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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