8A — Wednesday, October 4, 2017
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Michigan sets new volleyball
attendance record at Crisler
With
8,137
spectators
in
attendance, the No. 23 Michigan
volleyball team drew its largest
crowd in team history as it took
down
rival
Ohio
State,
3-1, at Crisler
Center
on
Friday night.
The
Wolverines
more
than
tripled
their
previous
record
attendance
of 2,673 from
2009 and more than quadrupled
the maximum attendance in
their normal arena — the 1,800
seat capacity Cliff Keen Arena.
This was Michigan’s first
and only match to be played at
Crisler Center this season and
its first regular season match
played there since a 3-1 defeat
against
Nebraska
in
2015.
Last season, the Wolverines
hosted two NCAA Tournament
matches there against American
University and Oregon, both
victories for the Wolverines.
Senior middle blocker Claire
Kieffer-Wright
remembers
those
games
well.
She
appreciated the atmosphere the
fans created then, even though
it paled in comparison to Friday
night.
“The last time we played (at
Crisler) we had the first round
and the second round of the
NCAA Tournament,” Kieffer-
Wright said. “I felt like the vibe
was going [then], but tonight
was just an extra step up.”
For
those
8,137
fans
in
attendance — in addition to the
15 Michigan volleyball players
— it was clear that Friday’s
match was going to be a special
one from the moment of the first
serve.
The
Wolverines’
student
section was filled to the point
that
students
had
to
find
seating elsewhere. They were
seen
sprinkled
across
the
upper section of the arena, still
vigorously cheering along and
enjoying the match.
While the fans were very
enthusiastic during the course
of
the
entire
match,
the
mayhem
reached
its pinnacle in the
fourth and final
set.
Michigan
was
down
17-11
and went on a
6-0
run
to
tie
the set. At that
point, for every
subsequent point
the Wolverines scored, the fans
went wild until the victory-
clinching point. The entire
arena erupted in a collective
cheer of approval louder than
any other moment during the
match.
During the Wolverines’ final
run, players were also getting in
on the fun as they were shown
dancing on the big screen
during breaks in play.
Kieffer-Wright, who was too
focused on the match to get
caught up in
the
dancing,
thought
that
the
environment
pushed
the
players to win
the match.
“It
(made)
the hairs on
the
back
of
my neck stand
up,”
Kieffer-
Wright said. “You just feel good
and feel like comfortable and
like, ‘OK, they’re ready for this
next point and they’re ready to
see us win.’ It’s just incredible.
I love it.”
Kieffer-Wright
led
the
Wolverines to victory after
recording
team
highs
in
points, hitting percentage and
blocks, with 19, .375 and nine,
respectively.
Michigan coach Mark Rosen
also noticed the impact of the
crowd. The energy the fans
brought was unlike any other
home match Rosen had ever
experienced during his time at
the helm of the program.
While he loved the overall
support
of
the
fans,
he
specifically loved the student
support
and
wants
to
see
more matches with this type
of turnout. In order to make
that vision a reality, however,
Michigan will first need to
catch up with the rest of the Big
Ten in terms of its volleyball
arena size.
“We see this [crowd size]
all
the
time,”
Rosen
said.
“Michigan State has that kind
of
crowd,
not
consistently,
but they’ve had that before.
Nebraska has it, Minnesota has
it, so in our conference we play
in front of that all the time.”
The team sold out Cliff Keen
Arena for about half of its 16
home matches last season, and
Rosen believes that the team
is easily capable of generating
an attendance well above Cliff
Keen Arena’s maximum, as
shown by the turnout for the
Ohio State match.
“There is work
being done behind
the scenes to try to
get us into a bigger
place,” Rosen said.
“Hopefully
we
can keep pushing
the agenda to get
that done because
we’ve
outgrown
Keen. There’s no
question about it.”
For
now,
though,
the
Wolverines will take what they
can get in terms of attendance
and appreciate the amazing
turnout they received for one
match.
“It’s a feeling you’ll never
be able to replicate,” Kieffer-
Wright said. “A rivalry, just a
great home crowd. …It just feels
good to have the support of Ann
Arbor and Michigan students.”
It (made) the
hairs on the
back of my neck
stand up.
It just feels
good to have
the support of
Ann Arbor.
BENNETT BRAMSON
For the Daily
VOLLEYBALL
Marody eager for first full season on the ice
Fifty-three seconds into the
third period Saturday night,
Cooper Marody paused, just
momentarily, after receiving
a beautiful setup from junior
defenseman Joseph Cecconi.
Within seconds, he knocked
a one-timer into the bottom
right corner of the net, beyond
the outstretched reach of the
Western Ontario goaltender.
The junior forward’s textbook
goal — which came during
the Michigan hockey team’s
season-opening exhibition — is
simply a microcosm of his style
of play. His patience and ability
to drown out surrounding noise
while on the rink is a special
characteristic of his game that
many players find difficult to
master.
And his new head coach, Mel
Pearson, was quick to note that
Marody’s style of play stands
out.
“He’s so patient,” Pearson
said. “He’s so smart with the
puck, and he sees things that
maybe even a person sitting
in the stands wouldn’t see, let
alone a person on the ice with
all the commotion going on.
He has a way of just slowing
the game down, even when
everything’s going crazy.”
Marody’s offensive prowess
in the game extended beyond
his goal, as well. He registered
an
assist
in
each
period,
characteristic of a seasoned
forward who knows how to
crisply set the puck up for his
teammates in a way that is
almost second nature.
As
a
veteran
Wolverine,
entering his third year on
the team, it makes sense that
Marody has the innate capacity
to create these opportunities
on the ice. There is something
glaring,
however,
that
sets
Marody
apart
from
his
upperclassmen
counterparts:
he has yet to play a full
collegiate season. And last year
was the most extreme case of
that, as his sophomore season
was slashed in half.
It’s safe to
say
Marody
didn’t
expect
his
career
at
Michigan
to
take the course
it did.
In the midst
of
his
elite
freshman
campaign
—
when he netted
24 points and
played
in
32
games — Marody fell ill with
mononucleosis in mid-January,
taking him off the ice for an
entire month.
Though he was able to finish
out his first season once healthy
again,
the
illness
resulted
in a serious ramification for
his sophomore year: he was
academically
ineligible
to
play
for
the
Wolverines
during
the
fall
semester.
While Marody
still
practiced
every day with
the
team,
the
time away from
the sport he loved
was painful.
“Any
time
a
sport you love gets taken away
from you and you can’t play, if
you’re a competitor you feel
it,” Pearson said. “And I think
(Cooper) felt it. I think it was
tough on him last year. Now,
he’s reenergized and he knows
if he continues to do the things
that he needs to do that he’s
going to play and
play all year, and
be a big part of
our team.”
Added Cecconi:
“I’ve known Coop
since before I got
to school, and it
definitely
hurt
him
a
bit
not
being able to play
the first half of
the season,” he
said. “The first
couple games of the season are
times to adjust and get back
into hockey. And for him not
to have that was kind of a blow
to our team and himself, but he
came back strong.”
And
come
back
he
did.
Starting with the Great Lakes
Invitational on Dec. 29-30,
Marody played
out the final
18
games
of
his sophomore
season.
He
notched
15
points through
the end of the
year, en route
to being one of
the
standouts
in an otherwise
relatively
lifeless
Michigan offense.
Marody’s hat trick in the
Wolverines’ 5-4 victory over
Ohio State on Feb. 3 epitomized
his resurgence. It was the
most goals anyone on the team
scored in a game last season.
Reflecting back on last year’s
adversities, Marody couldn’t
be more ready to move on and
begin what he hopes to be his
first complete season on the
Wolverine roster. And a goal
paired with three assists in the
exhibition game is certainly not
a lousy way to start.
“It
was
an
unfortunate
situation, but it’s over now,”
Marody said. “I’ve learned a lot
of valuable things from it, and
I’m just looking to move forward
from that. It’s obviously tough,
but if you learn from it, and
move forward. You’re a better
person because of it.
“Hopefully, I’ll stay healthy
the whole season. It will be
my first full season here at
Michigan, so I’m very excited
about that. It will be good
to continue to develop that
chemistry with my linemates,
and I’m just very, very excited
to play a whole season.”
Marody
had
no
way
of
foreseeing
the
path
his
collegiate hockey career was
going to take, and without a
doubt would have preferred for
his sophomore year to take on a
different narrative.
That being said, Marody’s
rare circumstance allowed him
to gain perspective — not just
on this season, but for the rest
of his life as well.
“(I now know) that it could
always be worse,” Marody said.
“Like if you have a bad day at
practice, you’re just lucky that
you’re healthy and able to play.
So if you don’t have a good day,
if you don’t have a good shift, if
you don’t have a good game, you
can just be thankful that you’re
playing and healthy. And then
nothing else that’s wrong is
that big of a deal. So to just keep
that positive mindset, every day
coming to the rink, no matter
what happens.”
ANNA MARCUS
Daily Sports Writer
FILE PHOTO/Daily
Junior forward Cooper Marody netted a goal and notched three assists in the Wolverines’ season-opening exhibition against Western Ontario on Saturday.
He has a way of
just slowing the
game down.
It was an
unfortunate
situation, but
it’s over now.