The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Wednesday, October 23, 2019 — 7A

Jones and Wetterstrom shine in 
important win over Penn State

The noise at Crisler Center 
oscillated between deafening 
roars and eerie quiet. The 
up-and-down 
third 
set 
orchestrated 
which 
pitch 
would come next. Penn State’s 
Jonni Parker’s kill late in the 
set ushered silence over the 
arena, but Sydney Wetterstrom 
ended the sense of unease with 
a kill to close the set, 25-17, in 
favor of Michigan.
During those few minutes of 
the third set, anticipation for 
a win was palpable in Crisler 
Center. Unfortunately for the 
Michigan 
volleyball 
team, 
those few minutes were the 
only ones worth celebrating. 
A 3-1 loss for the Wolverines 
against the Nittany Lions on 
Friday shut the crowd up once 
and for all.
“We did a great job of fighting 
back in, but at that point you’re 
down by seven and eight, it’s 
a tough battle against a really 
good team,” said Michigan 
coach Mark Rosen.
While all four sets were 
plagued 
by 
defensive 
miscommunication and poor 

serving returns from Michigan, 
Wetterstrom and Jones stood 
out on an otherwise forgettable 
night.
Wetterstrom had two career-
highs against the Nittany Lions 
— 16 kills and three blocks. She 
also contributed 13 digs, and 
two service aces, becoming 
a key all-around player for 
the Wolverines. She is top-
five in four categories — kills, 
assists, service aces and digs. 
Additionally, she contributed 
17.5 points for Michigan.
“I thought (Wetterstrom) 
played the most complete game 
I’ve seen her play this year. 
Offensively, she was really 
really good,” Rosen said. “I 
thought she was just really 
dialed in tonight and played 
really 
well. 
She 
certainly 
played like a veteran.”
On Friday night, Jones was 
the difference-maker in the 
third set, when she went on 
a seven-serve run, extending 
Michigan’s 
lead 
over 
Penn 
State to seven points. She also 
had a career-high 16 kills on 
the night. Like Wetterstrom, 
Jones is also top-five in five 
categories — assists, service 
aces, digs, kills and blocks. She 

holds the team-high in kills 
with 226. 
“She got going, I thought she 
started a little slow and then 
I thought she really got into 
a rhythm which is something 
Pagie does a very good job of,” 
Rosen said. “She’s very good at 
keeping her composure.”
Composure, 
though 
something 
the 
Wolverines 
usually excel at, was lacking 
Friday night. From multiple 
back-row miscommunications 
to missed blocks, Michigan 
often found itself in deep holes, 
trailing the Nittany Lions by 
seven or eight points at times. 
As 
the 
Wolverines 
look 
towards 
the 
rest 
of 
their 
season, 
filled 
with 
tough 
conference opponents, they’ll 
need to continue to capitalize 
on key players like Jones and 
Wetterstrom. Along with the 
rest of their starting line-
up, if the Wolverines can 
find 
composure, 
Friday’s 
performance 
against 
Penn 
State can be the exception as 
opposed to the norm.
“Being in those hot battles, 
being in the fire, it makes you 
stronger,” Rosen said. “What 
doesn’t kill you makes you 

Michigan rotates players in win

Seventeen — the amount of 
Wolverines who touched the 
court on Saturday night. Also the 
total amount of active players on 
their roster.
The 
Michigan 
women’s 
volleyball team (13-5 overall, 6-2 
Big Ten) rotated through its entire 
lineup on its way to a 3-0 victory 
over Rutgers (6-13, 0-8). The win 
was reassuring, snapping a two-
game losing streak and making 
a statement about the depth of 
its lineup. The 
non-starting 
players 
upheld 
a 
dominating 
performance 
over the Scarlet 
Knights — the 
closest set being 
25-16.
The 
Wolverines 
had no trouble 
amidst 
their 
substitutions, siding out at .814 and 
ending with a .462 hit percentage 
— two impressive tallies. With 
so many substitutions, a drop in 
production is to be expected, but 
Michigan’s performance didn’t 
dip.
The 17 players who touched the 
court for Michigan was 10 more 

than opponent Rutgers, who 
stuck to their starters the full 
match. Additionally, Michigan’s 
non-starters finished the match 
with a .421 hit percentage — .382 
higher than Rutgers starters’ 
lowly .039.
“Everyone was really good 
about staying dialed in,” said 
junior libero Natalie Smith. “I 
think everyone came in and did 
a great job. I think we executed 
really well.”
The Wolverines approached 
with 
an 
aggressive 
strategy 
to get out to a quick lead with 
their starters in 
order to rotate 
in players from 
the 
sidelines. 
And 
once 
the 
substitutions 
were 
made, 
starters 
were 
working to set 
up opportunities 
for 
teammates 
who don’t play as 
often.
“It always comes from the 
older players and the leadership 
in the program,” said Michigan 
coach Mark Rosen. “I thought it 
was a really selfless match.”
Amidst 
the 
chaos 
of 
substitutions, 
the 
Scarlet 
Knights struggled to contain the 
potent Michigan attack. With 

each switch, Rutgers struggled 
to settle in against the new 
personnel. Once it did, the new 
Wolverines had already taken the 
court, ready to play.
Most of all, Michigan’s play 
was clean. It ended with just 
seven attack errors, only one of 
which was committed by a non-
starting player. Sequences were 
converted without a hitch, most 
landing a kill after merely one 
return by the Scarlet Knights. 
All done in the process of 
creating opportunities for less 
experienced players.
The 
players’ 
attitudes 
were important to note. The 
Wolverines appeared relaxed but 
in control, smiling and laughing 
with each other in between 
sets as well as encouraging one 
another after conceding a point. 
“When they came in you could 
see how excited they were,” 
Rosen said. “They were playing 
for each other. As a coach that’s 
one of those warm fuzzy feelings 
where you’re like, they’re getting 
it.”
Many positive things could 
be taken away from Saturday’s 
match, but Rosen kept his focus 
on the girls’ camaraderie. It was 
his main source of pride post-
match.
“That’s the kind of team I want 
to coach.”

ABBIE TELENGHOF
For The Daily

Late penalty kick lifts Wolverines 
past Notre Dame on the road, 1-0

With a shade over a minute 
remaining 
in 
regulation, 
Nebojsa 
Popovic 
steadied 
himself 15 yards from the goal, 
readying for a penalty kick. The 
game’s fate hung in the balance. 
Michigan’s hopes rested firmly 
in his right foot. 
When the Wolverines needed 
him most, the graduate transfer 
forward 
delivered. 
Popovic 
buried the game-winning kick 
past Notre Dame’s goalkeeper 
Duncan Turnbull in the 89th 
minute, giving the Michigan 
men’s soccer team (7-4-3 overall, 
2-1-2 Big Ten) a 1-0 victory over 
Notre Dame (7-6-1, 1-5 ACC) on 
Tuesday. 
To 
his 
teammates 
and 
coaches alike, there was never 
a doubt that Popovic would take 
care of business in the clutch. 
“I was really confident that 
Nebojsa was gonna put it away,” 
said senior goalkeeper Andrew 
Verdi. “He stepped up, he’s been 

working on it in training. I knew 
he was gonna tuck it away and 
we were gonna walk out with a 
1-0 win.”
If Popovic played the role of 
hero, then senior forward Jack 
Hallahan 
was 
his 
sidekick. 
Returning from a two-game 
absence, Hallahan offered a 
needed boost to the Wolverine 
offense. In fact, it was Hallahan 
who forced his way through 
the teeth of the Fighting Irish 
defense, drawing the foul that 
set the stage for Popovic’s 
heroics. 
“(Hallahan) was definitely 
electric tonight,” said Michigan 
coach Chaka Daley. “Caused 
some problems for them and 
eventually got dragged down 
in the box. It was definitely a 
game-changing 
moment 
for 
him. He did a great job.”
While not able to capitalize 
until the game’s final minutes, 
the Wolverine offense created 
numerous 
opportunities 
through aggressive play up 
front. Popovic and sophomore 

forward 
Derick 
Broche 
had three shots apiece for a 
Michigan team that out-shot 
Notre Dame, 13-9. 
On the defensive end, Verdi 
keyed the shutout with another 
stellar performance, recording 
five saves on the night. 
“I was pleased that I was able 
to respond when called upon,” 
Verdi said. “Just like in any 
game though, the goalkeeper’s 
performance is really reliant on 
the line of guys in front of him. 
All (10) put in a heck of an effort 
in front of me today.”
Michigan’s 
effort 
against 
Notre Dame stood in stark 
contrast to its performance 
last time out against Western 
Michigan, 
a 
2-1 
loss 
on 
Thursday. The Wolverines let 
their emotions get the best of 
them in what was a chippy, 
foul-filled contest against the 
Broncos. This time around, 
though, the team remained 
composed amidst the Fighting 
Irish’s physicality, which came 
in the form of 20 fouls, two 
yellow cards and a late red card. 
“Our attitude and approach 
to calls and adversity was 
much stronger,” Daley said. 
“You know, we really worked 
on having conversations about 
what that looked like, and how 
to stay involved and engaged in 
the game despite the ref’s call.”
Daley 
also 
lauded 
the 
resiliency the team displayed in 
rebounding for a difficult road 
win after consecutive losses. 
With just three games left in 
the regular season, getting 
back in the win column was 
imperative. 
“Today we had great energy, 
great spirit about us, came out 
with fire,” Verdi said. “We put 
the team under pressure in the 
first half and followed that in 
the second half, so it just really 
boosted our confidence.
“The 
team’s 
definitely 
hungry for more.”

JARED GREENSPAN
Daily Sports Writer

‘M’ finishes 11th at Nuttycombe

An 
event 
that 
included 
representatives from four of the 
Power Five conferences — as well 
as some lesser known but equally 
potent foes from around the 
country — was the perfect place to 
make a statement with just weeks 
until conference championships.
The No. 18 Michigan men’s 
cross country team showcased 
its abundance of depth, as well 
as 
high 
levels 
of 
individual 
consistency, with an 11th place 
showing 
at 
the 
Nuttycombe 
invitational in Wisconsin last 
Friday. The 33-team field included 
15 units ranked in the top 25 of the 
Coaches’ Poll.
The Wolverines featured one 
of the tightest spreads of the field, 
with all seven runners crossing 
the line within 45 seconds of one 
another. After a predictably fast 
first two kilometers, junior Devin 
Meyrer, freshman Nick Foster and 

junior Joost Plaetinck split low and 
even throughout the remainder of 
the race to move up the pack and 
finish in that order. 
Meyrer, a transfer from Baylor, 
noted a desire for teammates who 
would challenge him as a primary 
motivation for his change of 
scenery. 
“I realized that if I wanted to 
be the best runner I could be, I 
needed to have more guys to train 
with,” Meyrer said.
The last pair of kilometers 
were the most chaotic, with a 
large diversity of times leading to 
a shuffling of runners, especially 
outside the top 10. The geography 
of the course contributed to this 
statistical consistency.
“The race didn’t really crack 
open until 6k,” Meyrer said. “The 
course caused a lot of guys to 
bunch up ... it was hard to get up 
and keep pushing.”
The late-race frenzy cost the 
Wolverines some points in the 
back half of their lineup. Junior 

Jack Aho and sophomore Ben Hill, 
running in the crucial displacing 
roles, tumbled in the standings 
after losing steam in the latter 
half of the race. Michigan coach 
Kevin Sullivan remarked that 
this is one of the areas the team 
needs to improve on going into 
championship season. 
“Once we get a couple guys 
moved a little closer to the front, 
that’s gonna put us in a much 
better position,” Sullivan said.
Shouting his responses above 
the din of a satisfied team post-
race, Meyrer noted the importance 
of cooperation and teamwork in 
what appears, at first glance, to 
be a sport rooted in individual 
practice and performance.
“We have a group of seven 
guys and countless others all 
working 
together,” 
Meyrer 
said. “When someone’s feeling 
bad, we’ll pull them along, and 
when someone’s feeling good 
they’ll pull along someone 
else.”

JACK WHITTEN
For The Daily

KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
The Michigan men’s cross country team finished 11th at the Nuttycombe Invitational this past weekend.

ALLISON ENGKVIST/Daily
The Michigan volleyball team rotated through all 17 players in its bounceback win over Rutgers on Sunday.

NICHOLAS STOLL
For The Daily

Everyone was 
really good 
about staying 
dialed in.

ALLISON ENGKVIST/Daily
Sophomore Paige Jones had a career-high 16 kills, but couldn’t quite lift Michigan past Penn State on Friday.

MILES MACKLIN/Daily
Graduate transfer Nebosja Popovic scored the lone goal in the 89th minute.

