The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Thursday, September 26, 2019 — 7

Granowicz making adjustment to college hockey

Size. Strength. Speed. School. 
The four horsemen of college 
hockey. 
And 
for 
many 
incoming 
freshmen, these elements create 
turbulence in the transition 
from junior level hockey to the 
NCAA level.
In 
a 
high-intensity 
environment where every game 
counts, freshmen Wolverines 
must learn quickly. Arriving 
on campus in September and 
kicking off the season on Oct. 6 
leaves little time for hiccups in 
the transition process. 
Michigan’s roster features 
five freshmen: Cam York, Eric 
Ciccolini, 
Johnny 
Beecher, 
Keaton 
Pehrson 
and 
Nick 
Granowicz. 
Granowicz’s path to playing 
for the Wolverines was different 
than that of teammates like 
Beecher and York. Whereas they 
spent time with the USNTDP 
he spent three seasons playing 
junior 
hockey, 
though 
not 
unusual to the world of hockey.
After graduating high school, 
he began his junior career in 
Topeka, Kan. After one-and-
a-half seasons, he moved on 
to 
Cedar 
Rapids, 
Iowa then a 
few months 
later 
to 
Merritt, 
British 
Columbia 
with 
the 
Merritt 
Centennials 
in 
the 
BCHL. 
After three years, Granowicz 
was NCAA bound. 
“For me it’s a big difference,” 
Granowicz said. “In juniors, we 
practice for about an hour (and) 
twenty. Maybe have a workout 
that day, but not for more than 
an hour and the rest of the day 
was ours to kind of hang out and 
do whatever.” 

When 
freshmen 
step 
off 
the ice, the pressure doesn’t 
cease. They have to learn how 
to balance their obligations to 
the team and in the classroom. 
Most players in junior leagues 
don’t 
take 
classes, 
which 
creates excess free time. During 
the college season, free time is a 
luxury most players don’t get to 
indulge in. There’s class. Then 
after class there’s 
practice. 
Some 
days, there’s weight 
training. Some days, 
they dedicate time 
to 
watching 
film. 
And 
then, 
there’s 
homework. 
“It’s a lot of time 
management,” 
Granowicz said. “So 
it’s like non-stop till 
8, 9 o’clock at night. 
I think it’s good to be organized 
and 
kind 
of 
focus 
with 
everything you have coming up 
in the day ahead of you, and you 
kinda gotta plan out your times. 
You don’t get really much of a 
break, and you’re always going, 
going, going.”
An increase in practice time 
isn’t the only adjustment in 

Granowicz’s 
path, 
because 
even as a 21-year-old freshman, 
he faces a size disadvantage. 
Because of players coming in 
from juniors and being older 
than traditional freshmen, he’ll 
come face-to-face with players 
as old as 24. And with age and 
size comes strength. 
“I haven’t experienced a 
college game yet,” Granowicz 
said. 
“But 
I 
know that guys 
on 
our 
team, 
they’re coming 
in 
around 
200 
pounds, 
even 
a 
little 
bit 
over, 
and 
I’m 
weighing 
in about 175. I 
know it’s more 
physical 
and 
harder. 
That’s 
why it’s the next level.”
Size is just one difference in 
competition between the junior 
level and NCAA. Speed is a 
huge factor. Play is faster. The 
intensity is higher. Players skate 
in practice with the intention of 
mirroring game conditions. 
Players are given some help 
with the transition though. 

Michigan coach Mel Pearson 
and the coaching staff try their 
best to help ease guys coming 
from juniors into the rhythm 
of college hockey. He counts 
on senior players like captain 
Will Lockwood, Jake Slaker 
and Michael Pastujov to take 
freshmen under their wings and 
give them guidance. 
Their advice isn’t exclusive to 
balancing classes 
and training, it 
carries over onto 
the 
ice 
during 
games. 
In 
the 
lineup, 
Pearson 
pairs 
the 
new 
players 
with 
more 
seasoned 
ones to ease the 
burden on their 
shoulders.
“(The 
freshman) just have to fit in,” 
Pearson said. “They just have 
to come in and be what they are 
and play hard. We don’t try to 
put a lot of pressure on them. 
The thing I find is they put so 
much pressure on themselves. 
(They’re) 
competitive. 
They 
wanna do well, they wanna 
please.”

Wolverines top Rutgers

The set teetered back and 
forth late in the second set, with 
neither team giving in. Rutgers 
had built an early lead, but the 
Michigan volleyball team fought 
back to gain a late lead. Then, 
sophomore outside hitter Paige 
Jones broke the tension as she 
secured the win with a kill — 
putting the Scarlet Knights at an 
insurmountable deficit. 
Jones 
bolstered 
the 
Wolverines 
offense 
and 
recorded her fourth consecutive 
double-double 
as 
Michigan 
topped Rutgers in 3 sets, (25-14, 
25-23, 25-14).
“Paige has really taken her 
game to a new level after her 
freshman year,” said Michigan 
coach Mark Rosen. “She plays 
the way you would expect from 
a veteran, and she’s surrounded 
by good offensive players.”
The Wolverines not only 
played 
well 
offensively 
but 
in all aspects of the game. 
They 
outperformed 
Rutgers 
defensively 
and 
consistently 
blocked the Scarlet Knights 
— their 10 blocks were their 
second-highest 
output 
this 
season. This combination of 
strong defense and powerful 
offense 
gave 
Michigan 
the 
advantage it needed to snatch 
the win. 
At the start of the first set, 
both teams hustled to take the 
lead, but the Wolverines seized 
control at 5-4 and never trailed. 
Rutgers tried to close the gap, 
but lapses in communication 
hindered the Scarlet Knights 
from cutting into Michigan’s 
lead. 
The 
Wolverines 
— 
particularly excelling in defense 
— won, 25-14. 
“We defended well,” Rosen 
said. “Cori (Crocker) played 
particularly well. She got 6 of 
our 10 blocks. The blockers did 
a good job, and the floor fed off 
of that.” 
Michigan, lulled into security 
by the win, lost its groove at the 
start of the second set. 

“Early in the second set, we 
were sloppy,” Rosen said. “We 
did not take care of things we 
needed to, and that gave the 
other team momentum. They 
started to play at a much higher 
level. It’s a dangerous thing 
to do — to give another team 
momentum.”
Rutgers 
led 
the 
second 
set, 10-5. But the Wolverines 
chipped away at the Scarlet 
Knights’ lead and eventually 
took the advantage. The teams 
stayed within a few points of 
each other, and by the time 
the match point rolled around 
Michigan had the lead. Jones’ 
attack won the Wolverines the 
set, 25-23. 
The 
Scarlet 
Knights’ 
momentum 
dissipated 
as 
Michigan dominated the third 
set. Success blanketed the court 
for the Wolverines, especially 
offensively. 
“It’s certainly the plan to have 
a good offense,” Rosen said. “We 
have very good attackers and 
things we can do offensively 
are difficult to stop. It all comes 
from good passing.”
Michigan stayed comfortably 
ahead of Rutgers the entire set. 
From the start, it looked as if 
the Wolverines would tack on 
their seventh-straight victory 
over the Scarlet Knights. Jones 
finished the game with a kill — 
giving Michigan a win to open 
its Big Ten slate. 
“We have ambitions to win 
every match we play,” Rosen 
said. “We are just taking it day by 
day. Right now we are focusing 
on our Ohio State Sunday.” 

Michigan looking to Tokyo 2020

Three 
weeks 
into 
the 
season, Michigan swimming 
and diving has its sights set 
on success. Not only for the 
upcoming competition year, 
but also for 2020 in Tokyo.
“It’s 
an 
Olympic 
year,” 
said Wolverines coach Mike 
Bottom. “We are the only 
college pool in the country that 
has the Olympic Countdown 
Clock.”
It may be over 300 days until 
the opening ceremony in Tokyo 
Olympic Stadium, until the 
final runner lights the Olympic 
torch to commence the Games, 
but Bottom is already eager 
to gear his swimmers up for 
qualifying events.
On Friday and Saturday, 
Michigan 
(2-0) 
opened 
its 
season with a two-day dual 
meet series featuring sweeping 
victories over Navy (1-1) and 
Miami (OH) (0-2) on both the 
men’s and women’s sides.
For 
Saturday 
morning’s 
contest, which included relays 
and short swim events, the 
Canham 
Natatorium 
pool 
was extended from 25 yards, 
its 
traditional 
competition 
length, to 50 meters, the 
standard Olympic length, to 
create the long-course-style 
pool that qualifying Wolverine 
swimmers will face in Tokyo.
“We want to make sure we 
are giving our student-athletes 
a great opportunity to make 
their Olympic team,” Bottom 
said. “We’re going after it. 
We’re going after it hard.”
And indeed the Wolverines 
went after it. 
On Friday, the men powered 
past 
the 
Midshipmen 
and 
Redhawks, winning 15 of the 
16 swim events and trouncing 
their opponents, 225-75 and 
253-45, respectively.
In the diving well, the 
women swept first through 
fourth place in both the 1-meter 
and 
3-meter 
springboard 
events. Junior Ross Todd took 
first place in both events on the 
men’s side, while senior Jake 
Herremans took second.

On 
Saturday, 
with 
the 
50-meter Olympic length in 
place, the men’s and women’s 
teams won nine of 12 relays, 
with the women capturing 
first in all three freestyle relay 
events and both teams taking 
first in the 400-meter and 
800-meter medley relays. 
In the 50-meter butterfly, 
Michigan swept the podium 
with 
sophomore 
Maggie 
MacNeil 
(27.54), 
senior 
Vanessa Krause (28.77) and 
freshman Megan Glass (28.83) 
claiming first, second and third 
place. 
On 
the 
men’s side, senior 
Miles 
Smachlo 
took first place 
in the 50-meter 
fly (25.11), which 
he tallied on top 
of his first place 
finishes 
in 
the 
100-yard (47.59) 
and 
200-yard 
(1:46.59) fly from 
Friday’s meet.
Alongside Smachlo, fellow 
veterans like senior Tommy 
Cope and graduate student 
Miranda Tucker led the way 
for the Wolverines, with Cope 
and Tucker each taking first 
place in both the 100-yard and 
200-yard breaststroke for their 
respective sides on Friday. 
Cope was also a part of the first 
place 800-meter medley relay, 
while Tucker (33.67) won the 
50-meter breastroke and was 
a part of three of five winning 
women’s relays on Saturday.
“We have a whole lot of 
seniors who have been through 

the 
wars, 
and 
truthfully, 
they’re tired of not winning,” 
Bottom said. “They want to 
win and they’re leading this 
team in that direction.”
But the seniors were not the 
only ones producing. Freshman 
Kaitlynn Sims made a splashing 
debut by taking first place in 
the 500-yard (4:50.50) and 
1000-yard (9:53.49) freestyle 
races, showing great promise 
for the future of the Michigan 
women’s program.
“On the women’s side, we 
lost a big senior class last 
year, but (this 
year’s) class is 
doing a great 
job 
putting 
their 
arms 
around 
the 
freshmen and 
sophomores 
and 
getting 
them ready for 
the 
future,” 
Bottom 
said. 
“We’re trying 
to understand where we’re 
going and what our purpose is, 
who we’re doing it for. For us 
to triumph at the end (of the 
season), we’re going to have to 
work hard.”
Though the greatest trials 
and tribulations of the season 
are 
still 
on 
the 
horizon, 
and Tokyo remains far in 
the 
distance, 
the 
Olympic 
countdown clock in Canham 
Natatorium ticks away in the 
background as the Wolverines 
hop in the pool each day.
They can hear it, and they 
are working.

Reed propels ‘M’ past Kent State

On two penalty corners, Kayla 
Reed was positioned in the same 
spot, right in front of the right 
post. Both times, it resulted in 
the junior midfielder finding the 
back of the net for two of the 
No. 9 Michigan women’s field 
hockey team’s (5-2) four goals in 
a 4-0 win over Kent State (4-5) on 
Sunday.
Reed’s first goal came in the 
second minute of the second 
quarter, on the fourth of a stretch 
of 
four 
consecutive 
corners. 
Senior midfielder Kay Feijer 
made a pass off the corner to 
junior defender Halle O’Neill, 
who found Reed. Reed dove to get 
a stick on the ball and redirected 
it into the net.
The second came just six 
minutes later, and looked almost 
identical. This time, sophomore 
midfielder 
Kathryn 
Peterson 
made the initial pass to O’Neill, 
whose pass went straight to 
the stick of Reed for an easy 
redirection goal.
“Definitely over the last three 
years it’s been a go-to corner play 
for us,” Reed said. “I feel like if 
you look back on the stats, it’s one 
of our most scored corners.”
Throughout the game, keeping 
possession was an important 
factor for the Wolverines. In the 

first quarter, they constantly 
played in Kent State territory, 
but had difficulty getting passes 
to the center and getting shots 
on net. Michigan broke through 
in the second half, when the four 
consecutive penalty corners and 
Reed’s goal gave it momentum, 
and went on to attempt 22 shots.
“It’s always important to keep 
possession,” said Michigan coach 
Marcia Pankratz. “We’re always 
working on it and I thought today 
we did quite a good job.”
After 
taking 
a 
2-0 
lead 
into halftime, the Wolverines 
switched into more of a defensive 
mode in the second half. While the 
Golden Flashes were not getting 
many 
scoring 
opportunities 
in the first half, 
they 
had 
even 
fewer 
in 
the 
second. Michigan 
held them to no 
attempted 
shots 
in the second half, 
and only three in 
the entire game.
“I was proud of 
our team defense,” 
Pankratz said. “I thought we 
stepped up and intercepted well.”
The fourth quarter may have 
been the Wolverines’ most sound 
quarter from both an offensive 
and defensive standpoint. They 
continued to stifle Kent State 

defensively, and they consistently 
threatened in the offensive zone. 
Sophomore 
midfielder 
Sofia 
Southam added to Michigan’s 
lead with a high goal off her own 
rebound within the first thirty 
seconds of the quarter, and senior 
midfielder Guadalupe Fernandez 
Lacort tallied the final goal for 
the Wolverines with ten minutes 
remaining.
“I thought our team worked 
really hard,” Pankratz said. “We 
had to be very disciplined and 
organized today and I thought we 
were.”
The win marks Michigan’s 
fourth in a row, giving the 
Wolverines a sizable amount of 
momentum 
going into the 
start of the Big 
Ten season on 
Friday. 
Their 
difficult 
non-
conference 
schedule, 
including 
four 
ranked 
opponents, has 
made 
them 
confident 
that 
they can compete with the best of 
the best.
“I think we feel prepared,” 
Pankratz said. “It’s by design that 
we play a tough pre-conference 
schedule to play against the best, 
to improve and see where we are.”

DREW COX
Daily Sports Writer

JACK KINGSLEY
Daily Sports Writer

KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
The Michigan swim and dive team has its sights on the Olympics.

We’re trying 
to understand 
where we’re 
going.

ALEC COHEN/Daily
Junior midfielder Kayla Reed scored twice as No. 9 Michigan beat Kent State, 4-0, on Sunday afternoon.

We had to be 
very disciplined 
and organized 
today.

MOLLY SHEA
Daily Sports Writer

ALEC COHEN/Daily
Freshman forward Nick Granowicz comes to Michigan from the Merritt Centennials of the BCHL, a junior hockey league.

MEGAN CHAPELLE
Daily Sports Writer

ALEC COHEN/Daily
Paige Jones notched a double-double.

The thing I find 
is they put so 
much pressure 
on themselves.

You don’t really 
get much of a 
break, you’re 
always going.

