The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SportsMonday
October 29, 2018 — 3B
Michigan falls to No. 7 Wisconsin Friday, No. 3 Minnesota Saturday
Stopping Dana Rettke is a
tall task — both literally and
figuratively.
No. 7 Wisconsin’s 6-foot-
8 sophomore middle blocker
challenged No. 12 Michigan
(18-4 overall, 7-4 Big Ten)
all night, and the injury-
hampered
Wolverines
were
unable to answer in a 25-18,
16-25, 22-25, 25-21, 11-15 loss at
Crisler Center on Friday night.
Rettke, the reigning AVCA
Freshman of the Year, came
into the match leading the Big
Ten in attack percentage. She
continued her efficient stretch
on Friday by leading all players
with a staggering .571 attack
percentage. The 2017 First
Team All-American selection
guided Wisconsin (15-4, 8-3)
to the win by committing just
one error on 35 swings while
putting down 21 kills.
Rettke’s height allowed her
to take advantage of effective
attack angles from the middle
of the court throughout the
match.
When
she
wasn’t
taking an approach in front of
the setter, she was spreading
out Michigan’s defense by
using the slide attack — an
approach
style
where
the
middle blocker runs laterally
until she’s behind the setter
and then jumps
up off one foot.
By approaching
from behind the
setter,
Rettke
made Michigan’s
defense commit
to
double-
blocking
one
pin
or
the
other
before
Wisconsin’s
setter
even
released the ball.
“Our game plan to defend
the slide and the middles in
general was to serve the ball
very aggressively so that they
couldn’t set it to them,” said
senior libero Jenna Lerg. “At
times, we executed that very
well. Other times, they had
some chances and they took
them. On the plays you can’t
stop, you roll it back and get
the next one.”
Midway
through
the
opening set, the Wolverines
trailed Wisconsin by three
points. Coming out of the
media
timeout,
Michigan’s
trio of junior setter MacKenzi
Welsh, senior outside hitter
Carly Skjodt and freshman
outside
hitter
Paige
Jones
spearheaded a 13-3 run to close
the first set. At the end of the
opening frame, Skjodt had
nine kills on 18 swings with
only one error, Jones had four
kills on nine errorless swings
and Welsh led all players with
10 assists.
Skjodt’s nine kills in the first
set marked the beginning of
one of her best performances
of the season. She finished
the match with 27 kills, her
second-highest tally of the
season.
“Carly has been our most
dominant player in all aspects
of the game for the entire
season,” Lerg said. “We can’t
really try to ride her 71 swings
against a team like Wisconsin,
but I think she did a great job
with those 71 attempts — she
does everything she can to
put the team on her back. I’m
honored to play next to her,
and I’m excited to see what
else she can do this season.”
“Carly is a warrior right
now,” Rosen added. “She’s
definitely taking way more
swings than we’d like and way
more swings than she’d like.
She’s doing everything she
can right now. Carly’s a great
competitor, a great leader, and
a great volleyball player. She’s
trying to carry as much of the
load as possible.”
After the emphatic first-
set run, Michigan fell behind
early in the second frame. In
an attempt to recapture the
momentum, the Wolverines
took some aggressive swings —
thus leaving them more prone
to error. Instead of pummeling
kills into the hardwood of
Crisler
Center,
Michigan
committed eight attack errors
compared
to
Wisconsin’s
two, and the Badgers outhit
the Wolverines .448 to .125.
Despite a handful of dramatic
diving digs from Lerg, the
Wolverines dropped the set,
25-16.
In the third set, Michigan’s
ineffective execution yielded
another low attack percentage
— this time just .049 — and
Wisconsin took advantage once
again. The Wolverines found
themselves really missing the
size and impact of two injured
front-row
starters:
6-foot-3
redshirt junior middle blocker
Cori
Crocker
and
6-foot-1
junior opposite
hitter
Sydney
Wetterstrom.
Before
going
down
with
their
respective
injuries,
Crocker
led
the
team
in
blocks
and
Wetterstrom
provided
a
reliable
back-set
option
for
Welsh.
Perhaps
most
importantly,
their
court
leadership as upperclassmen
seemed absent in the loss
against Wisconsin — without
their
presence,
freshman
middle blocker Kayla Bair and
redshirt sophomore opposite
Ellie Brooks were called upon
in their place. Brooks and Bair
weren’t an efficient duo on
Friday night; they combined
for an attack percentage of
-.071, meaning the sum of their
errors exceeded the sum of
their kills.
At this point, Rosen is
focused
on
how
to
make
the most of what Michigan
will be working with for the
foreseeable future. Without
timetables on Crocker and
Wetterstrom, the Wolverines
need to concentrate on how
they can tackle their upcoming
slate of Big Ten matches while
they remain sidelined.
“We can’t focus on what
we don’t have — we have to
focus on what we have and
how we’re going to get better,”
Rosen said. “I look at it as
opportunities — (Brooks and
Bair) are having opportunities
right now (on the court) and
we’re
having
opportunities
to develop them, but we need
to take the opportunities. We
can’t throw hands in the air;
we have to get better.”
When the Badgers jumped
out to an 8-1 lead to open the
fourth set, Michigan spent
most of the frame chipping
away at the early deficit. After
a Wisconsin coach’s challenge
revealed a net foul on Carly
Skjodt, the Wolverines knew
they needed to come up with
an answer for Rettke before
the match slipped away.
With the end of the set
nearing, Michigan turned to
sophomore
middle
blocker
Kiara Shannon for a handful
of big kills. By using different
approaches and tempos to
set the ball to Shannon, the
Wolverines opened up hitting
angles around Rettke and her
Badger counterparts. Although
Shannon finished the match
with just eight kills, she made
her presence felt on defense
by tying her career-high with
seven blocks. Michigan battled
back relentlessly, eventually
trimming Wisconsin’s lead to
just three points at 21-18.
Then, with Carly Skjodt at
the service line, the Wolverines
pulled off the improbable —
Michigan won an astounding
seven
consecutive
points
while completely turning the
momentum of the entire match
in the process. The run was
underscored by the sights and
sounds of the final point of set
four: Skjodt’s back row kill —
which was accompanied by the
tune of the traditional “Let’s!
Go! Blue!” from the home
fans in correspondence to the
bump, set and spike — sent
Crisler Center into a frenzy
and forced a decisive fifth set.
But
to
the
Wolverines’
demise,
Wisconsin
came
out firing on all cylinders
in the fifth set. The Badgers
put
together
a
potent
offensive attack in the final
frame, posting a .304 attack
percentage in comparison to
Michigan’s .174 clip. After a
hard-fought battle, Wisconsin
came
away
with
a
15-11
victory in the tiebreaking set.
When the dust settled, the
Badgers’ unrivaled size and
physicality
triumphed
over
the Wolverines’ predictable
offense.
“The bottom line is we didn’t
have enough balance to our
offense,” Rosen said. “We were
way too one dimensional.”
The Wolverines fell to the Badgers after five sets on Friday.
DARBY STIPE/Daily
Senior libero Jenna Lerg finished Saturday’s match against Minnesota with a team-high 19 digs and multiple aces.
ALEC COHEN/Daily
Sophomore middle blocker Kiara Shannon posted two kills out of 16 swings in Saturday night’s loss to No. 3 Minnesota in three straight sets.
DANIEL DASH
For the Daily
With a trio of starters sidelined
due to injury, the No. 12 Michigan
volleyball
team
(18-5
overall,
7-5 Big Ten) struggled to find
consistency in a 25-27, 10-25, 20-25
loss to No. 3 Minnesota (18-2, 12-0)
on Saturday night.
Redshirt junior middle blocker
Cori Crocker (ankle), junior setter
MacKenzi
Welsh
(concussion)
and
junior
opposite
Sydney
Wetterstrom (undisclosed) were
all unable to suit up against the
Golden
Gophers,
who
came
into the match riding a 12-game
winning streak dating back to
Sept. 9.
On Saturday, freshman middle
blocker Kayla Bair and junior
opposite
Katarina
Glavinic
assumed the roles of Crocker
and Wetterstrom, respectively,
while the tandem of junior setter
Katerina Rocafort and senior
setter Maddy Abbott ran the
offense in place of Welsh. In
a sport where momentum is a
driving force, the Wolverines’
makeshift lineup put them at a
crucial disadvantage.
“It’s definitely a challenge, but
I think we handled it very well,”
said freshman outside hitter Paige
Jones. “We just figured out this
morning that Welsh wasn’t going
to play, so this morning’s practice
was when we first got our setters
going. Rocafort hasn’t set in three
years, but I think Abbott and
Rocafort came in and did a great
job in their roles and everyone
else did a fantastic job. Everyone
is working hard to get healthy and
get back.”
Added Michigan coach Mark
Rosen: “Tonight, we were forced
into being very different. Different
is what we were dealt, but at the
same time, I think we need to
focus on the way we play when we
play well. I feel for those kids —
they were put into a situation and
it’s tough. Nobody wants to have
as much unexpected change as we
had today.”
Welsh’s injury in particular
caused trouble for Michigan. In
an offense that has taken a leap
forward from last year, Welsh has
been the puppet master behind
the success. Her chemistry with
senior outside hitter Carly Skjodt,
Jones and the rest of the offense
has helped tremendously with the
Wolverines’ efficiency. Because
Michigan lacks a backup setter,
Rosen opted to use a 6-2 offense
— a system that features two
setters who take turns running
the offense depending on which
one is in the back row at a given
moment — instead of the team’s
usual system. On Saturday night,
Rosen turned to Abbott, who
has only played a limited role as
a serving specialist this season,
and Rocafort, who hasn’t run an
offense in three years.
“Rocafort and Abbot had to go
from roles they’re comfortable
with
to
roles
they’re
not
comfortable with,” Rosen said.
“Rocafort hasn’t set in three years,
and Abbott hasn’t set at all this
year, so it’s a tough position for
them to be in. The situation forced
them into that, and I thought
they did a great job. All things
considered, they gave us what they
had. I’m proud of them for that and
I’m proud of our team for the way
they handled adversity as best they
could.”
Despite having the odds stacked
against them, the Wolverines
looked ready for the challenge
coming out of the gates. Without
Welsh at the helm, Abbott and
Rocafort
guided
Michigan’s
offense to a 20-16 lead to start
the match. After seeing Skjodt
take an astounding 71 swings in
Friday night’s loss to Wisconsin,
Jones knew that Abbott and
Rocafort would rely heavily on her
production against the Gophers.
“I was ready to embrace the
pressure,” Jones said. “I know my
teammates trust me and I know I
trust them, so I just go out every
game and do what they need
me to do. Coach told us to come
out, swing at the ball, and go for
everything without holding back.
It was a tough battle tonight.”
Jones did just that in an effort
where she posted one of the best
stat lines of her young career. At the
end of the first set, Jones boasted a
staggering .417 attack percentage
after tallying 11 kills on 24 swings
with just one hitting error.
But Michigan failed to capitalize
on a pair of set points and a block
by Minnesota’s Regan Pittman —
a 6-foot-5 middle blocker — gave
the Gophers a 27-25 victory in
the opening frame. In addition to
her set-clinching block, Pittman
finished the match with 10 kills
on just 18 swings, many of which
came in the form of “slides” and
“shoots” — volleyball terminology
for shorter, faster sets to a middle
blocker in different locations along
the net. Pittman did most of her
damage by utilizing a lateral, one-
legged approach from behind the
setter.
“We try to go get out early, get
our feet set, stop in front of them
and take away shots so we can
defend around it,” Jones said.
On
Saturday,
Pittman’s
powerful
arm-swing
and
unrivaled vertical leap proved to
be too much for the Wolverines
to handle. Despite being unable to
close the set on a high note, Rosen
was proud of his team’s execution
in the opening frame.
“We played great in the first
set,”
Rosen
said.
“We
were
aggressive, we were going after it,
and I thought our attackers were
really going for hands and kills
whenever they could to put the
ball away.”
Following a closely contested
opening set, the second frame was
an entirely different story. The
Gophers floored the gas pedal from
the get-go, steamrolling Michigan
en route to a final score of 25-10.
Minnesota’s
potent
offensive
attack delivered a .462 attack
percentage, while the Wolverines’
abysmal performance led to a
minus-.059 clip. On defense, the
Golden
Gophers
out-blocked
Michigan 6-0 in the second set
and 14-0 during the course of the
match.
“In the second set, we just
flinched a little bit,” Rosen said.
“It let a little air out of the sails
when we couldn’t pull out that
first set. That’s something we need
to get better at — no matter what
lineup is on the floor, we want to
keep our level of energy and our
level of execution consistent. We
dropped down some and that was
unfortunate.”
Although the third set was
closer
than
the
second,
the
Wolverines never held the lead.
Minnesota opened the frame with
a 4-0 spurt and never looked back.
Perhaps the lone bright spot of the
set was senior libero Jenna Lerg’s
performance. Lerg finished the
match with a team-high 19 digs
while no other Wolverine notched
double-figures. She also made
her mark from the service line
as the only Michigan player with
multiple aces. But when it was all
said and done, the Gophers came
out on top, 25-20.
“After the second set, we talked
about the fact that we have nothing
to lose,” Jones said. “They’re
ranked third in the nation and they
were up two sets, so the pressure
was on them to finish. We had
nothing to lose so we wanted to go
all out in the third set.”
At a glance, the numbers
indicate
that
Minnesota
was
able to dictate the physicality of
the match because Michigan’s
middle blockers were ineffective
all night long. Freshman Kayla
Bair, filling in for Crocker, finished
the night with a minus-.143
attack percentage after recording
more errors than kills. Bair’s
counterpart, sophomore middle
blocker Kiara Shannon, struggled
mightily as well, posting just two
kills on the night despite taking 16
swings. Numbers don’t lie — the
Wolverines lost a key facet of their
offensive attack when it became
evident that their middle blockers
were having a tough time adjusting
to Welsh’s absence.
“With two new setters, the
hardest thing to set is anything
quick (to the middle),” Rosen said.
“We were trying to keep it basic
and get good swings. I don’t think
that was for any other reason than
the fact that we had new players.
We only had 45 minutes today
to work on them connecting,
so I think (Bair and Shannon’s
inefficiency) was by design tonight
to try to keep it simple.”
Once the Gophers picked up
on this fact, Minnesota was able
to commit two blockers to Skjodt
and Jones on the outside pin. As a
result, Skjodt was held to just eight
kills on 37 swings one night after
registering 27 kills against the
Badgers.
Outside of Lerg’s dominant
performance in the back row, the
rest of Michigan’s defense had a
tough night. Without their normal
system in place, the Wolverines
looked lost — communication
errors, a new serve receive rotation
and
unfamiliar
combinations
of players prevented them from
finding any consistency in the back
row.
“Unfortunately,
we
had
different personnel on the floor in
different positions, so defensively,
we dropped down as well,” Rosen
said.
At the end of the night,
Michigan’s
makeshift
lineup
simply couldn’t get the job done
against one of the nation’s top
teams. With Crocker, Wetterstrom,
and Welsh all watching from the
bench, the Wolverines looked
helpless when trying to provide an
answer for an offense that boasted
a .364 clip on the night.
“The players are doing the
best they can, but that’s why you
have a system,” Rosen said. “It
helps to organize your play and
create consistency within your
execution. When you change the
system at the last minute, you can’t
expect (the execution) will stay
the same. Tonight, we were forced
into being very different. Different
is what we were dealt, but at the
same time, we need to focus on the
way we play when we play well.”
The Golden Gophers stuffed Michigan in three straight sets.
“Carly has
been our most
dominant
player.”
DANIEL DASH
For the Daily