2B — December 12, 2016
SportsMonday
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SPORTSMONDAY COLUMN
A hopeful ride, and the end of the road
A
fter his team’s first
weekend of the 2016
season, Michigan
volleyball
coach Mark
Rosen said he
doesn’t like
to compare
teams from
different
seasons.
There are
too many
variables:
different
players, different circumstances,
different schedules.
But last week, with this
season nearing its end, when
asked to compare, Rosen
couldn’t help but see the
resemblance. His team finished
above .500 in the Big Ten for the
first time since 2012, reached
the Sweet 16 for the first time
since 2012 and was on a collision
course to play Texas for the
first time since the Longhorns
eliminated Michigan from the
NCAA Tournament in 2012.
There were more similarities:
Rosen’s 2012 team and his 2016
team had a core group of veteran
players, but also a handful of
freshman contributors. Two of
his freshmen on the 2012 team
were fifth-year senior leaders
on the 2016 team. And that 2012
team made the program’s only
Final Four.
The Wolverines landed in
Austin, Texas, on Wednesday
looking to get back to that level.
It didn’t happen. Friday night in
the Sweet 16, Creighton ended
Michigan’s season by winning
the decisive fifth set, 15-7.
When Rosen spoke on
Wednesday, he knew that might
happen. He knew Creighton
had a good team. He knew the
Wolverines had lost 10 times
before this season, and had
lost other NCAA Tournament
matches before. He did not claim
that his team was infallible. He
had one belief about how the
weekend would go.
“I think we’ll play our best
volleyball,” he said. “Whether
it’ll be enough or not, I don’t
know. But I’m confident that if
we play our best volleyball, then
in some ways — I wouldn’t say I
don’t care, because we all want to
win — but again, we can’t control
that.”
Inside what he could control,
he tried to treat everything as
normal. Some things were not,
of course: For the postseason,
the NCAA logo was printed
on the court. The court itself
was brought out just for the
weekend. Thursday, the NCAA
held a special pre-regional media
session.
“There’s instincts in you to
want to go, ‘Hey, we gotta make
this more important,’ or ‘We’ve
got to do this differently,’ but I
think that’s the wrong approach.
I think for us, we want to just
make it normal.”
Michigan knew how to do
that — it had done so all year. In
Rosen’s eyes, that was one of the
qualities that made this team
so successful. Led by fifth-year
seniors Kelly Murphy and Ally
Davis and senior Abby Cole, the
Wolverines kept their perspective
all season.
They had to, in the ruthless
Big Ten. The Wolverines lost
five matches against top-three
teams, including two in five sets,
most recently Nov. 20 at No. 2
Minnesota.
Rosen did not try to make that
feel normal. “This hurts a lot, but
it should,” he recalled telling his
team. “If you care a lot and you
put a lot into it, it’s gonna hurt.”
Earlier this season, he
compared the nation’s toughest
conference to a “meat grinder,”
and his team’s schedule was
never tougher than in the last
three weekends. That span
consisted of five matches against
top-15 teams — No. 1 Nebraska,
No. 2 Minnesota, No. 3 Wisconsin
and Michigan State twice — and
only one win, against the then-
14th-ranked Spartans at home. A
1-4 finish to the regular season
was not an ideal way to enter the
NCAA Tournament.
“But you would have never
known from looking at our team
in the way that they practiced, or
the way they prepared or the way
they even played in matches,”
Rosen said. “They never looked
down. We were a little worried
about that going into it — how’s
that going to be with our
confidence if we don’t win more
of these? And our team never
once looked affected by it in a
negative way.”
That stretch told Rosen all
he needed to know heading
into the postseason. His team
hosted the first weekend of the
NCAA Tournament for the first
time since 2009 and dispatched
American and Oregon to move
onto the Sweet 16. It moved onto
Austin, where it hoped to have
the chance to avenge the loss
from four years ago and return to
that level.
Rosen did not know how
it would go. About half of his
team played in the NCAA
Tournament last year, but his
eight freshmen didn’t. They
were all playing in a new gym.
They knew they were playing
a good team, but they hoped
that if they played their game, it
would be good enough.
For most of the year, that
worked. They prepared the same
way, played the same way and
split the first four sets with the
21st-ranked Blue Jays.
They fell behind in the fifth
set, 9-3, and yet in the timeout,
their mindset was the same.
Rosen took a knee in front
of his team and calmly gave
instructions, trying to keep
spirits up. “All that matters is that
we win the next point,” he said.
“All night long, the next point is
all we can win. Let’s just win this
point.”
Michigan did, forcing a lift
call on the ensuing play. But
the deficit was too much to
overcome, as Creighton landed
a kill just inside the boundary
to end the match. Again, the
Wolverines’ demeanor was the
same. Rosen shook the opposing
coaches’ hands, high-fived his
players one by one and then
turned and walked to the locker
room, head down.
The tournament run that had
so much promise, that looked like
it could bring back memories of
2012, ended for the Wolverines.
They knew what they had to
do, and they did it; it just wasn’t
enough. Their season ended short
of the 2012 level they thought
was possible. That hurt. And as
Rosen said, it should.
Lourim can be reached
at jlourim@umich.edu and
on Twitter @jakelourim.
Peppers finishes fifth
in Heisman balloting
Jabrill Peppers made highlight
reels all season, but as expected,
Louisville
quarterback
Lamar
Jackson one-upped him and the
other finalists Saturday night at
the Heisman Trophy ceremony.
By a large margin, Jackson won
the Heisman Trophy, given to
the best overall player in college
football.
Peppers finished fifth in the
voting and was one of five finalists
at the ceremony in New York City.
Jackson won with 2,144 points,
followed by Clemson quarterback
Deshaun Watson with 1,524,
Oklahoma
quarterback
Baker
Mayfield with 361, Oklahoma
wide receiver Dede Westbrook
with 209 and Peppers with 208.
With Jackson’s win, the last
primarily defensive player to win
the Heisman is still Michigan’s
Charles
Woodson
in
1997.
Peppers has drawn comparisons
to Woodson since he arrived
on campus, and his numbers
matched up earlier this fall after a
torrid start to the season.
But opponents began to key on
Peppers, and his numbers tailed
off enough to hurt his candidacy.
He finished the regular season
with 27 carries for 167 yards and
three touchdowns; two catches
for three yards; 21 punt returns
for 310 yards and a touchdown;
10 kick returns for 260 yards; one
interception, 72 tackles, 16 tackles
for loss and four sacks.
He earned the title of most
versatile player in college football
by winning the Paul Hornung
Award
on
Thursday
night.
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh
often used that term to describe
him this season, and he used
Peppers all over the field to back
that up.
Jackson,
meanwhile,
was
electrifying on offense, racking
up 3,390 passing yards with 30
touchdowns and 1,538 rushing
yards with 21 touchdowns. He
was the favorite after a terrific
September and maintained that
title for most of the season.
Peppers will now turn his
focus to the Wolverines’ matchup
against Florida State in the
Orange Bowl on Dec. 30. Another
important question over the
next month will be whether that
game will be Peppers’ last in a
Michigan uniform. The redshirt
sophomore is eligible for the NFL
Draft this season, and he would
likely be a first-round pick in the
spring.
Michigan’s season comes to an end
in Sweet 16 of NCAA Tournament
The Michigan volleyball team
was one set away from clinching
a spot in the quarterfinals of
the NCAA Tournament. But
Creighton took an early lead in
the fifth and final set that the
Wolverines couldn’t overcome,
and Michigan was eliminated
from the tournament.
After a net violation was called
on the Wolverines in the fifth
set, the Bluejays were set up for
the match point. It appeared
Michigan thought the ensuing
kill from Jaali Winters was going
wide, but it clipped the sideline
and simultaneously pulled the
plug on the Wolverines’ season.
It
was
clear
from
the
beginning that Creighton was
in control of the match. Even
though Michigan took the first
set, the Bluejays ended the set
with a .239 hitting percentage
compared to the Wolverines .196.
“It became hard to stop them
defensively because they were
really balanced,” said Michigan
coach Mark Rosen. “They were
better at getting kills and that’s
usually a big difference in our
game, because kills are points.”
The Wolverines struggled to
score against a strong defense,
which finished with 20 blocks.
Michigan could only muster 12
blocks due to Creighton’s fast-
paced offense.
In
the
third
set,
the
Wolverines made the necessary
corrections to easily take the set,
25-17. On the set point, senior
middle blocker Abby Cole tipped
the ball over the net, forcing
a miscommunication on the
Bluejays and giving Michigan the
set.
The Wolverines trailed early
in the last two sets, surrendering
their 2-1 set lead. In the fourth
set, Creighton led, 17-11, its
largest lead of the match. After
a lift was called on Michigan,
Rosen called a timeout.
The Wolverines were then able
to pull within four points, but
after a long rally, it was Lauren
Smith who forced the fifth set for
the Bluejays.
With the fifth set only going to
15 points, it was important to get
off to a hot start.
Unfortunately for Michigan, it
made too many unforced errors
to compete with Creighton. The
Wolverines were down, 9-3, and
they seemed hopeless.
It was fifth-year senior Kelly
Murphy’s last volleyball match,
and fortunately for her, it was one
to remember. She finished with
17 kills and 13 digs, but her impact
went beyond the scoresheet. As a
leader of the team, she showed
the underclassman how to not
lose hope, even when faced with
defeat.
In the waning moments of
the fifth set, Cole re-entered the
match. The Wolverines had all
three captains on the court, and
it was clear the team needed
their guidance. Cole made a
statement in those final points
with two decisive kills. But it
wasn’t enough to salvage the
match, and Michigan fell in the
fifth set, 15-7.
“I think our three seniors
were phenomenal,” Rosen said.
“They really brought so much to
the table when it comes to how
this team developed together. We
talk a lot in our program about a
growth mindset.
“Every game we’re going to
get better. Every day, we’re going
to follow the process and the
outcome will take care of itself.
And I thought this team stayed
very true to that.”
GRANT HARDY/Daily
Redshirt sophomore Jabrill Peppers fell short of the Heisman Trophy.
JAKE LOURIM
Managing Sports Editor
PAIGE VOEFFRAY
Daily Sports Writer
RYAN MCLOUGHLIN/Daily
Fifth-year senior Kelly Murphy finished with 17 kills and 13 digs in the final game of her Wolverine career Friday night against Creighton.
JAKE
LOURIM
SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily
Michigan coach Mark Rosen’s team returned to the Sweet 16 forthe first time since 2012, but a loss to Creighton on Friday ended the Wolverines’ season.