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The Michigan Daily | michigandaily.com | December 5, 2016

Sad Valley

The Michigan hockey 

team suffered two straight 
blowout losses, 6-1 and 5-1, 

on the road at Penn State 

this weekend

» Page 3B

Almost special

Michigan had its fate in its 
hands for most of the season, 
but the Wolverines couldn’t 
seal the deal when it counted
» SportsMonday Column, 

Page 2B

Against Oregon in the second 

round of the NCAA Tournament, 
the Michigan volleyball team 
found itself facing adversity 
after dropping the first set. But 
the 
12th-seeded 
Wolverines 

showed no signs of panic. They 
fought back to defeat the Ducks, 
3-1, on Friday night at Crisler 
Center to advance to the NCAA 
Tournament Round of 16.

Buoyed 
by 
a 
spectacular 

performance from junior middle 
blocker Claire Kieffer-Wright, 

whose 20 kills and .730 kill 
percentage 
both 
represented 

career-highs, Michigan hit .344 
as a team in what doubled as the 
final home match for seniors 
Abby Cole, Ally Davis and Kelly 
Murphy. Cole, a unanimous 
all-Big Ten selection at middle 
blocker, contributed with 11 
kills of her own, while the 
Wolverines as a team racked up 
15 blocks on defense.

Michigan (11-9 Big Ten, 24-10 

overall) rolled over American 
on Thursday night to begin its 
postseason with a three-set 
sweep. But Oregon (13-7 Pac-12, 

21-10 overall) proved to be much 
more formidable opposition.

During the opening set, the 

aggressive and athletic Ducks 
asserted themselves early on, 
especially 
up 
front. 
Middle 

blockers 
Taylor 
Agost 
and 

Ronika Stone led a balanced 
Ducks attack, and though the 
margin was never more than 
three points, the Ducks drew 
first 
blood, 
outhitting 
the 

Wolverines .323 to .194 and 
winning the set 25-22.

 “(The Ducks are) really good 

when they’re in system,” said 
Michigan coach Mark Rosen. 

“They’re really good when they 
control the ball well, and they 
come at you with a lot of pace and 
a lot of variety. In the first set, 
they did exactly what we were 
concerned they could do.”

But mere minutes later, the 

Wolverines showed what they 
could do, too.

It was Kieffer-Wright who got 

Michigan going in the second set. 
With the score tied at three, she 
rose up at the net and blocked a 
shot from Agost, raising her fist 
in the air in celebration upon 
landing. She then scored the 
next two points, first finishing 

a nifty tip around two Ducks 
and then smashing down a kill 
from the right side. When the 
run was over, the second set 
had been blown open, 12-4, in 
the Wolverines’ favor, and they 
never relinquished this lead on 
their way to taking the set, 25-17.

“(The 9-1 run was) really 

uplifting for the team because 
you know that you’re in a groove 
and you’re in a rhythm and 
everyone’s working together as 
one,” Kieffer-Wright said. “As 
the night progressed, we became 
one machine.”

Added 
Rosen: 
“Volleyball 

games tend to go in streaks, not 
one point here or one point there. 
Our servers really work hard in 
practice to be able to go and not 
just serve one ball aggressively, 
but serve that same ball three, 
four, five times.”

The third set, however, proved 

to be an almost polar opposite of 
the previous one, as the score was 
tied on 10 different occasions. 
Oregon, which held a slim lead 
for most of the set, pulled ahead 
15-12 by the first timeout, but 
Cole recorded two consecutive 
kills to bring Michigan back 

JACOB SHAMES
Daily Sports Writer

Two word headline

Michigan 3, Oregon 1 

FIVE MORE SETS

Ryan McLoughlin/Daily

Ryan McLoughlin/Daily
Ryan McLoughlin/Daily

See VOLLEYBALL, Page 4B

Design: Carly Berger

