8A — Wednesday, March 28, 2018
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Notebook: Yaklich familiar with Loyola-Chicago
If you had Loyola-Chicago
in your Final Four, the rest of us
would like to know about the 2018
midterm elections, tomorrow’s
lottery numbers and the date of
the Game of Thrones season nine
premiere.
The Ramblers have been the
darlings of March Madness, as
they enter San Antonio with all
the support that comes with being
an underdog. But the allure of
Loyola-Chicago rests in that they
were — and still are, to an extent
— unknown.
Unless
you’re
Michigan
assistant coach Luke Yaklich.
Prior to joining the Wolverines,
the defensive maestro went 7-1
against the Ramblers in his four
seasons spent at Illinois State as
an assistant coach and is familiar,
at least fundamentally, with coach
Porter Moser’s style of play.
“Coach
Moser
is
an
unbelievable coach ... you have
to be locked in on both ends of
the floor,” Yaklich said. “It’s
gonna be a dog fight. His teams
reflect his personality. They’re
prepared, they get better, tough
and they have a bunch of really
great kids that have been through
the Missouri Valley and non-
conference wars.
“Loyola is obviously gonna
have
our
full
attention
all
week, and we’re
thrilled with the
opportunity
to
play in the Final
Four
against
a
really good and
well-coached
team.”
Yaklich
has
been the architect
of
Michigan’s
top-five
defense
that has propelled
them to the Final Four. His
expertise
could
help
lead
the
Wolverines
past
Loyola-
Chicago and into the National
Championship game.
C.J. Baird becomes a fan
favorite
Besides
the
victories
themselves, there was a clear-
cut,
feel-good
moment
from
Michigan’s
second
weekend
matchups — C.J. Baird’s last-
minute 3-pointer in the blowout
over Texas A&M.
The walk-on freshman had
scored only once this season — a
layup — against Alabama A&M on
Dec. 21.
“It’s the best
feeling
of
my
life,” Baird said.
“I told Ibi Watson
when I got in
there I’m gonna
shoot it and he
said, ‘Okay, do
it then.’ I was
kinda
nervous
when
(Jaaron
Simmons) called
me because I’m
like, ‘Oh, they actually want me
to do this.’ I didn’t think they’d
actually let me do it.”
The
nearly
30-foot
shot
catapulted Baird into Twitter
fame. Besides a couple thousand
mentions to his name, former
Cleveland Browns quarterback
and Texas A&M alum Johnny
Manziel also tweeted at Baird,
“Final
four
bound
@baird_
cj#IfYouCantBeatEmJoinEm”
and promised an appearance in
San Antonio.
Baird also scored a video
interview with The Ringer that
racked up 146,000 views.
While the shot put the walk-on
in the spotlight, it also brought
attention to the rest of the scout
team for their efforts in game
preparation
throughout
the
season.
Football coaches react to
Michigan basketball success
There is one thing that the
football and basketball teams
clearly have in common: elite
defense.
On
Tuesday,
defensive
coordinator Don Brown spoke
with the media and talked not only
about his team’s improvements
over the offseason, but he also
marvelled at the basketball team’s
hard-nosed play.
“They’re doing everything,”
Brown said. “The point guard,
(Zavier)
Simpson?
He’s
an
impressive guy. Boy, I remember
watching him and l’m like, he’s a
dude now.
“Let’s get him out there, I’m
sure coach (Jim Harbaugh) would
love that. I’m enjoying the ride
like everybody else.”
Harbaugh also raved about
how the basketball team and
his coaching counterpart, John
Beilein, have ascended to once-
unthinkable ranks.
Unlike
Brown,
Harbaugh
wasn’t reserved about his praise
for the team.
“They’re beasts,” he said. “I
don’t think I’m going too far on a
limb here, I think that the way the
team played (against Texas A&M),
they could’ve beat the Los Angeles
Lakers. ... Guys were attacking
on both ends of the floor on the
offensive side and the defensive
side. So much excitement for
Coach Beilein and his staff and the
team. And onward.”
SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily
Assistant coach Luke Yaklich has some experience with Loyola-Chicago, as he coached against them at his last job.
After coaching in the same conference as the Ramblers, Yaklich has familiarity
ETHAN WOLFE
Daily Sports Editor
“Coach
Moser is an
unbelievable
coach.”
Wolverines sweep their
home, weekend series
The
homecoming
was
everything
the
Michigan
women’s tennis team could have
hoped for.
After
11
straight
away
matches — including a 5-2
victory at Minnesota on Friday
—
the
Wolverines
returned
to the Varsity Tennis Center
and secured a 7-0 win against
Purdue to remain undefeated in
Big Ten play.
“It’s been a tough stretch for
the girls,” said Michigan coach
Ronni Bernstein. “It’s definitely
good to be home. We played
really well today too, which was
a bonus. We’re starting to put it
together which is nice.”
Added
sophomore
Chiara
Lommer: “It was really nice
having a home crowd. Having
everyone behind us was really
great,
especially
after
that
doubles point. It was just a really
good, positive atmosphere and
we felt really confident being
back home after the tough away
conditions.”
Over
the
course
of
the
weekend,
the
Wolverines
dominated singles play, winning
11 of 12 matches.
No. 1 junior Kate Fahey
continued
her
dominance
with a 6-4, 6-2 win Friday, and
rolled Purdue’s Silvio Ambrosio
6-0, 6-2, on Sunday. Ambrosio
fought off a match point, but in
the end, Fahey took advantage
of Ambrosio’s slice return and
used the slow-moving ball to
drill the shot down the line. The
Boilermaker could barely muster
a shot back as the return landed
in the net.
Fahey was the first off the
court, so all she could do was
wait and watch her teammates
pick off each Purdue player one
by one.
No. 5 senior Mira Ruder-Hook
followed closely behind with a
6-2, 6-0 win of her own, and it
became a race between No. 6
sophomore Lera Patiuk and No. 3
Lommer to see who could clinch
the match for the Wolverines.
Within seconds of each other,
Patiuk, then Lommer, won their
matches
off
of
Boilermaker
errors.
No. 2 junior Brienne Minor
was the final Michigan point.
Her first set was a grind, and
required a tiebreaker. Minor
jumped out to a 6-1 lead, and
while Alex Sabe threatened a
comeback, Minor escaped with
a 7-5 win in the tiebreaker.
She took the second set easily,
breezing to a 6-1 victory.
The Wolverines usually rely
on singles play to make up for
their lackluster doubles play.
Michigan dropped the doubles
point Friday but won it Sunday,
leaving much to be desired.
Though shaky doubles play
isn’t the end-all be-all for the
Wolverines, but it’s just another
facet they need to keep working
on if they hope to stay undefeated
in
the
Big
Ten,
especially
with matches against No. 5
Northwestern and No. 6 Illinois
approaching in two weeks.
“We just gained a little bit
of confidence,” Bernstein said.
“You start believing in yourself
and you figure out how to get the
four points. I think as a group
that’s what we’re starting to
figure out and it’s good timing
because we’re in the Big Ten
season which is very important.”
Added Lommer: “Since we’ve
been back in Big Ten season,
we have a different demeanor.
Coming in and knowing we’re
the best and just that first win
(against Iowa) was like, ‘Yeah, we
are the best in this conference’
and we have just been rolling
since then because our attitude
is back and we’re back on top
where we belong.”
Dwumfour has potential to fill in for Hurst
It doesn’t take much to get Don
Brown talking about his defense.
On Tuesday, the defensive
coordinator was asked who,
of the younger guys on the
Michigan football team’s roster,
was competing for playing time
at linebacker. It sent Brown into
a four-minute answer, listing 20
players from all over the defense
who have impressed him in some
way this spring.
He lingered longest while
talking about the Wolverines’
defensive line, naming seven
specific players who stood out
before giving a caveat.
“I just hope I’m not missing
anybody up front,” Brown said.
“Because I really feel very
strongly that we’ll have seven or
eight guys there.”
It makes sense, as the defensive
line was perhaps Michigan’s
deepest position last season.
Its only loss this offseason was
defensive tackle Maurice Hurst,
who graduated.
But the question does remain:
Who will replace Hurst?
Junior defensive end Rashan
Gary was much more brief when
asked who’s stood out in Hurst’s
absence.
“We’ve got this guy, you know,
Jersey kid, (junior defensive
tackle) Michael
Dwumfour,”
Gary said. “He’s
fast off the ball,
just like (Hurst).
It’s
ridiculous.
But, you know,
you’re gonna see
it when the time
comes.”
Maybe there’s
some bias, as
Gary,
a
New
Jersey native himself, admitted
he’s known Dwumfour since the
second grade. Still, though, it’s
high praise from the junior.
In
fact,
it’s
somewhat
surprising
considering
that
Dwumfour has been a bit of a
second fiddle in his time being
recruited and playing for the
Wolverines.
When he graduated from
high school, Dwumfour was a
three-star recruit, according to
247Sports. In Michigan’s 2016
recruiting class that had 13 four
and five-star players, including
three on the defensive line,
Dwumfour
was
overshadowed.
That
isn’t
an
automatic
disqualifier,
but
Wolverine
faithful
weren’t
exactly clamoring
for
Dwumfour’s
arrival.
The same could
be said for his
time on campus
too. Dwumfour has played in just
10 games in his career — nine last
season — and amassed six career
tackles. For the past two seasons,
he’s been mostly an afterthought
at a position that has yielded
multiple NFL players in recent
years.
Hurst’s departure leaves a
question mark on a defense that
otherwise has very few. But
from all accounts, Dwumfour
has returned this season with
a new mindset. He’s made
improvements that have his
teammates taking notice, and he
is smack-dab in the middle of the
conversation for who will take
Hurst’s spot on the interior of the
defensive line.
“I’ve seen a guy, you know,
grow
up,”
said
sophomore
linebacker Devin Bush. “I’ve seen
a guy go through ups and downs.
He was feeling one way, this
way, and he’s down on himself,
then he’s up in spirits. I’ve seen
a guy go through a bunch of
mixed emotions and, you know,
when we’re on the field, he’s
out there working. And you can
see improvement from him and
he has taken a huge jump from
when he first got here.”
Added Brown: “The guy that
was taking great steps a year ago
during Bowl prep was (Michael)
Dwumfour. He hasn’t slowed.”
‘M’ extends win streak,
then falls to Ohio State
The No. 8 Michigan men’s
tennis team split the weekend,
beating Penn State on Saturday,
5-2, before faltering, 6-1, against
No. 2 Ohio State on Sunday.
Saturday’s
match
started
with
inconsistent
doubles,
which was nothing new for the
Wolverines (2-1 Big Ten, 12-3
overall). After winning the first
doubles match, 6-2, Michigan
couldn’t close out any of the
other two matches, losing, 6-2
and 7-6 (4), at second and third
doubles, respectively.
“We served for (the doubles
point)
twice,
and
that’s
happened a lot this year where
we are just not finishing,”
said Michigan coach Adam
Steinberg. “It’s becoming a little
bit of a habit where we have it
in our sights and we’re letting
it go.”
However,
the
Wolverines
rebounded and hit the ground
running during the singles
matches, winning four of the
six
matches
in
convincing
fashion while senior Runhao
Hua grinded out a fifth point in
three sets at No. 1 singles.
“You want to grab that
momentum back as soon as you
can,” Steinberg said. “Davis
(Crocker) did a great job. Carter
(Lin) has had a great year and
finished his opponent pretty
quickly, but that whole side
with Alex (Knight), Davis and
Carter were great yesterday and
brought us to victory.”
Michigan
experienced
another win on Saturday —
freshman
Mattias
Siimar’s
return from injury. Siimar not
only won at No. 1 doubles with
Knight, but also harassed the
Nittany Lions (1-2, 11-7) at No. 5
singles, winning 6-1, 6-2.
“Keeping him off the court is
really tough, but he feels good,
and (he) needed that,” Steinberg
said. “He loves to be on the
court, so I know he was really
dying to get back out there, and
it obviously helps our team. We
need him.”
His return was not enough
to overcome the Buckeyes (3-0,
16-2), though. Despite a lopsided
6-1 defeat, the scoreboard did
not reflect how close many
individual matches were, as
the Wolverines lost two of their
singles matches in third-set
tiebreakers on top of losing the
doubles point, 6-4, 7-5.
“With our team, I think
everyone feels like we have a
chance to win at every position,
which is really good because it
doesn’t really put extra pressure
on anybody,” Steinberg said.
“When you go into Ohio State,
you’re playing on those front
courts against the best players.
“It’s a huge challenge, but it’s
also fun. It’s the atmosphere
you want to play in front of and
I think they grow a lot from it.”
The one win on Sunday came
at No. 4 singles from junior
Myles Schalet, who was the
only player to lose against Penn
State. Playing the No. 42 player
in the country, Schalet closed
out a tight three-set match, 7-6
(1), 4-6, 10-3.
“Today, he handled himself
well when he was down and
hung in there,” Steinberg said.
“(He) was more positive and
played with real good energy
even when he was losing, and
(it) helped him through the
match. And then his best tennis
comes out of that.”
With
conference
season
just
beginning,
Steinberg
continues to play with new
doubles lineups in hopes to
remedy Michigan’s deficiency
in that area. But Steinberg also
looks at the bigger picture. His
takeaways from the weekend
are straightforward.
“We just have to get four
points,” he said. “We don’t have
to get any more than that. So if
we can win the doubles and find
three spots against these top
teams, then that’s all we need.
And we are good enough to do
that against anybody.”
EVAN AARON/Daily
Defensive coordinator Don Brown says that junior defensive tackle Michael Dwumfour has continued to make progress on his game in spring practices.
MIKE PERSAK
Managing Sports Editor
MEN’S TENNIS
AKUL VIJAYVARGIYA
Daily Sports Writer
“He has taken
a huge jump
from when he
first got here.”
WOMEN’S TENNIS
PAIGE VOEFFRAY
Daily Sports Editor