SPORTS 11
Thursday, July 11, 2019
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Wetterstrom, Glavinic, Smith aim to replace departed stars
In the cyclical nature of college
volleyball, good players come and
go. Coaches recruit their next
batch of talent, rosters adjust and
teams move on.
But program cornerstones don’t
come along nearly as often, and
even the best teams struggle to fill
the shoes left by such departures.
For the Michigan volleyball
team, the close of the 2018 season
marked the end of outside hitter
Carly Skjodt and libero Jenna
Lerg’s storied careers. Skjodt
finished her tenure with the
seventh-most kills in program
history, while Lerg moved into
second place on the program’s all-
time digs list.
The void left by their production
won’t be easy to fill, to say the
least.
Even
so,
that’s
just
what
Michigan spent the spring trying
to do. The graduation of Skjodt
and Lerg opens up starting spots at
outside hitter and libero, creating
healthy competition within the
program.
That was on full display when
the Wolverines made their 10th
trip to the Grand Rapids Sports
Hall of Fame Showcase, an annual
spring
tournament
featuring
Michigan, Michigan State, Central
Michigan and Western Michigan.
The Wolverines dispatched the
Chippewas and Broncos in the
afternoon before taking the court
against the Spartans.
Last
November,
Michigan
swept the season series with a
pair of four-set victories against
its in-state conference foe. In
their first glimpse of Michigan
State’s 2019 roster, the Wolverines
triumphed in five-set fashion in
front of a full house.
“We went to battle,” said
Michigan coach Mark Rosen on
the Rosen Report, his monthly
video. “It was a great match. I
thought both teams were very
evenly-matched … It was a great
way to finish our spring. Instead
of playing some fun no-meaning
match, it was a match that felt like
a Big Ten match — good opponent,
good atmosphere, a lot of pressure.
Our players responded well.”
Rising senior outside hitter
Sydney Wetterstrom stood out all
spring long and, fittingly, delivered
a strong performance against the
Spartans despite a shaky start.
Wetterstrom missed 11 matches
in her junior season, but proved to
be a reliable offensive option when
available.
She
recorded
eight
double-digit kill performances and
posted a .220 attack percentage on
the right side, earning her first
double-double
against
Rutgers
and a career-high .883 kill clip
against Purdue along the way.
“(Wetterstrom) has played a
lot but her role is different now
because she’s a senior and the
expectations are different of what
she needs to carry,” Rosen said.
“I thought she advanced so much
throughout this whole spring.
A great example was the match
against Michigan State … She
struggled in the first set but still
found ways to impact the match
in a really positive way with her
passing and blocking. And then
as she started getting into the
match a little bit more, then all
of a sudden we noticed she was
making a pretty positive impact
offensively and by the end she was
playing great.
“That’s a skill to be able to
recover that throughout the day.
A lot of players start hot and keep
that going or start bad and don’t
ever recover it, but she was able
to learn how to recover it. Good
strides for her.”
This season, Rosen could call
upon Wetterstrom to make the
jump to outside hitter. Slotting
her at the left pin alongside rising
sophomore
Paige
Jones,
who
tallied a team-best 38 kills at the
showcase, would allow rising
senior Katarina Glavinic to be the
Wolverines’
full-time
opposite
hitter.
After starting last season on
the bench, the 6-foot-3 Croatian
transfer from Seattle University
played a key role in Michigan’s
tournament run. She posted four
block assists in the tournament’s
opening
round
against
Navy
before recording a season-high
five total blocks in the Wolverines’
upset of host Pittsburgh to reach
the Sweet 16.
This spring, Glavinic picked up
right where she left off.
“This spring (was) a huge
development for (Glavinic),” Rosen
said. “She’s taken her game to a
whole other level and throughout
the spring was probably our best
point-scorer. In the match against
Michigan State, she proved to be
that. She started well and finished
even better, and I thought she did
a really nice job throughout the
match. To see players like those
coming along and developing,
that’s what spring is all about.”
While
Glavinic
and
Wetterstrom appear poised to
contribute offensively in Skjodt’s
absence, rising junior Natalie
Smith made a strong impression
at libero. She recorded a team-
high 30 digs at the showcase and
represented Michigan on the
Big Ten Volleyball Japan Tour,
signaling her status as Lerg’s
successor.
Skjodt
and
Lerg
can’t
be
replaced overnight, but seeing
strong
springs
from
Smith,
Glavinic
and
Wetterstrom
is
an encouraging sign for the
Wolverines.
DANIEL DASH
Daily Sports Writer
Former Michigan star Carly Skjodt to join Pepperdine beach team
After a record-setting tenure at
Michigan, Carly Skjodt is heading
to the West Coast.
The
two-time
All-American
will take a fifth year with the
Pepperdine beach volleyball team
as a graduate transfer.
“We are really excited to be
Carly’s and her family’s home
for her last year in the collegiate
level,” said Waves’ coach Marcio
Sicoli in a release. “I can’t wait
to add her skills, personality and
work ethic to our team culture.
She will be a fundamental piece
on the quest to our national
championship goal.”
Pepperdine,
which
finished
last season ranked sixth in the
national poll, figures to be in the
thick of the race for next year’s
national title. Adding Skjodt is a
huge boost to an already strong
crop of returning talent.
For Skjodt, the opportunity to
spend her fifth year playing on
sand provides a new challenge
before wrapping up her volleyball
career.
“I chose Pepperdine for the
opportunity to challenge myself
and grow,” Skjodt said, “in the
classroom, in the sand and in
everyday life.”
In 2018, Skjodt put the finishing
touches on a memorable career
in Ann Arbor by leading the
Wolverines to the Sweet 16 for the
second time. She averaged a team-
high 4.20 kills per set on a career-
best
.256
attack
percentage
en route to a unanimous first
team All-Big Ten selection. In
the classroom, she became the
program’s first two-time CoSIDA
Academic All-District honoree.
Skjodt served as Michigan’s
workhorse for most of the season,
leading the Wolverines in kills
in 24 of their 34 matches. She
recorded
29
double-digit
kill
performances and eclipsed the
20-kill mark seven times.
During her high school career,
Skjodt was ranked among the
nation’s top prospects in the
2015 class. PrepVolleyball named
her the National Senior Player
of the Year, while she was also
selected as the Gatorade Indiana
Player of the Year and USA
Today All-American after leading
Carmel High School to a state
championship.
With her indoor days now in the
rearview mirror, Skjodt’s name is
a staple throughout Michigan’s
all-time record book. Her 1,395
career kills are good for seventh-
most in program history, while
her 4,102 attack attempts are
third-best among any Wolverine.
When
it
mattered
most,
Skjodt’s presence made all the
difference for Michigan. Her 108
postseason kills and seven aces
are both third-most in program
history as well.
Skjodt will presumably spend
most, if not all, of next spring in
the Waves’ starting lineup.
DANIEL DASH
Daily Sports Writer
ALEC COHEN/Daily
Fifth-year senior Carly Skjodt will switch from playing indoors to outdoors next year.
EVAN AARON/Daily
Rising senior Sydney Wetterstrom will have big shoes to fill at the outside hitter spot.