The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Wednesday, October 30, 2019 — 7
June 19, 2016
June 1, 2017
Errors crucial in failed upset bid
The
Michigan
volleyball
team followed the example of its
kills leader, sophomore outside
hitter Paige Jones, on Sunday.
Against No. 5 Wisconsin, the
Wolverines’ upset hopes were
dashed by a slew of errors and
dominant play by the Badgers’
All-American
junior
middle
blocker Dana Rettke.
Jones
had
a
game-high
21 kills for the Wolverines,
showing
some
impressive
spurts of genius against the
heavily-favored
Badgers
en
route to her second straight
match with 20-plus kills. But
she also led the team with nine
errors in what ended up being a
sloppy loss for Michigan.
“I think we as a team were a
little high-air,” said Michigan
coach Mark Rosen. “... And
that’s where I thought Paige
could have been a little bit
better.”
“High-air” was a nice way
of
putting
the
Wolverines’
struggles.
They
totaled
29
attack errors to the Badgers’
nine. Michigan also had only
one service ace and 12 service
errors, giving away too many
free points to a Wisconsin team
that certainly didn’t need the
help. The Wolverines were
outhit by the Badgers, .372-.176,
as well.
And
despite
some
solid
runs throughout the game,
Michigan’s passing was poor
at times — a sin the Wolverines
could
ill-afford
to
commit
against the sound and skilled
Badgers.
“A lot of teams don’t always
capitalize in those situations,”
Rosen said. “... We’re in trouble
and we can kind of bang out of
it and be OK. (Wisconsin) is a
team where it’s hard to bang
out of trouble.”
But even in the desperation
of a fourth loss in five games,
the
Wolverines
were
able
to take solace in the bright
spots that Jones and the rest
of
Michigan’s
young
stars
exhibited. Even though Jones
had difficulty with controlling
the ball, she marked the fourth
20-kill match of her young
career.
“She’s scoring a lot for us
right now,” Rosen said. “She’s
carrying a big load for us.”
Two
other
youngsters,
freshman outside hitter May
Pertofsky and freshman middle
blocker Jess Robinson also had
solid performances. Pertofsky
and Robinson had eight kills
apiece, but they combined for
nine errors of their own. Even
so, this front-court trio for the
Wolverines has been learning
and progressing at a strong rate.
The
difference
in
skill
between the current iterations
of
both
Michigan
and
Wisconsin
is
obvious;
the
Wolverines just aren’t on the
Badgers’ level. But Jones and
the other young players showed
enough in the loss to give the
Wolverines a positive outlook
on the future, even if there are
some growing pains along the
way.
“We’re very excited about
what they’re doing,” Rosen
said. “... I like how this team
is progressing. I like how this
team is approaching things, I
like how they’re approaching
losses.”
ARTHUR POTTER
For The Daily
Quick Hits
The Daily hockey beat used
to run a video series during the
2011-12 season called “Quick
Hits.”
It was a series of one-on-one
interviews with players that
covered everyday life and all of
its funny moments. But now, for
budget reasons, it’s in written
format.
And for the first season in
three years — despite the pleas
of the editors — Quick Hits are
back.
For the second edition, The
Daily sat down with three
members
of
the
sophomore
class, goaltender Strauss Mann,
forward
Nolan
Moyle
and
defenseman Nick Blankenburg —
based on the frequency of their
photos together on Instagram —
to talk about some pretty spooky
stuff.
***
Tien was feeling really festive
for Halloween and brought a
cowboy hat and crown to interview
the players. When they walked in,
they noticed immediately.
Blankenburg:
Ooooh,
a
crown. Is that for one of us to
wear?
Mann: That crown is for you,
Moyle.
Moyle: No, that’s for you lad.
Feeling that these first-time
Quick Hits victims didn’t know
what was going on, Tien Le and
Molly “Michigan” Shea offered up
a quick explanation of Quick Hits
before getting into it.
***
Molly:
If
the
team
was
trapped in a horror movie who
would be the first person to get
killed/go missing?
Blankenburg: Jack Olmstead.
Moyle: Jack Leavy, for sure.
Mann: Yeah, either one of
those guys.
Blankenburg:
I
think
Olmstead
and
Leavy
are
definitely the main two.
Moyle: Maybe Strauss.
Mann: I feel like they’d think
they had a smart idea to get out of
there or something, and it would
just go completely wrong.
Tien: Okay, who on the team
would be most likely to cry in a
haunted house?
Moyle: Jack Leavy. Again.
Tien: Is he really easy to
scare?
Mann: Uhhhh...
Moyle: He just wouldn’t know
what to expect, and then he’d
probably get terrified.
Blankenburg: I feel like any
being scared questions, or crying
questions relate to Jack Leavy
and Jack Olmstead.
Moyle: Oh yeah.
Tien: Molly had to get dragged
out of a haunted house one time
because she was so scared she
was on the floor crying.
Blankenburg: Oh.
Mann: Nice, nice.
Molly: Hey! I was really
young!
Molly: Do you guys believe
in any conspiracy theories? Like
is the moon landing fake? Is the
Earth flat?
Blankenburg: Uhh, I don’t
know. I try not to get into that
stuff. It’s not my cup of tea.
Moyle: The Titanic was fake,
I think.
Molly: Woah.
Mann: Yeah, that’s not up my
alley.
Blankenburg:
I
know
Jake Gingell is a big, big, big
conspiracy theory guy, so I think
that’d be the guy you would ask.
He watches alien documentaries
and always talks about aliens and
stuff like that.
Tien:
What’s
the
worst
Halloween candy?
Blankenburg: I don’t like
candy corn.
Mann: Really? You don’t?
Blankenburg: Yeah, I’m just
not a big fan of candy corn.
Mann: Black licorice.
A key fact left out is that Mann
follows a very strict diet that
doesn’t include any food otherwise
touched by humans besides to cook
it, so, in other words, no candy.
Molly: Well that’s just the
worst candy in general.
Mann: Well, that’s any candy
so…
Moyle: I don’t know, those
Rolo things are pretty heinous.
Blankenburg
*clearly
offended
by
Moyle’s
suggestion*:
Wait,
fruit
roll-ups??
Fruit
roll-ups
are
unbelievable.
Mann: Tootsie Rolls??
Moyle: No, no, no.
Blankenburg: Tootsie Rolls
are sooooo bad too, though.
Mann: They’re so good, sooo
good.
Tien: They’re a classic.
Blankenburg: Tootsie Rolls
are ... I don’t even know.
Molly: What are you guys
going to be for Halloween this
year?
Blankenburg:
White
Goodman.
Molly: Who’s that?
Blankenburg: He’s on the
Purple Cobras from the movie
‘Dodgeball’.
Mann: I’m going to be the
Love Guru. Mariska Hargitay….
Mariska Hargitay.
Blankenburg: I don’t know.
We won’t really have the chance
to go out here, I mean, Halloween
is, Thursday? Yeah we’re going to
leave for Ohio State. Oh! Maybe
I’ll wear a nice costume on the
bus or something. Maybe we
should all do that.
Mann: For Halloween, you
(Blankenburg)
can
just
be
yourself. That’d be pretty scary.
Head athletic trainer Brian
Brewster walks into the room.
Blankenburg: Hey! Should
we do that, wear Halloween
costumes on the bus?
Brewster: I’d like to see you
lead the charge on that.
Blankenburg:
I
might,
I
might.
Molly: Strauss, what did you
honestly think of when Tien
asked to race you at the meet the
players skate?
Mann: Ummm, I was just like
‘Uhh I really don’t wanna do this,
but...’
Blankenburg: Actually, he
got nervous. Afraid he was going
to lose.
Mann: Well, I did lose. I was
just like, ‘I don’t know, I can be
a nice guy and do it.’ It’s tough
with all the goalie gear on. After
the game, you (Tien), had me at
my worst moment.
Tien: In my story I said, ‘To be
fair, you were in pads and stuff.’
Tien: What’s the scariest thing
that’s ever happened to you?
Mann: Scariest moment….
Blankenburg:
I
think
I
thought someone was trying
to break into my house. One
time, when I was home alone, I
was down in my basement, and
someone rang the doorbell. And
when you’re a kid, and you’re
home alone, you automatically
think someone’s trying to break
into your house. But … it was just
the mailman or something.
Tien: Someone actually broke
into my house two years ago.
Blankenburg: Oh really?
Tien: Two years ago in Ann
Arbor, yeah.
Blankenburg: Other than that
fake break-in, I haven’t really had
too much scary stuff.
Moyle:
I
can’t
think
of
anything like really scary.
Mann: Uhhh ... I’m thinking.
Maybe anytime my junior hockey
coach talked to me. I was afraid
I’d get traded or something. *long
pause* But he was a good guy.
Make sure you put that in there,
please.
Molly:
Blankenburg
and
Moyle, if you had to be goalie
for the day, who would you least
want to face a shot from?
Moyle: Johnny Beecher.
Mann: Oh, for sure.
Moyle: His shot split open
Hayden’s head last week.
Tien: Oh right, he had to get
six stitches by his eye.
Blankenburg: Slaker or Will.
Moyle: Oh, or Becker.
Molly: Alright, that’s all we
have for you guys.
Mann *shakes his head*:
Good luck writing this story. We
didn’t give you anything good.
The hockey beat is back with Quick Hits, this time leaning into spooky season to unearth the team’s fears and frights
With legs, Patterson aids offense
As Tru Wilson took the
handoff and cut through the
teeth of Notre Dame’s defense,
Shea
Patterson
sprinted
downfield ahead of his running
back. When Wilson approached
the end zone, Patterson threw
a block on the last remaining
defender. Wilson coasted in for
a touchdown.
Early
in
the
season,
Patterson
seemed
reluctant
to put his body on the line.
He was hesitant to keep the
ball even on read-options that
appeared to be open for a keep.
He certainly didn’t block for
touchdowns like he did on
Saturday or risk an eye-gouging
on a quarterback sneak, like
last week at Penn State.
But now, Michigan’s senior
quarterback is back to his fast
and physical ways, and it’s been
nothing but a boon to his team.
“I think (the quarterback
run) was especially important
in this game and something
we’d talked about and Shea
embraced, and he read the
ball,” said Michigan coach Jim
Harbaugh on Monday. “If both
sides know that you’re running,
having
that
quarterback
as a potential
threat
for
a
runner is key. …
I thought it was
his fastest game
he’s played as a
runner and he’s
moving around,
scrambles. You
could tell when
he got the block
that it was at least a distraction
on Tru’s touchdown. He was
really moving.”
Some of Patterson’s early
hesitance may have been due
to an oblique injury sustained
in the season opener against
Middle Tennessee. Last week,
Patterson said that the game in
State College was the first time
all year he was at 100 percent.
Regardless
of
whether
the
early
absence
of
the
quarterback
run
was
due
to injury, missed reads or
something else entirely, there’s
no question that aspect of
Patterson’s
game
is
back.
Against the Nittany Lions and
Fighting Irish, he rushed for
41 and 28 sack-adjusted yards,
respectively. And on Saturday,
in a throwback to last year,
Patterson kept
the ball on a
read-option
in the second
quarter
for
a
22-yard
gain.
The
run
set
the Wolverines
up with first-
and-goal at the
2-yard
line,
eventually
leading
to
a
touchdown that put Michigan
up, 17-0.
“The quarterback run game
is a pretty big part of what we
do,” said redshirt freshman
offensive
tackle
Jalen
Mayfield. “And we missed a
couple
opportunities
early
in the season, weren’t able to
hold the ball, but (Patterson
has) done an unbelievable
job of watching that film and
picking up on the things he did
wrong early in the season. And
for him being the big leader
that he is in the locker room ...
just asserting himself like that
is gonna be a big part of our
success.”
The presence of a dual-
threat
signal-caller
gives
the defense another thing
to
worry
about
and
can
confuse opposing teams with
looks they haven’t seen. The
re-addition of that element of
Patterson’s game has opened
up the Wolverines’ rushing
attack after a few lackluster
early-season games. And it’s
been beneficial for Patterson,
too. As he’s increasingly made
the right reads and found
success, his confidence has
only grown.
“I feel like he’s the best
there is,” Wilson said. “He’s
the
man.
But
physically,
mentally, his confidence is at a
high, he’s throwing the ball as
good as could be, I thought he
threw the ball really well for
being as rainy as it was. That’s
really bad conditions. So yeah,
I think he’s the man and he can
do it all.”
ARIA GERSON
Daily Sports Editor
ALEXIS RANKIN/Daily
Senior quarterback Shea Patterson had double-digit carries on Saturday.
ALEC COHEN/Daily
Sophomore outside hitter Paige Jones had a game-high 21 kills Sunday, her second straight matchup with 20-plus kills.
ALLISON ENGKVIST/Daily
Sophomore defenseman Nick Blankenburg will be dressing up as White
Goodman for Halloween this week.
MOLLY SHEA
Daily Sports Writer
...having that
quarterback
as a potential
threat... is key.