The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Wednesday, January 17, 2018 — 7A
Michigan Invitational
defined by comebacks
Kate Fahey was down, but not
out.
Despite dropping the first
set, 4-6, to fifth-ranked Gabriela
Talaba of Texas Tech on Monday,
the junior — ranked No. 33 — came
back to take the second set, 6-3,
tie the third, 6-6, and eventually
prevail in the tiebreaker, 7-2.
Fahey wasn’t the only member
of the Michigan women’s tennis
team who staged a comeback
at the Michigan Invitational —
which ran from Saturday through
Monday — though. Sophomore
Chiara Lommer also dropped
her first set to a higher-ranked
opponent Monday before taking
the next two sets to win the match,
1-6, 6-2, 6-2.
“Today, we lost a lot of first
sets and they came back,” said
Michigan coach Ronni Bernstein.
“That’s gonna be the key to our
year.”
Fahey’s victory capped off
a
weekend
sweep,
defeating
two ranked opponents in three
matches. After a fall season that
didn’t live up to her expectations,
she took the invitational as an
opportunity to prove herself.
There, she found success.
“I kinda surprised myself,”
Fahey said. “I stepped up more
and I think it paid off in the end.”
Two freshmen, Alyvia Jones
and Bella Lorenzini, also went
three-for-three in their singles
matches. Lorenzini didn’t drop a
single set during the tournament.
“It’s good to see the young kids
being the ones stepping up early,”
Bernstein said. “It definitely gives
us some depth in the lineup.”
Where the Wolverines didn’t
fare so well was in the doubles
competition.
Jones and senior Alex Najarian
were the most successful pairing,
taking their set against an Arizona
State team, 6-0. But against Texas
Tech, Georgia Tech, Ohio State
and Arizona State, Michigan won
just three of 11 doubles matches.
Perhaps that’s the result of
junior Brienne Minor — the
reigning NCAA singles champion
— being unable to play after
undergoing
knee
surgery
in
the offseason. With that, the
Wolverines were forced to try
out several different pairings. But
Michigan took it as an opportunity
to discover whose styles meshed
well together.
And while doubles will likely
never be a strength for the
Wolverines, its collection of talent
is such that vast improvement
could come from simply finding
which pairings work best.
“It’s just a matter of finding who
we work well with,” Fahey said.
“There are just some things we
need to work on a little bit more.”
The tournament served as
a good litmus test for where
Michigan stands going into the
dual meets, which feature a team
component not present at the
invitationals.
“(This event) kinda looks like a
dual match even though it isn’t,”
Bernstein said. “It’s just gonna get
us ready for Kansas coming next
weekend.”
And more than just the wins,
the comebacks are a positive sign
for the Wolverines going forward.
“Putting ourselves in those
situations,”
Fahey
said,
“(I
force) myself to go for the shots I
wouldn’t usually go for.”
Facing
higher-ranked
opponents after dropping the first
set, Michigan easily could have
crumbled. But it didn’t, and that’s
why Bernstein sees bigger things
coming for a relatively young
team.
“We gotta keep working and I
think we can get better,” Bernstein
said. “I think the girls leave this
weekend confident that we can
compete with anybody in the
country.”
Without Haughey, ‘M’
still finds a way to win
Many things can change in
the span of three months. Winter
turns into spring. A school’s Greek
life can come, go, and return
again. A team that seems destined
for success at the beginning of a
season can spiral into failure.
The No. 4 Michigan women’s
swim team has spent three
months on the road, finding
success during its
travels. Saturday,
the
Wolverines
brought
home
that
winning
spirit to Canham
Natatorium,
beating
No.
10
Indiana.
Right
from
the start of the
first race, it was
easy to see why
many
players
on the team felt energized to
be swimming in Ann Arbor for
the first time since September.
Canham Natatorium was packed
almost to capacity, and every
Michigan win was accompanied
by a chorus of Hail to the Victors.
“It’s great energy, and we feed
off of it,” said Michigan coach
Mike Bottom. “We had some
great swimming today… Having
our band and our supporters here
made a huge difference.”
Although the Wolverines were
missing junior Siobhán Haughey,
a former Olympian, Michigan was
able to win relatively easily, 180-
120.
“I was so impressed with the
whole team,” Bottom said. “We
had one of our best swimmers,
Siobhán, injured and not able to
swim. That came up at the last
minute. We had to make some
changes due to Siobhán not
swimming today, but our captains
led us and the whole team really
responded to that. They filled in
where we needed to. Our fight was
outstanding.”
Without Haughey, Michigan
faced the tough task of facing
Indiana’s Lilly King, a two-
time Olympic gold medalist in
her own right. While King won
multiple events, performances
from swimmers like senior Clara
Smiddy helped offset that. Smiddy
won two events, including a
three-second win over King in the
200-yard IM.
The Wolverines specifically
dominated the freestyle events,
taking the top three spots in
the 50, 100, 500 and the 1000-
yard freestyle.
Junior
Rose
Bi,
who
won
the
500-yard
freestyle,
was
confident in the
team’s chances
to win.
“We’re
definitely
a
really
strong
team,
but
I
know that we’re
one of the best
teams in the nation,” Bi said. “So
I was pretty confident that we
could beat them, even though
they gave us a lot of challenges. I
also saw a lot of opportunities to
improve myself. They have some
people who are better than us, so
in the future, I can do better in
these rounds.”
Just like Bi, Bottom saw the
match as a golden opportunity
for improvement, looking ahead
to the Big Ten Championships
and NCAAs. Against good teams,
better ones rise to the occasion.
“They swam very fast against
us,” Bottom said. “That was their
fastest dual meet by far, and that
was on both sides. We rose, and
that was one of our fastest dual
meets by far… When you face good
competition you rise to it, and we
learned.”
Many lessons can be learned
from spending so much time on
the road. The Wolverines found
that out for themselves over the
last three months, and Saturday’s
domination of the Hoosiers was a
glimpse of that.
Now, only time will tell if those
lessons will pay off for Michigan
in the postseason.
No. 8 Michigan taken down by No. 4 Indiana
As soon as he dove in, the
race was over.
For
40
laps,
senior
PJ
Ransford glided up and down
the pool, toying with the rest
of the field before touching
the wall first in the 1,000-yard
freestyle.
“I
felt
really
strong,”
Ransford said. “I was hitting
my stroke count really well and
it worked out
really nicely.”
However,
success did not
come as easily
for
the
rest
of
Ransford’s
team.
The
eighth-ranked
Wolverines
(3-1 Big Ten,
5-1
overall)
would win just
three more events on Saturday
en route to a disappointing loss
to No. 4 Indiana (1-0 Big Ten,
7-0 overall) — the defending
conference champions — 170.5
to 129.5.
The
loss
marked
the
Michigan
men’s
swimming
and diving team’s first defeat
at
home
at
the
Canham
Natatorium since 2008, as they
won just four events on the day
to Indiana’s twelve.
In
the
sprint
freestyle
events, the Wolverines had
no answer for the Hoosiers’
Blake Pieroni, who helped the
U.S. win gold in the 400-meter
freestyle relay in Rio. Pieroni
touched first in the 50, 100
and 200, downing fellow Rio
Olympian and sophomore Felix
Aubock along the way.
Michigan was no match for
Indiana on the boards as well,
as the Hoosiers took the top
four spots in the three-meter
diving
event.
Sophomores
Jacob Herremans and Stevie
Anderson finished fifth and
sixth respectively. In the one-
meter event, Indiana took the
top two spots.
Still, there were several
silver-linings
for
the
Wolverines.
Michigan
dominated the long-distance
events.
After
Ransford
cruised to victory in the
1,000, he added another first
place finish in the 500-yard
freestyle.
Freshman
Luiz
Gustavo Borges and Aubock
followed suit, sealing the 1-2-3
sweep for the Wolverines,
respectively.
“As a distance group, we
knew we had to do really well
and score a lot of
points in those
events,” Ransford
said. “We scored
a lot of points in
both races which
is all you can ask
for.”
Additionally,
senior
Evan
White
was
involved
in
a
pair of extremely
close races. In the opening 200-
meter medley relay, White’s
strong butterfly leg catapulted
the Wolverines to an apparent
split-second victory. However
the Michigan relay team was
later disqualified.
In the 100-yard butterfly,
White touched the wall first
by a fingernail, igniting a roar
in the crowd at Canham. He
capped off the day with a pair
of second-place finishes in the
200-yard butterfly and 200-
yard individual medley.
“I was trying to race as fast
as I could and score points for
Michigan really,” White said.
Added Michigan coach Mike
Bottom: “Evan’s a senior and
every senior wants to fight for
Michigan.”
The
Wolverines’
seniors
proved Bottom
right. Several of
them recorded
their
best
times
on
the
day,
including
James
Peek,
who split a 43.8
in the 400-yard
freestyle relay.
“We’re
getting towards
the end of our
collegiate career,” Ransford
said. “And you just want to
fire it up and swim fast for the
team.”
Though
the
outcome
was
disappointing,
Bottom
continued
to
emphasize
the value of these regular
season dual meets as learning
experiences and opportunities
for growth, especially against
an elite team like the Hoosiers.
“When
you
face
great
competition you rise to it,”
Bottom said. “We rose, they
rose.”
With just over a month until
the Big Ten Championships,
the Wolverines have their work
cut out for them.
“We just have to do what we
do,” Bottom said. “We have to
get better.”
And
just
like
last
year,
this
year’s
championship
meet will likely
come down to
Michigan
and
Indiana
once
again. But this
time, according
to
White,
the
Wolverines will
be
looking
to
avenge losses from both last
year’s
championships
and
Saturday’s dual meet.
“It’s always tough to take
a loss at home,” said White.
“But our guys showed strong
mentalities, and this is just
going to be fuel for the fire for
the championship season.”
MATT VAILLIENCOURT/Daily
Senior PJ Ransford was one of few Michigan swimers who performed well in its meet against No. 4 Indiana.
The Wolverines found out where improvement is needed in loss to the Hoosiers
“As a distance
group, we knew
we had to do
really well.”
“When you
face great
competition,
you rise to it.”
WOMEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING
“I was so
impressed
with the whole
team.”
RIAN RATNAVALE
Daily Sports Writer
ZACH GAN
Daily Sports Writer
WOMEN’S TENNIS
ARIA GERSON
Daily Sports Writer
Forwards nominated for Hobey Baker Award
In its entire history, the
Michigan hockey team has seen
just two players claim a Hobey
Baker Award: Kevin Porter in
2007-08 and Brendan Morrison
in 1996-97.
And given the Wolverines’
(5-7-2 Big Ten, 10-10-2 overall)
performance
this
past
weekend against
then-No.
9
Minnesota (4-9-
1, 13-12-1), it’s
no
surprise
that
senior
forward
Tony
Calderone
and
junior
forward
Cooper Marody
were nominated
Monday for the same award that
solidified Porter and Morrison as
Michigan hockey legends.
“It’s a tremendous honor,”
Marody said. “I remember when
I came in right at my freshman
year and I walked into this room
that was a lounge at one time, and
the Hobey Baker trophies were
there and above was a picture
with the two Hobey Baker
winners – Brendan Morrison
and Porter – and coach (Red)
Berenson told me, he said, ‘You
see those right there? Go get
one.’ ”
That memory certainly seems
like more of a reality now.
Marody and Calderone lead
the team in points with 31 and
27, respectively, and steered the
Wolverines to an unexpected
sweep
of
the
Golden Gophers.
“Obviously,
you know they’ve
had good years,”
said
Michigan
coach
Mel
Pearson. “ … I’m
glad they were
recognized
for
it.
Obviously,
they can’t do it
without a lot of
help from other people, but good
for them, they both deserve to be
nominated and recognized for
the starts they’ve had so far.”
The pair – in conjunction with
senior forward Dexter Dancs –
are no strangers to the spotlight
as almost 40% of Michigan’s
total points run through them.
But are either of them worthy
of the highest honor in collegiate
hockey?
Let’s put it in context of the
Wolverines’ biggest and most
successful series of the season
thus far.
Mariucci Arena – Minnesota’s
home rink – is one of the most
hostile environments in all of
college
hockey,
but
Marody
managed to give Michigan a 3-1
lead both Friday and Saturday.
They
were
much-needed
insurance goals
to solidify its two
victories.
Calderone,
despite
his
uncommon goal-
less
weekend,
racked up three
assists,
one
of
which
was
to
Dancs to get the
Wolverines on the board first
Friday.
To say that Marody and
Calderone generated all of the
Michigan offense this weekend
would be a farce, as the sweep
can be attributed to a complete
revival – a rev of the Wolverines’
offensive engine.
“You see one guy working,
shoveling, and then maybe three
or four guys just leaning on their
shovels watching, and I think
we’ve been a little bit like that,”
Pearson said. “Lately, all the guys
are getting their hands dirty.”
Junior
forward
Brendan
Warren
certainly
can
be
considered one of those guys,
netting two goals Friday that
ultimately helped award him the
Big Ten First Star of the Week.
However, their
combined
plus-
minus of three
is worth noting
to consider the
impact of their
prowess.
At face value,
Calderone’s
team-leading 15
goals
–
which
ties for seventh
in
the
nation
– and Marody’s 31 points are
considerable accolades. But, the
recent success of the pair wasn’t
always a given in the up-and-
down season the Wolverines are
having.
They were scoreless against
Ohio
State
in
Columbus,
Michigan State in East Lansing
and Notre Dame in South Bend.
While the Michigan offense – if
one were to look at the season
in its entirety – has been reliant
on Marody and Calderone, their
performance has ultimately been
inconsistent.
“I
think
this
weekend
might’ve shown that we can do it
against good teams,” Calderone
said of the Selection Committee’s
process. “But they’ve probably
looked at our whole season and
I think we’ve done pretty well
… but last weekend definitely
helped.”
If the weekend against the
Golden Gophers tells fans one
thing, it’s that the Wolverines’
play is much better when the pair
is on its game.
And the question remains, can
they keep it up?
The
Hobey
Baker
Award
Selection Committee will be
watching.
ROBERT HEFTER
Daily Sports Editor
KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
Senior forward Tony Calderone was nominated for the Hobey Baker award, along with junior forward Cooper Marody.
“Obviously, you
know they’ve
had good
years.”
“Lately, all the
guys are getting
their hands
dirty.”