Lerg, Rosens lead ‘M’ to Sweet 16
As the Michigan volleyball
team’s bench rushed onto the
court to join the dogpile, head
coach Mark Rosen jolted out of
his seat. His wife, associate head
coach Leisa Rosen, threw her
right fist into the air.
Their slew of reactions came
in the moment the Wolverines
(24-9 overall, 11-9 Big Ten)
clinched their berth in the Sweet
Sixteen with an upset win over
No. 12 Pittsburgh (30-2 overall,
17-1 ACC).
Saturday’s
win
adds
yet
another jewel to Mark and Leisa
Rosen’s coaching crown — one
that
already
included
nine
All-Americans, 17 postseason
appearances
and
over
400
victories in their tenure in
Ann Arbor. The Rosens’ most
recent achievement marks their
seventh trip to the Sweet Sixteen
in 20 years at the helm of the
program.
But that’s merely a number to
them.
“I don’t keep track of those
things,” Mark Rosen said. “I
just like the fact that we’re in
the Sweet Sixteen. It’s a great
accomplishment for this team,
but we want to go farther. We’re
not satisfied — we want to go win
the next one.”
To get there, the Rosens first
had to get through Navy, which
presented Michigan with the
challenge of an unconventional
style in the opening round. The
Mids (23-9 overall, 13-3 Patriot
League) won their conference
title, highlighted by the one-
dimensional offense they used
to cruise through the regular
season. Outside hitter Maddi
Sgattoni finished the season
with
1,288
attack
attempts,
over 540 more than any of her
teammates.
After facing six of the AVCA
Coaches Poll’s top-12 teams in
its regular season Big Ten slate,
the Wolverines had adapted to
seeing
well-versed
offensive
attacks. Adjusting to Navy’s one-
woman show posed a challenge,
but the Rosens put a defensive
scheme in place to neutralize
Sgattoni’s skill set. Michigan
executed
the
gameplan
to
perfection, holding Sgattoni to
two kills on 36 attempts while
forcing her into seven errors.
The player responsible for
spearheading the Wolverines’
adjusted defensive effort was
senior libero Jenna Lerg, but
that’s nothing new. Now in her
fourth year as a starter, the
Michigan native recorded 18 digs
in the opening-round match. In
the midst of making dramatic
one-armed saves look routine,
Lerg recorded the 1,927th dig
of her career
— a feat which
moved her into
second place on
the
program’s
all-time list.
“(Lerg)
is
arguably
the
best
libero
we’ve ever had,”
Rosen
said.
“She’s great at
the whole game.
We can look at records, but it
really comes down to how she
impacts this team. She elevates
the level of this team, and that’s
huge for us. She comes up in
big points, and her skill set can
change the momentum of the
entire match.”
The sweep of Navy set up
a showdown with Pittsburgh,
the ACC champion. Squaring
off against a 30-win conference
champion on its home court in
the Big Dance can be daunting,
so the Rosens went back to the
drawing board to craft another
thoughtful approach.
One five-set thriller later, the
Wolverines were off to the Sweet
Sixteen.
On his way to shake hands
with
Pittsburgh
coach
Dan
Fisher
at
midcourt,
Mark
Rosen walked by his coaching
binder, which sat untouched
on Michigan’s bench. Rather
than continuing his journey to
Fisher, Rosen stopped, doubled
back to his seat, and grabbed his
binder — a choice emblematic
of his task-oriented approach to
coaching.
The next task at hand? No.
5-seed Texas (22-4 overall, 17-1
Big 12).
Rather
than
taking
time
out
of
the
upcoming
week
to commemorate
the victory, the
Rosens will be
studying film on
the
Longhorns.
The battle will
take
place
on
Brigham Young’s
campus in Provo, Utah on Friday
afternoon.
“We need to figure out how
to advance past each team we
play,” Rosen said. “It’s not about
playing pretty volleyball, it’s
about advancing to the next
round.”
If the Wolverines can upend
Texas, it’d mark Michigan’s third
Elite Eight appearance of the
Rosen era — further etching their
names into program history. As
their coaching resume continues
to grow, the Rosens’ legacy
begins to approach immortality.
To Mark and Leisa, it’s just
one more task.
DANIEL DASH
Daily Sports Writer
ANNIE KLUS/Daily
Jenna Lerg is second on Michigan’s all-time list for digs with 1,927.
“We’re in the
Sweet 16. ... We
want to go win
the next one.”
Michigan ready for LIU-Brooklyn
The
Michigan
women’s
basketball team returns to Crisler
Center on Thursday night for the
first time in a long time.
After
a
two-and-a-half-week
stretch which saw the Wolverines
travel from Estero, Fla., to Raleigh,
N.C. and back north to Milwaukee,
Wisc., they are finally coming home.
Michigan faced four ranked
opponents over the course of their
travels — No. 21 Missouri, No. 10
Texas, No. 13 NC State and No.
22 Marquette — earning only one
victory against the Tigers. In the
other three games, the Wolverines’
youth
and
weaknesses
were
exploited.
“We
really,
really
tested
ourselves,” said Michigan coach
Kim Barnes Arico to 1050 WKTA.
“The travel has been the toughest
part for our young kids. It felt like
we were on an NBA schedule.”
Though
the
Longhorns
and Golden Eagles thoroughly
outplayed the Wolverines, the
game against NC State remained
competitive until the end — despite
an 11-point loss.
“NC State is a great team,”
Barnes-Arico said. “It was really a
great basketball game until the end.
And I think the atmosphere there
was incredible. For our young kids
to be in that environment, on the
road, in the ACC, with the crowd
getting into it like they did — that
will really prepare us for Big Ten
play.”
If Michigan had pulled off that
victory, it would be returning home
much more pleased with it current
position. Instead a 5-3 record
through eight games looms over
the Wolverines, as they now have
their first real chance to practice
since they left Ann Arbor on
Thanksgiving.
Challenging itself — especially
early in the season — may reap
benefits come the end of the year for
Michigan, but as the Big Ten season
inches closer, simply stringing
together a few wins would be
helpful.
The Wolverines should have this
chance on Thursday night when
LIU-Brooklyn arrives in Ann Arbor.
The struggling Blackbirds are 0-7,
failing to score over 50 points in
three of those games.
LIU guards Brandy Thomas and
Jeydah Johnson will likely pose the
biggest threats offensively, but a lack
of size gives Michigan a significant
advantage in the paint. Similarly,
the Blackbirds have struggled to
stop teams defensively, giving up
over 70 points to Fairfield, St. Peter’s
and UC Irvine.
So the Wolverines seem quite
capable of making this one ugly.
Still, Michigan has a few kinks
to iron out itself. Freshman point
guard Amy Dilk and senior center
Hallie Thome — both key starters
for the Wolverines — have struggled
in recent weeks. The speed of the
game may be catching up to Dilk,
while for Thome, consistent double-
teams have rendered her somewhat
ineffective offensively. Look for
both of them to rebound against a
team that has struggled as much as
LIU.
Additionally,
a
return
to
Michigan’s home-court advantage
should help it after its long stretch
away.
“We feel like it’s been so long
since we’ve been home and had
an opportunity to play in front of
our home crowd,” Barnes Arico
said. “Really we always talk about
protecting that block ‘M’, so our
kids are super excited about that
aspect.
“More so than any opponent
right now, I think it’s about us
getting better. This road swing has
shown us what the best teams in
the country look like. Now it’s an
opportunity to work on Michigan,
and where we need to improve.”
CONNOR BRENNAN
Daily Sports Writer
ANNIE KLUS/Daily
Senior center Hallie Thome has struggled lately as Michigan has dropped three of its last four games, all on the road.
Ignas Brazdeikis came through when
the Wolverines needed him the most
The
Michigan
basketball
team’s trip to Northwestern
on Tuesday night was not
supposed to be the toughest
challenge of its young season.
But with five minutes to play,
it had become just that. Every
time the Wolverines threatened
to pull away, the Wildcats
reeled back within striking
distance. Leads of 10, 15 and
10 were matched with a trio of
Northwestern scoring runs.
Most
teams
would
turn
to a veteran presence in that
moment of adversity. Michigan,
on the surface, should be no
different. Seven members of its
eight-man rotation were here
last year, when the Wolverines
won 14 straight games en route
to the national title game.
Despite not having any seniors,
experience is not among this
team’s limited weaknesses.
Yet, when its undefeated
season lay in the balance for the
first time, Michigan called on
its sole contributing freshman.
And as he has done so often
this season, that freshman —
forward Ignas Brazdeikis, in
case you haven’t been paying
attention — came through for
the Wolverines, rattling home a
3-pointer to break a six-minute
scoring drought and erase their
first second-half deficit in more
than three weeks.
“He gets us buckets when
we can’t get one sometimes,”
Michigan coach John Beilein
said of Brazdeikis. “… He
makes such obvious freshmen
mistakes sometimes, … and
then, all of a sudden, he’ll just
go get you a bucket.”
When Northwestern scored
seven straight in the first half
to draw within three, it was
Brazdeikis who took the ball
at the top of the key, charged
toward the hoop and nailed
a
left-handed
floater.
One
possession later, the Wildcats’
defense
crowded
the
lane,
forcing him into a fadeaway
jumper from an impossible
angle. Nothing but net.
“That’s why he came to
Michigan,” Beilein said. “He
watched Nik Stauskas make
a lot of those big shots and he
wanted to be in this element
and play in front of that crowd
today. That’s who he is and
that’s why we love him.”
After
taking
a
36-30
lead
into
the
break,
the
Wolverines’ offense began to
wilt. Sophomore guard Zavier
Simpson, Michigan’s on-court
leader, followed an eight-point
first half by going 1-of-6 from
the field in the second. As
Simpson’s struggles reached
their apex, junior center Jon
Teske had to sit with foul
trouble. His backup — redshirt
sophomore center Austin Davis
— posted zero points, three
fouls and a negative-9 plus-
minus in just seven minutes.
But whenever his teammates
faltered,
Brazdeikis
shone
brightest,
keeping
the
Wolverines afloat by scoring
12 of their first 18 points of the
second half and assisting on
two more.
“We got knocked down, but
I feel like this game brought
us more together,” Brazdeikis
said. “I feel like we grew a lot,
and it showed how tough we
are.”
Before
the
season,
most
would have anticipated the
Wolverines to call on redshirt
junior
forward
Charles
Matthews or sophomore guard
Jordan Poole in an imposing
late-game road environment.
Matthews was deemed to be
the team’s most NBA-ready
player and Poole had been
there before, saving Michigan’s
2018 season with his now-
immortalized buzzer-beater.
Instead,
those
two
epitomized
Michigan’s
struggles down the stretch,
combining for just four second-
half points.
In their place stepped a
freshman. Even if he makes
that detail easy to forget.
ANNIE KLUS/Daily
Freshman forward Ignas Brazdeikis managed to score in key moments during Michigan’s 62-60 win over the Wildcats.
THEO MACKIE
Daily Sports Writer
6A — Thursday, December 6, 2018
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com