Did you know that the RC has a
number of exciting academic and
community-engagement programs?
Semester in Detroit, the Prison
Creative Arts Project, the Center for
World Performance Studies, Telling It,
and Proyecto Avance LatinoMentoring
Association (PALMA), and the
Spanish Language Internship Program
(SLIP) are all available to non-RC
students.winning faculty and
students.
Find our schedule of events at
lsa.umich.edu/rc/alum-
ni-friends/the-residential-col-
lege-50th-anniversary-celebration
Book by Jeremy Desmon
Additional songs by Jeff Thomson & Jeremy Desmon
Arrangements and Orchestrations by Jesse Vargas
Oct. 12 & 19 at 7:30PM • Oct. 13, 14, 20 & 21 at 8 PM
Oct. 15 & 22 at 2 PM • Lydia Mendelssohn
Theatre
Reserved seating $30 & $24 • Students $12 w/ID
League Ticket Office • tickets.smtd.umich.edu
Department of Musical Theatre 2017-2018 Season
A new jukebox musical about love, rock ‘n’ roll,
and second chances featuring pop hits
from the 80s to today
8 — Thursday, October 19, 2017
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
WOMEN’S TENNIS
Lommer clinches
ITA Regional title
Coming
into
the
ITA
Midwest Regionals, sophomore
Chiara
Lommer
was
not
expected
to
outshine
her
teammates on a senior-laden
Michigan
women’s
tennis
team.
But the sure-handed Lommer
set herself apart, dropping only
one set in five matches en route
to the Midwest Regional title
and an automatic bid to the ITA
National Fall Championships
this November.
Lommer
was
granted
a
first-round bye, as were the
four other Wolverine singles
competitors in the tournament.
But by the end of the third-
round
match
against
Ohio
State’s Olivia Sneed, she was
the sole survivor of the group
of five.
With
her
teammates
cheering in the stands above,
the
115th-ranked
Lommer
dominated
Illinois’s
Mia
Rabinowitz in straight sets,
6-3, 6-2.
Yet the score did not paint
a clear picture of the grueling
points won by each player
during the match.
A
fortunate
double-break
including long rallies of up to
15-plus shots characterized the
battle between Lommer and
Rabinowitz. In game three of
the second set, Lommer found
a crucial break that snowballed
into
two
and
a
needed
momentum boost in the match.
Resilient through tough deuces
and break points, Lommer’s
durability would not truly be
tested as much throughout the
remainder of the tournament.
Following the quarterfinal
matchup, a quick turnaround
led
to
Lommer
meeting
Illinois’s Emilee Duong in the
semifinals.
Lommer
routed
her second Illini challenger in
a row in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2.
Duong had played in a total of
eight matches throughout the
course of the tournament and
was struggling, particularly on
serves, and presented Lommer
with few obstacles.
Michigan
coach
Ronni
Bernstein
said
Sunday
afternoon prior to the title
match that Lommer always
represents the Wolverines well
and fights for every point, and
that she notably stepped up to
the challenge of becoming the
sole Michigan competitor to
make it past the third round.
“Chiara
is
a
confident
kid,
and
even
before
the
tournament, she’s trying to
win the whole tournament,”
Bernstein said. “She’s gonna
take one match at a time and
try to win the thing.”
In the championship match
on Tuesday, Lommer battled
against Ohio State’s Shiori
Fukuda. Riding the momentum
of her earlier matches, she
jumped out to a 2-0 lead after
a break on the first serve
eventually leading to a 6-0
romp. In the ensuing final set
of the match, Fukuda jumped
out to an early 3-1 lead with
strong serves.
But Lommer was able to
break back on Fukuda’s serve
and then serve for the match,
winning in straight sets 6-0,
6-4. Her prize was the singles
title
and
an
unexpected
championships
berth
in
California next month.
Enjoying dominant final season, Hurst
presents major problem for Penn State
Yes, Michigan’s defense is
good.
The Wolverines rank first in
the nation in total defense —
allowing just 223.8 yards per
game — first in pass efficiency
defense,
sixth
in
rushing
defense and eighth in points
allowed per game — giving up
an average of 14.7.
Those
are
pretty
eye-
popping
numbers.
Yet,
according to Maurice Hurst,
Michigan has yet to reach its
full potential.
“I think we’re getting better
each week, and I think we’re
really starting to create our
own identity and really gain
(an)
understanding
of
our
defense and who we are as
a defense,” Hurst said. “We
kind of knew who we had last
year and this year’s been a
little more unknown, but I
think we’ve really been able to
develop into our own.”
Hurst
said
that
identity
meant stopping teams on third
down, stopping the run and
pressuring the quarterback.
The
fifth-year
senior
defensive tackle is certainly
a large part of those efforts.
After deciding to return for his
final season, Hurst has lived up
to all of the hype.
On Monday, CBS Sports
analyst
Matt
Miller
listed
Hurst as his 20th-best overall
player for the 2018 NFL Draft,
declaring Hurst the second-
best defensive lineman and the
best run stopper. Pro Football
Focus graded Hurst as the
second-best player from Week
7 after Michigan’s 27-20 win
over Indiana — just one week
after Hurst posted the nation’s
top performance in a 14-10 loss
to
Michigan
State, according
to the scouting
service.
He
has
earned
accolades
from his own
coach, as well.
On
Monday,
Jim Harbaugh
named
both
Hurst
and
sophomore
defensive
end
Rashan Gary as Michigan’s
linemen of the week.
“Mo makes a field goal
block,” Harbaugh said, “and Mo
really played good this week,
played really good last week.”
Receiving
a
similar
performance from Hurst this
week will be crucial to the
Wolverines’ efforts against No.
2 Penn State this
weekend. And if
past history is
any
indication,
Hurst
most
certainly
will
present
a
challenge to the
Nittany
Lions’
offensive line.
In Michigan’s
28-16 win over
Penn
State
in
2015, Hurst — then a redshirt
sophomore — tied for second on
the team in tackles, recording
four with 0.5 for loss. Then,
Hurst played an even larger role
in the Wolverines’ scintillating
defensive
performance
last
year, recording six tackles
(three for loss) and one sack.
Hurst’s history against the
Nittany Lions — coupled with
his play this year — makes it
all the more likely that he’ll
enjoy success in his final
game against Penn State on
Saturday night. And, if Nittany
Lions coach James Franklin’s
comments on Tuesday were
any indication, Penn State is
already well aware that its
offensive gameplan will have
to account for Michigan’s man
in the middle.
“Very disruptive, (I) went
back and kind of researched
(Hurst) a little bit, in terms of
what people are saying about
him,” Franklin told reporters
Tuesday. “(They’re) saying he’s
going to be a first-round pick,
probably a top-10 pick, and it
looks like that on tape.
“I’ve got a lot of respect for
him and his game and how he
plays and the motor that he
has. He’s an impressive guy to
watch.”
Michigan loses match in four sets
Carly Skjodt fired an arcing
serve that dipped over the
net and left several Spartans
sprawling on the floor.
After the ace from the junior
outside hitter, No. 10 Michigan
State’s lead was cut to just
24-21 in the third set. The three
unanswered points appeared to
be a glimmer of hope that the
Michigan volleyball team (3-6
Big Ten, 13-8 overall) could
perhaps steal the set — and the
match lead.
Or perhaps not.
Spartan outside hitter Brooke
Kranda promptly fired a missile
to the center of the Wolverine
defense, and Michigan State
closed out the set.
The
Spartans
(7-2,
14-4)
ripped off a huge 10-3 run
toward the end of the fourth
set to remove Michigan’s final
glimmers of hope and win
the match, 25-19, 25-27, 25-21,
25-16.
Michigan
State
excelled
offensively behind an extremely
balanced attack on Wednesday
night. Five different Spartans
had nine or more kills.
“Their setter does a great job,
she’s got a lot of options to go
to and that’s what makes them
so dangerous,” said Michigan
coach
Mark
Rosen.
“They
control the ball well enough to
let their setter run their offense
and she’s got lots of weapons to
go to.”
Similar to the rest of its
season, Michigan failed to rise
to the challenge against an elite
opponent. Since entering the
gauntlet of Big Ten play, the
Wolverines are 3-6, losing three
of those matches in straight
sets. On the season, Michigan is
sporting a dismal record of 0-6
against top-25 teams.
“We’re not good enough,”
Rosen said. “We’re trying to get
better every day and we’re not
good enough yet.”
Although
they
dropped
the match in four sets, the
Wolverines showed flashes of
brilliance.
Skjodt, in particular, was
exceptional.
She
delivered
an
all-around
performance,
notching a double-double with
a season-high 24 kills and 10
digs. While the majority of
her team struggled against the
defense of Michigan State’s
hulking middle blockers, Skjodt
repeatedly gashed the Spartan
defense with an array of tip
kills and booming spikes.
“(Skjodt’s) got such a great
competitive
spirit,”
Rosen
said. “She’s somebody who just
battles.”
In the second set, Skjodt’s
kills were crucial to a tense
Michigan
win.
The
teams
jostled for position throughout
the set, with eight lead changes
and 11 ties. Senior middle
blocker Claire Kieffer-Wright
also had a huge set, earning two
of Michigan’s last three kills.
Both kills came courtesy of her
excellent movement. She swung
to the right of sophomore
setter MacKenzi Welsh and
pummeled the ball past the
Spartan defense each time.
Above
all,
however,
the
Wolverines
closed
out
the
second set due to solid team
play and excellent passing.
Despite
an
outstanding
performance from Skjodt and
a great team performance in
the second set, the Wolverines
were simply outplayed by the
Spartans, who boast a roster
full of experience.
“They have six seniors on
the floor who’ve been playing
together their whole career,”
Rosen
said.
“They’re
very
smooth.”
The Wolverines will face
yet another tough task as
they travel to Ohio State on
Sunday, and they still have two
more ranked teams on their
schedule.
According
to
Rosen,
Michigan’s
upcoming
game
plan is simple.
“We’ve got to get better.”
BY THE NUMBERS
Michigan vs No. 10 Michigan State
.370
Senior middle blocker Claire Kieffer-
Wright’s team-leading attack
average
3
Number of Wolverines who finished
with a double-digit dig total
23
Junior libero Jenna Lerg’s game-high
dig total
24
Junior outside hitter Carly Skjodt’s
team-leading kill total
The sophomore earned an automatic
bid to the ITA Nationals in November
JUSTIN FANNON
For the Daily
AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily
Fifth-year senior defensive tackle Maurice Hurst believes his team’s defense has yet to reach its full potential this year.
(They’re) saying
he’s going to be
a first-round
pick
ORION SANG
Daily Sports Editor
MAX KUANG/Daily
Junior outside hitter Carly Skjodt delivered an all-around performance in a loss.
DYLAN CHUNG
Daily Sports Writer