The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Tuesday, September 19, 2017 — 7

Wolverines top Hoosiers, 2-1, in Sunday matchup

It was a day of relief for the 

Michigan women’s soccer team. 

After a 4-0-1 start to their 2017 

campaign, the Wolverines (1-1 Big 
Ten, 4-2-3 overall) had been winless 
in their previous four games and had 
been shutout in their last two games 
coming into Sunday’s matchup with 
Indiana. But over the span of 3:27 in 
the first half against the Hoosiers 
(1-1, 5-4-1), Michigan’s offensive 
luck changed dramatically, and it 
was able to hang on for a 2-1 win.

It started with forward Reilly 

Martin. 
The 
junior’s 
season 

exemplifies the type of frustration 
the Wolverines have faced — she 
leads the team in shots but, before 
Sunday, hadn’t scored a goal. She led 
the team in shots once again Sunday 
and finally converted on those 
opportunities.

In the 22nd minute, Martin 

received a pass from redshirt 
sophomore midfielder Katie Foug. 
Martin flicked the ball in the air, 
spun around the Indiana defender 
and poked it into the back of the net.

“(It was) definitely good to finally 

break the ice on scoring,” Martin 
said. “We’ve had some unlucky 
games and just couldn’t finish them, 
but I think we finally got back on 
track.”

The 
Wolverines’ 
offensive 

fortunes continued to trend upward 
moments later. In the 25th minute, 
redshirt senior midfielder Ani 
Sarkisian sent a through ball into 
the box, and just before the Indiana 
goalkeeper could get to it, freshman 
midfielder 
Nicki 
Hernandez 

touched it over her and deposited it 
into the open net.

It was Hernandez’s first career 

goal, but her own relief extended 
beyond even that. Hernandez has 
had lingering health issues that have 
held her out of action. According 
to her, it was actually her time on 
the shelf that gave her the ability to 
maintain composure on her goal.

“When I was out and injured with 

the concussion and the ankle, I was 
always practicing on my touches 
and things like that, situations like 
that,” Hernandez said. “So when 
the actual situation happened, I was 
able to be calm.”

But Michigan wasn’t out of the 

woods yet. The Hoosiers pulled 
within a goal thanks to a header 
from Chandra Davidson off a corner 
kick in the 40th minute, and they 
pressed the Wolverine defense near 
the end of the game.

At one point, Indiana appeared to 

have tied the game, but the goal was 
negated by a handball.

In the end, Michigan staved off 

the Hoosiers, and for the first time 
in 21 days, coach Greg Ryan and his 
team celebrated.

“We needed to win a game in 

the Big Ten, right?” Ryan said. 
“We thought we were better than 
Purdue, but we didn’t come away 
with a win. So today, it was just 
critical to get the result. I was very 
happy with the way we played.”

The Wolverines will continue Big 

Ten play next weekend when they 
travel to Minnesota and Wisconsin. 
And with a good feeling for the first 
time in a few games, they believe 
Sunday was simply a sign of things 
to come.

“It’s great finally having a win, 

especially at home and being away 
next weekend,” Martin said. “I 
think just having that confidence 
on us to know that we’re going to 
do well this Big Ten season with a 
win on our back moving forward, 
it’s really going to give us a boost of 
confidence.”

It may have taken the Michigan 

women’s soccer team some time 
to settle into its matchup Sunday 
against Indiana, but once the 
defense and offense clicked, the 
Wolverines prevailed over the 
Hoosiers, 2-1. 

Indiana 
outshot 
Michigan 

in the first half, 14-9, but the 
Wolverines — with a seamless 
offense on full display — managed 
to find the back of the net. 

In the 21st minute of the first 

half, junior forward Reilly Martin 
pivoted on a pass from redshirt 
sophomore 
midfielder 
Katie 

Foug and buried the ball past 
the goalkeeper in the bottom left 
corner of the goal.

It was a good finish by Martin. 

But the setup may have been even 
better. After a feeder pass from the 
back line, Foug made mincemeat of 
the Hoosiers’ defense, delivering a 
pass to Martin at the top of the 18. 
Martin took care of the rest.

“Just working together, offense 

and defense, and putting in the 
extra work to make that last 
starting run or whatever it takes 
to get the goal is what it was going 
to take to win the game today,” 
Martin said.

Michigan’s transition offense 

was in true form Sunday due to a 
combination of factors. First was 
Indiana’s formation. The Hoosiers 
played a 4-1-4-1, leaving the top of 
the defense vulnerable.

As soon as the Wolverines broke 

past the four midfielders, they had 

plenty of room to maneuver and 
connect every part of the field in 
their attack.

“The way they played opened 

up the counter for us,” Ryan said. 
“… Today I thought we were a bit 
more patient with it.”

That certainly showed in the 

24th minute.

Following a substantial amount 

of coordination in the midfield 
area above the four defenders, 
fifth-year senior midfielder Ani 
Sarkisian lofted a ball over the 
Hoosiers’ defense to freshman 
midfielder Nicki Hernandez, who 
poked the ball past the goalkeeper.

Despite 
previous 
offensive 

woes 
this 
season, 
Michigan 

has found solace in its team 
communication and transitions, 
involving every single person on 
the field.

“Right from the start we knew 

that it was going to be a tough 
battle,” Martin said. “Indiana is a 
great team.”

Defensively, the Wolverines 

staved off 17 shots while letting 
in only one. However, the image 
from Sunday was not of an 
onslaught from Indiana’s front 
line, but scattered attempts by the 
Hoosiers to hit the net.

Michigan’s 
pipeline 
from 

its backline to frontline was so 
overwhelming that Indiana was 
forced to take uncoordinated and 
frantic shots.

After their recent losses, many 

would think that the Wolverines’ 
offense would not be able to gel 
enough to be productive. But 
Michigan proved that notion false 
Sunday by scoring two goals where 
the Wolverines showed that they 
were on the same wavelength, 
and that could easily be the key to 
turning things around.

“This year we’ve had a lot of 

possession, but we haven’t been 
scoring as much in the counter,” 
said Michigan coach Greg Ryan. 
“Today we started to get the 
counterattack fired up again.”

ZOEY HOLMSTROM/Daily

Junior forward Reilly Martin had half of the Wolverines’ 16 shots against the Hoosiers, as Michigan’s offense finally found its footing on Sunday afternoon. 

‘M’ prevails after four-game winless streak
Offense finally clicks, gives Michigan relief

MIKE PERSAK
Daily Sports Editor

ROBERT HEFTER

Daily Sports Writer

‘M’ sweeps Cincinnati, caps off strong showing

Sophomore setter Mackenzie 

Welsh and redshirt sophomore 
middle blocker Cori Crocker 
shut down Cincinnati’s final 
scramble with a block, ending 
the third set as dominantly as 
they had in the first two sets.

The final exclamation point 

by Welsh and Crocker sealed 
the No. 21 Michigan volleyball 
team’s sweep in the Michigan 
Challenge Tournament, capping 
off the final matchup against 
Cincinnati with a 3-0 victory.

Against 
its 
previous 

opponents in the tournament, 
many Wolverines posted either 
season- or career-high numbers. 
Against UW-Milwaukee, junior 
outside hitter Carly Skjodt and 
senior middle blocker Claire 
Kieffer-Wright 
recorded 
a 

season-high 16 kills and seven 
blocks, 
respectively. 
Senior 

outside hitter Adeja Lambert 
also totaled five blocks, a career 
high.

With 
momentum 
from 

the 
previous 
two 
matches, 

Michigan started the first set on 
a tear, outscoring the Bearcats, 
9-2, and recording three blocks 
during the stretch.

“Our 
defense 
across 
the 

board hasn’t been where we 
want it to be, and that’s been a 
big focus for us the whole week 
at practice,” said Michigan 
coach Mark Rosen. “I thought 
we were a little bit better maybe 
in the last two matches, but I 
thought tonight was the best 
defensive, and especially the 
best blocking match we’ve had 
this season.”

After 
a 
brief 
Cincinnati 

timeout, 
the 
Wolverines 

continued to push the Bearcats, 
capitalizing off their mistakes 
and going on a seven-point run 
that forced another Cincinnati 
timeout. Four of the seven 
points scored were off attacking 
or ball handling errors made by 
the Bearcats.

Michigan won the set, 25-16, 

despite allowing Cincinnati to 
score off careless errors, such as 

two service errors, a bad set and 
four attack errors.

Though they ended the first 

set 
poorly, 
the 
Wolverines 

narrowed down their mistakes 
entering the second set to take 
the lead, 9-2. With a comfortable 
lead, Michigan took riskier 
points, 
as 

Welsh 
scored 

on two back-
to-back 
dump 

shots.

However, 

Cincinnati 
answered with 
a 
small 
run, 

scoring 
four 

straight, 
and 

shortened 
the 

deficit through 
relentless 
attacks to make the set 15-13. 
With a call reversal going to the 
Bearcats, Cincinnati returned 
from the game delay down only 
one and with momentum in its 
favor.

Hustling for every loose ball 

and making improbable digs 
helped Michigan counter the 

Bearcats’ push for the lead. The 
two teams went back and forth 
before the Wolverines gained 
control toward the end of the 
set 
due 
to 
Kieffer-Wright’s 

efforts, who had six kills in 
eight attempts. Junior libero 
Jenna Lerg, who led all players 

with 
16 
digs, 

clinched the win 
by serving an ace 
that 
ricocheted 

off 
a 
middle 

blocker to bounce 
out 
of 
bounds 

to claim the set, 
25-21.

While 
serves 

helped Michigan 
win the second 
set, 
Cincinnati 

used 
them 
to 

dominate the beginning of the 
third.

“(Cincinnati) came out and 

changed their serving, and 
they served the heck out of the 
ball.” Rosen said. “We use the 
term ace or error mentality. 
They came out and they were 
either going to ace it or make 

an error, and they were just 
blasting serves. In the third set 
they were banging serves at us 
really hard and our players had 
to really fight through that.”

Down four points midway 

through the third set, Michigan 
used its first and only timeout 
of the game, unable to deal with 
the adjustments the Bearcats 
made during intermission.

Returning from the timeout, 

Skjodt, the tournament’s MVP, 
attacked Cincinnati’s middle 
blockers with a cross court 
spike that began a 6-1 run. 
Skjodt ended the match with 
eight kills and nine digs.

Once the Wolverines regained 

the 12-11 lead, they encountered 
few obstacles en route to a win, 
25-18. Kieffer-Wright led the 
team in kills and blocks, with 10 
and 7, respectively. The entire 
team stepped up on its defense, 
recording 
a 
season-high 
13 

blocks.

This 
is 
the 
momentum 

Michigan 
will 
need 
as 
it 

prepares for conference play 
against No. 1 Minnesota.

HALEY MCLAUGHLIN/Daily

Senior Claire Kieffer-Wright led the Wolverines in a concentrated defensive effort against Cincinnati on Saturday.

We use the 

term ace 
or error 
mentality.

Wolverines win every set, finish undefeated in Michigan Challenge Tournament

TIEN LE

Daily Sports Writer

MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY
Michigan dominates
adidas XC challenge

The Michigan men’s cross 

country 
team 
began 
its 

competitive 
racing 
season 

with a victory at the adidas XC 
Challenge in Cary, N.C. this 
past Friday. 

The 
Wolverines 
received 

a team score of 22, beating 
second-place North Carolina 
State and third-place Wake 
Forest, which finished with 
36 points and 126 points, 
respectively. With 13 teams 
competing in the event, the 
Challenge gave Michigan its 
first proper race of the season, 
having held the Michigan 
Open two weeks ago. While 
the Open provided the team 
with a good opportunity to 
practice, it was not scored, and 
as such did not have the same 
competitive feel as a real race.

Carrying the Wolverines to 

victory were fifth-year seniors 
Ben Flanagan and Billy Bund, 
who finished first and third in 
the individual category with 
times of 18:12.1 and 18:14.1, 
respectively.

Flanagan, 
a 
two-time 

Academic 
All-Big 
Ten, 

missed most of last season 
due to injuries, making this 
weekend’s 
event 
his 
first 

healthy race in over a year. 
Having 
finished 
ninth 
in 

2015 NCAA Championships 
in the 10,000-meter category, 
expectations 
for 
Flanagan 

are high this season, with 
Michigan 
coach 
Kevin 

Sullivan 
being 
especially 

pleased with his performance 
on Friday.

Sullivan 
stressed 
that 

races like Friday’s are strong 
confidence builders, and that 
the coaching staff was looking 
forward to seeing Flanagan 
continue to improve over the 
course of the season.

With three of the team’s 

top-nine runners at home to 
train, many younger athletes 
were given the opportunity to 

compete.

Notable 
performances 

came from redshirt freshman 
Isaac Harding, sophomores 
Ben Hill and Keenan Rebera 
and freshman Jacob Lee who 
finished 
6-8-10-12 
in 
the 

Challenge. 

“We’ve seen a big jump in 

performance from a lot of 
these guys,” Sullivan said. 
“They put in a lot of hard work 
(last year), which sometimes 
goes unnoticed, so it was 
nice to see them reaping the 
rewards of that hard work.”

The XC Challenge was a 

good start and a solid first 
step in the Wolverines’ six 
weeks of preparation ahead of 
the Big Ten Championships, 
which it last won two years 
ago. A fifth-place finish in the 
conference last year marked 
a break from five straight 
seasons of top-three finishes 
in the Big Ten, as well as five 
straight appearances in the 
NCAA Championships. Hopes 
are high that this season can 
provide a return to success.

“Our championship comes 

down to one day in October,” 
Sullivan said. “We don’t have a 
regular season championship, 
we don’t accumulate wins and 
losses, it all comes down to the 
last Sunday in October.”

The 
upcoming 
races 

provide these aforementioned 
athletes — as well as other 
young talents such as redshirt 
freshman Andrew Lorant and 
redshirt 
sophomore 
Jordy 

Hewitt — the opportunity 
to develop and prepare for 
championships later in the 
year.

Sullivan stressed that being 

able to compete despite being 
tired from previous races was 
especially important to the 
team’s success.

“You may not feel your 

best, you may not feel your 
sharpest,” 
Sullivan 
said. 

“But you got to learn how to 
compete in those situations as 
well.”

CHRISTIAN NEUBACHER

Daily Sports Writer

