6A — Thursday, March 22, 2018
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Walk-ons take in March Madness

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — C.J. 

Baird was enamored with his 
surroundings.

The 
walk-on 
freshman 

continually scanned his locker 
up and down, jimmied his feet 
through his white Jordans and 
sent Snapchats of the covered 
nameplate beside his own name 
at the top — it belonged to Los 
Angeles Clippers forward Danilo 
Gallinari. The scene was an image 
custom-fit to a childhood dream.

While 
reporters 
swarmed 

the typical starters, Baird and 
his 
fellow 
walk-on 
freshmen 

teammates — Luke Wilson, Rico 
Ozuna-Harrison and Naji Ozeir — 
stood up from their quiet corner 
and surveyed the room to find the 
lockers of Lou Williams and Tobias 
Harris, two of their numerous NBA 
inspirations.

The 
wide-eyed 
walk-ons 

weren’t surrounded by cameras 
and voice recorders. The meager 
foot traffic by their lockers wasn’t 
a surprise, though — they aren’t 
going to see the floor for Thursday’s 
Sweet Sixteen matchup against 
Texas A&M. Even for their first 
road trip of the season last weekend 
in Wichita, the NCAA Tournament 
aura of InTrust Bank Arena wasn’t 
the most jaw-dropping spot to be — 
Ozeir justified it as having a role in 
“the bigger picture.”

But 
now 
in 
Los 
Angeles, 

practicing for a Tournament game 
under the storied Staples Center 
rafters, the newly-travelled walk-
ons are understanding what it 
feels like to hit the road and get 
star treatment as members of one 
of the highest ranked teams in the 
country. You can’t blame them for 
having trouble taking it in stride.

“We’re all in awe and taking 

everything in and they’re just like 
‘Yeah, this is what you do when 
you travel,’ ” Baird said. “It makes 
us feel more welcome and more 
accepted.”

Accepted 
is 
the 
operative 

word here. The freshmen admit 

not travelling with the team 
throughout the season can lead to 
an isolated nature. They didn’t even 
know until just after the Big Ten 
Tournament that they would get 
to come with the team for March 
Madness. Ozuna-Harrison even 
said some of his teammates had 
to calm his nerves before the first 
flight.

Their dedication, of course, 

doesn’t go unnoticed on the team. 
Coach John Beilein lightheartedly 
labels them and junior forward 
Brent Hibbitts the “Fab Five” that 
compose the scout team. With an 
upcoming date against a lengthy, 
athletic Aggies team that boasts 
three starters 6-foot-9 or taller, it 
is up to the scout team — none of 
which are taller than 6-foot-8 — to 
do what they’ve done all season and 
emulate their opponent.

“It’s definitely a bigger role, 

mimicking the other person,” Ozeir 
said. “Just trying to do what they 
do. They’re a much bigger team 
so the emphasis is guarding post 
players.”

Added Ozuna-Harrison: “You 

always know exactly what the 
other team does. Being a guard, 
and we’re not playing a team that 
has guards that take a whole lot of 
shots, we know to just give it to the 
post. Stuff like that, we know our 
personnel.”

With a difficult opponent for the 

most high-stakes challenge of the 
season, they do the dirty work no 
one else wants to do. It’s a position 
vital to the team’s success, and 
another reason to celebrate their 
presence at the tournament.

“Everybody was excited (they 

were coming),” said senior guard 
Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman. 
“They put so much into it, as much 
as we do. They don’t get any credit 
for it and you don’t see what they 
do. They definitely deserve to come 
on the trips and definitely deserve 
everything that we get.”

Off the court, Michigan hardly 

gives itself time for other activities. 
In “the spirit of staying focused,” 
according to Baird, their time is 
spent playing Xbox or eating meals 
together. Time for yourself isn’t 
really an option on a trip like this, 
which is why at least two players 
volunteer every trip to bring a game 
console. The walk-ons were always 
familiar with this ritual — another 
small gesture that makes the trip 
that much more special for them.

Unlike Wilson and Ozeir, Baird 

and Ozuna-Harrison were added 
to the roster after the beginning of 
the University’s fall semester. But 
needless to say, it didn’t matter how 
long they had been with the team. 
Baird’s disbelief in getting this far 
echoed the group’s mentality.

“Never could’ve dreamed,” he 

said, “of anything this good.”

SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily

Naji Ozeir (right) doesn’t usually travel to Michigan’s away games.

ETHAN WOLFE
Daily Sports Editor

Michigan beats CMU, 5-0, in home opener

First it was a trickle. Then it was 

a flood.

For the No. 17 Michigan softball 

team (23-6 overall), the first five 
innings of Wednesday’s home 
opener against Central Michigan 
— an eventual 5-0 win — seemed 
to be the same story ad nauseam. A 
hard-hit ball that found a glove. An 
infield single erased on a double 
play. A shot that looked destined 
for the seats, only to die on the 
warning track.

Rinse. Repeat.
Until the floodgates opened.
At first, the game was a pitcher’s 

duel between senior right-hander 
Tera Blanco and the Chippewas’ 
Taylor Weaver. Both pitchers 
faced the minimum through three 
innings. The lone baserunner for 
either team — a swinging-bunt 
single by sophomore outfielder 
Haley 
Hoogenraad 
— 
was 

promptly erased when junior 
catcher Katie Alexander lined into 
a double play.

“They’re just extra pumped, 

they’re extra excited to be at home, 
and I worry about the distraction,” 
said 
Michigan 
coach 
Carol 

Hutchins. “ … I thought we were 
anxious a little bit at the plate, 
trying too hard and we weren’t 
very relaxed.”

The fourth inning provided 

some hope for the Wolverines. 
Junior second baseman Faith 
Canfield led off with a walk and 
junior centerfielder Natalie Peters 
followed with an infield single. 
Blanco stepped up to the plate and 
launched a long, arcing fly ball. 
The crowd held their collective 
breaths, but the wind — a cold, 
gusty breeze that blew straight in 
for the majority of the game — had 
other plans. What could have been 
a game-defining home run was 
instead a routine flyout.

And in the fifth, Michigan’s 

pitching — which had kept it in the 
game up to that point — sprung a 
leak. Hutchins, wanting to get all 
her pitchers a look in front of the 
home crowd, removed a dealing 

Blanco for freshman left-hander 
Meghan Beaubien. But Beaubien 
wasn’t herself. First she gave up a 
leadoff double. Then she stopped 
throwing strikes.

Though Beaubien got a quick 

out on a popped-up bunt, she got 
to a 3-0 count on the next hitter 
before forcing a groundout. With 
the following two batters, she 
wasn’t as lucky. Both drew walks.

Hutchins had enough. She 

called Blanco back 
into the circle.

“I 
think 

Beaubien 
just 

kind of felt off,” 
Hutchins 
said. 

“And I think she 
let that affect her 
a little bit. … She 
never really got 
a chance to get 
going.”

But 
Blanco 

came in pumped up. She had been 
lights-out all game and this time 
was no different. The next batter 
hit a chopper right to Canfield. 
Inning over.

And just as Blanco had flipped 

the switch off for the Chippewas, 
she flipped it on for the Wolverines.

With runners on first and 

second in the bottom of the sixth, 
Blanco launched a ball deep to 
center. This time, there was no 
leather in sight as the ball dropped 

for a double that made the score 
1-0.

“All 
the 
game 
we 
just 

needed that one hit that started 
everything,” Canfield said. “It 
gave everyone confidence and I 
mean … one leads to another and 
another and another.”

Indeed, one hit led to another 

(a two-RBI double by sophomore 
third baseman Madison Uden) and 
another (a single from freshman 

designated 
player Lou Allan 
that 
brought 

Uden 
home) 

and another (a 
double down the 
left-field line to 
move runners to 
second and third 
with only one 
out).

By the time 

the parade had 

ended, the Wolverines had scored 
five runs, and suddenly a tense 
duel was anything but.

“It was just a matter of time,” 

Blanco said. “ … We came through 
at the end.”

Ten pitches from freshman 

right-hander Sarah Schaefer later, 
the side was retired. The game 
was over.

And the struggles that had 

seemed so potent until the sixth 
had been washed away.

MATT VAILLIENCOURT/Daily

Tera Blanco pitched well in Michigan’s 5-0 win over Central Michigan.

ARIA GERSON
Daily Sports Writer

“It was just a 

matter of time. 

We came through 

at the end.”

In women’s athletics, Rosen has seen transformative changes

In observance of Women’s History 

Month, The Daily launches a series 
aimed at telling the stories of female 
athletes, coaches and teams at the 
University from the perspective of 
the female sports writers on staff. 
Daily sports editor Paige Voeffray 
continues the series with this story.

Mark Rosen is a man living in a 

woman’s world. When he started 
his career, he was faced with a 
choice: stick to what was familiar 
and coach men’s sports, or venture 
to the women’s game. Choosing the 
latter, he has seen first-hand the 
struggles female college athletes 
face: Lack of crowds, lack of 
funding and lack of respect.

Many others would have stuck 

with the men.

But Rosen grew fond of coaching 

women. He’s been the Michigan 
women’s volleyball coach for 19 
seasons now.

“I think they’re way more 

coachable,” said Rosen. “They’re 
way more willing to listen. There 
are some personality differences 
that I think are really unique that 
I really like the side of women’s 
personalities. They really take 
to heart wanting feedback and 
wanting to get better.

“I think you spend more time 

with women trying to convince 
them that they’re better than they 
think they are, and guys you spend 
more time convincing them they’re 
not as good as they think they are.”

Before his tenure as a coach, 

Rosen never would have dreamed 
of being a women’s volleyball coach, 
let alone a volleyball coach at all.

After growing up an avid hockey 

player 
in 
Anchorage, 
Alaska, 

Rosen knew that he wanted to 
coach when his playing days were 
over. Throughout high school 
and the beginning of college, 
Rosen realized that his hobby of 
playing volleyball was something 
much more than that. So, he took 
his talents to California State 
University at Northridge to try his 
hand as a Division I varsity men’s 
volleyball player.

Combining his desire to be 

a coach and natural volleyball 
IQ, Rosen became a student of 
the game and, after 26 years of 

coaching, it has surely paid off.

***
Rosen’s 
first 
coaching 

experience was back where it all 
began — his former high school. 
He never worried that he wouldn’t 
understand the different playing 
styles or how to coach women, 
because he was too busy simply 
trying to learn how to coach, 
period.

As 
Rosen 
eventually 
left 

high school volleyball to pursue 
a coaching career at a more 
competitive 
level, 
he 
never 

ventured to the men’s game. In 
part, it has to do with the number 
of programs — there are over 1,000 
NCAA women’s volleyball teams, 
while the men have yet to break 
100. But even though Rosen was a 
player himself, there’s something 
about the women’s game that 
speaks to him.

“I like the women’s game more 

because it’s more rally oriented 
and more defensively oriented, 
whereas the men’s is more just raw 
power,” Rosen said. “I don’t even 
like watching the guys’ games. … 

It’s entertaining, but to me it’s not 
as tactically intriguing because it’s 
just more physical — set the best 
player, he gets up and gets a kill, 
rally over.

“In the women’s game, I think 

there’s way more tactics and way 
more adjustments you can make 
and things you can do to tactically 
be involved in the game.”

The style of play is truly the only 

difference Rosen 
sees 
between 

the 
men’s 
and 

women’s 
games. 

In fact, he believes 
thinking of them 
differently 
is 
a 

problem of its own.

At 
the 
end 

of the day, his 
athletes want to 
compete and win. 
He disregards the 
characterization that there will be 
more drama, and social lives are 
more important than the sport just 
because they’re women. Rosen was 
a player himself, and he can recall 
plenty of drama and “guys that 

wanted to beat the heck out of each 
other” on his team.

It’s not specific to women’s 

sports. It’s specific to being an 
athlete.

***
Just because Rosen views men’s 

and women’s sports the same, 
doesn’t 
mean 
everyone 
does. 

Rosen has had a front row seat to 
the struggles women’s sports have 

been through, but 
he credits those 
that came before 
him for why his 
volleyball 
team 

is at the level it is 
today.

He 
recalls 

softball 
coach 

Carol 
Hutchins, 

before she was the 
winningest coach 
in NCAA softball 

history, when she held a second job 
as the athletic director’s assistant. 
Sure, she was the head softball 
coach at a huge public school, but 
she would spend her evenings 
raking her own fields while she 

watched an entire grounds crew 
take care of the baseball field. But 
the dues she paid paved the way 
for the next generation.

He recalls Bev Plocki applied 

for three gymnastics coaching 
jobs. One for a Division III school, 
one for a Division II school and 
the other at Michigan. She didn’t 
get the other jobs and has been the 
Wolverines’ coach for 29 seasons. 
It is suspected she was offered 
the job because they thought she 
wouldn’t make waves, but instead 
they got a coach who hasn’t been 
afraid to speak her mind and 
has been a champion for women 
athletes. 

With the introduction of Title 

IX, women’s programs began 
establishing themselves across 
the country. Progress was slow, 
but it was happening. As each new 
generation sees powerful women 
athletes, the stigma surrounding 
them will disappear. Rosen still 
has friends that are shocked to 
hear how much time his athletes 
spend in the weight room, on the 
track and with a dietician.

His athletes are all in and are 

committed to being the best, and 
it’s time people started seeing that.

“My mom is a super competitive 

person, but she couldn’t be an 
athlete because there was no 
opportunity for her. I didn’t look 
at her when I was a kid as, ‘Hey 
there’s my mom, the athlete and 
competitive 
person,’ 
” 
Rosen 

said. “Well then there’s my wife 
(associate head volleyball coach 
Leisa Rosen), who was an All-
American, she was a scholarship 
athlete, she was a Big Ten Player 
of the Year, she was the Ohio State 
Athlete of the Year, she’s in the 
Hall of Fame.

“My kids are so much more in 

tune with and proud of her athletic 
career than mine. … They’ll brag 
about Leisa, and think about how 
cool that is that we have two guys 
that see their mom as an athlete.”

Women’s sports have come so 

far in such a short amount of time, 
and Rosen only sees their success 
increasing in the future.

“The men’s sports have had a 

75-year head start. Michigan really 
didn’t take women’s athletics 
seriously really until the mid-80s, 
maybe the late-80s. They’ve only 
been really committed to it for 
30-40 years versus the men side’s 
been (committed for) 150 years,” 
Rosen said. “Are we catching 
up and are we making moves? I 
absolutely think so.

“It’s so exciting to see where 

volleyball’s going and I try to 
project ahead and think, ‘What 
about 25 years from now? What 
will it be like?’ I honestly believe 
there will be pro leagues, I 
honestly believe there will be 
more and more sold-out venues 
and we will be making revenue. 
That’s totally conceivable to me. 
(Men’s athletics) just had a head 
start.”

The future of volleyball is still 

unknown, just as the future of 
women’s sports is unknown. But 
if Rosen has any control of the 
future, change is coming. He sees 
dedicated fans that are hooked on 
volleyball, he sees packed arenas 
for games and he sees an increase 
in quality female coaches.

But 
most 
importantly, 
he 

sees a future without stigma 
surrounding women’s athletics. 

FILE PHOTO

Michigan coach Mark Rosen (second from right) has coached the Wolverines for 19 seasons in a long and illustrious career.

PAIGE VOEFFRAY

Daily Sports Editor

“In the women’s 

game, I think 

there’s way more 

tactics ...”

