has swept the Falcons the last three times they have met during the fall season. With both teams tallying 2.10 blocks per set and hitting percentages in the .200 range, the matchup at the net will play a huge role in the outcome of the upcoming series.

• The last time these teams played in the 2022 season, Murray tallied 11 kills and a 0.400 hitting percentage, helping the Wolverines to their team total 0.309 hitting percentage compared to the Falcon's 0.125. Scottee Johnson led U-M with 18 assists, and the Wolverines reached 11 blocks, which surpassed Bowling Green's six.