2B — December 9, 2019
SportsMonday
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

T

he bowl game has 
become an annual meta-
phorical zombie for the 
Michigan 
football team. 
The team 
traverses to 
some warm, 
southern 
city, still wal-
lowing from 
the letdown 
weeks prior, 
patently 
unmotivated 
to face off 
against an SEC opponent. For 
the last three years, the Wol-
verines have taken their lumps, 
underperformed, then haphaz-
ardly spewed that next year will 
be different.
In some ways, it’s under-
standable. Expecting a bunch 
of college kids to recuperate 
from the most devastating loss 
of their lives to properly prepare 
for a glorified exhibition game 
is, perhaps, too idealistic. The 
equally-understandable fad of 
skipping bowl games so as to not 
risk injury (and poor game tape) 
doesn’t help.
This year could be the same. 
But Michigan has a unique 
opportunity here to make it dif-
ferent.
Saturday, it was announced 
that Michigan 
will head to 
Orlando, Fla. to 
face off with Ala-
bama in the Cit-
rus Bowl. This 
is not a Crimson 
Tide team on par 
with those of 
the recent past, 
with the injury 
to quarterback 
Tua Tagaviloa 
casting a pall over a forgettable 
season in Tuscaloosa. 
But it could be a game of 
euchre for all I care — if Jim 

Harbaugh and Michigan beat 
Nick Saban and Alabama in any-
thing, it will matter. It will mat-
ter for recruiting. It will matter 
to a downtrodden fanbase. It 
will matter for morale. It will 
matter as a springboard to next 
year.
“A very, very elite team,” Har-
baugh said on a conference call 
Sunday. “Our preparation will 
have to at its highest level. Good 
to know who you’re going to 
play and get started on prepar-
ing for the bowl game. Will be 
a big-time matchup. We’re very 
much looking forward to it.”
The Wolverines haven’t won 
a bowl game since 2015, a 41-7 
win over Florida, which provid-
ed a bridge from Year One of the 
Harbaugh era into a season that 
should have ended in a College 
Football Playoff berth. Opti-
mism was at an all-time high. It 
seemed a matter of if, not when, 
Harbaugh would bring this pro-
gram to glory.
Each year since that win in 
2015, Michigan has lost the last 
two games of its season. Har-
baugh has garnered a reputation 
for his team falling flat at the 
end of the season (a tad harsh, 
given one of those games is 
against Ohio State, a perennial 
CFP team, but still.)
Though you can scoff, a win 
against Alabama 
would give 
Michigan dou-
ble-digit wins for 
the fourth time 
in five years. The 
last time Michi-
gan had four 
double-digit-win 
seasons in five 
years? 1976-1980.
Dismiss that 
if you wish, 
but it’s a testament to both the 
understated success Harbaugh 
has had in getting the program 
back on track, and also the 

unreasonable expectations this 
fanbase places on him. It’s not 
unreasonable to expect a Big 
Ten title here and there, to be 
sure, but it’s willfully ignorant 
to blanketly chalk up his tenure 
to a failure.
Of course, there is the pos-
sibility — nay, the likelihood 
— that the Citrus Bowl will be 
nothing more than a superior 
team beating down an inferior 
one. The Crimson Tide are more 
talented at every position, per-
haps quarterback aside. Even in 
their worst year since 2010, they 
will be a double-digit favorite. 
As they should be.
But you want to do something 

that will quell mounting con-
cerns about the future of this 
program? Here 
you go. Beat the 
team that has 
won five of the 
last 11 national 
titles, the pro-
gram that has 
defined the last 
decade of college 
football and the 
coach who will 
go down as per-
haps the greatest 
to ever do it. More importantly, 
for the first time in Harbaugh’s 
five years in Ann Arbor, beat 
a team that is, on paper, more 

talented.
“My feeling about the team is 
we’re right there 
at the top,” Har-
baugh said after 
last year’s 41-15 
loss to Florida in 
the Peach Bowl. 
“But we have to 
put it over the 
top, especially 
in the big games 
at the end of the 
year.”
A win on 
New Year’s Day will do little 
to appease the necessity for 
this team to start beating Ohio 
State. It will not make Michigan 

de facto Big Ten champions. It 
will not secure anything in the 
future. It won’t drastically alter 
the trajectory of anything as it 
relates to this team’s standing in 
the national landscape.
But a win against Alabama 
will send Michigan to the 
offseason on a high note and 
restore some semblance of opti-
mism that brighter pastures lie 
ahead.
Optimism. Remember what 
that felt like?

Marcovitch can be reached 

at maxmarco@umich.edu or on 

Twitter @Max_Marcovitch.

Citrus Bowl provides unique opportunity

MAX

MARCOVITCH

ALEXIS RANKIN/Daily
The Michigan football team will have a unique chance to salvage its season when it plays SEC powerhouse Alabama in the Citrus Bowl on New Year’s Day.

A very, very 
elite team. ... 
Will be a big-
time matchup.

My feeling 
about the team 
is we’re right 
there at the top.

For the No. 22 Michigan 
women’s volleyball team, the 
NCAA 
Division 
I 
Women’s 
Volleyball Championship was 
a tale of two games — one in 
which the Wolverines were 
dominant and one in which they 
got dominated. In the last two 
games of the season, Michigan 
swept and got swept by two 
teams in Kentucky to to end its 
2019 campaign. 
Michigan (21-11) made its 
13th appearance in the NCAA 
Tournament in the last 14 
years and its 19th tournament 
appearance overall — 18 of them 
with Michigan coach Mark 
Rosen. The Wolverines were 
placed in the region hosted by 
No. 9 Kentucky, a tough matchup 
if it came to be. Michigan 
traveled to Lexington, Ken. to 
first compete against Northern 
Kentucky (19-13) in the first 
round. The Wolverines handled 
business, finishing off the Norse 
in a clean, three-set sweep. 
“It’s good to advance, it’s 
good to move forward,” Rosen 
said. 
“I 
thought 
Northern 
Kentucky played really well … 
Proud of our players for taking 
care of that and moving on. 
Excited about it.”
Michigan started out the 
match struggling in the first set, 
hitting just .167. Unfortunately 
for Northern Kentucky, though, 
the Norse hit even worse and 
were unable to take advantage of 
the Wolverines’ early struggles 
— losing the set, 25-22. Michigan 
bounced back, improving its 
hitting percentage to .370 in the 
second set and .342 in the third 
set, winning both, 25-15 and 
25-22, respectively. 
Freshman 
middle 
blocker 
Jess 
Robinson 
and 
senior 
middle blocker Cori Crocker led 
the attack with a .500 hitting 
mark, each having at least eight 
kills. 
“Both her (Crocker) and Jess, 
I thought did a great job,” Rosen 
said. “Both middles hit .500. 
They were two and three in kills 

for us … I thought that that was 
great that we had that option to 
go to when our outsides were 
struggling, and it was great that 
we passed the ball well enough 
to get them the ball.”
When 
asked 
about 
her 
success, Crocker credited her 
teammates for her success — 
something she has done all 
season.
“I’m not here without her 
(senior setter MacKenzi Welsh) 
being here for sure,” Crocker 
said. “I think she definitely got 
me in positions to put the ball 
away.”
Welsh, a key contributor 
for the Wolverines all season, 
led the team with 36 assists. 
Setters serve as the core of 
any volleyball team and Rosen 
believes it helps that Michigan 
had a senior with experience at 
that position.
“The 
nice 
thing 
is 
our 
seniors have been in the NCAA 
Tournament four years in a 
row,” Rosen said. “It’s awesome 
to have a senior who’s played in 
an NCAA experience to be the 
one who steps in.”
The Wolverines had a tough 
turnaround after their first 
round game on Friday as they 
faced No. 9 Kentucky (25-6) 
the next day. Heading into the 
matchup, the Wildcats’ success 
could 
be 
largely 
attributed 
to their outside hitter and 
SEC Player of the Year, Leah 
Edmond, and SEC Libero of the 
Year, Gabby Curry. Kentucky 
proved 
too 
much 
for 
the 
Wolverines, winning in three 
sets and ending Michigan’s 
season. 
“They run a good tempo, it’s 
fast,” Rosen said. “We had a 
pretty good idea of what they 
were doing, we just didn’t do 
a very good job of stopping it 
… There were times we played 
well, but there were times where 
we were very inconsistent with 
out offense … It’s not a good 
combination. 
They 
certainly 
outplayed us today.”
Michigan failed to hit over 
.200 and averaged .146 for all 
three sets. Kentucky, on the 

other hand, hit the ball at the 
.323 mark — including a .438 
hitting percentage in the second 
set. Edmond and outside hitter 
Alli Stumler led the charge 
offensively for the Wildcats, 
with 15 and 11 kills respectively. 
Curry also made her impact felt 
with a match-high 19 digs. 
Sophomore 
outside 
hitter 
Paige Jones led both teams 
with a match-high of 16 kills 
and Crocker led all players 
with a game-high of .500 
hitting percentage, but those 
performances weren’t enough 
to overcome the juggernaut 
Wildcats. 
It wasn’t the way Michigan 
wanted to end its season and 
send its seniors off, but it was 
the goodbye that they got. 
“This team’s worked really, 
really hard to become the best 
version of themselves they can 
be,” Rosen said. “So, I’m really 
proud of how hard this team 
worked and how committed 
they were to our process and 
really developing as a team … 
I really am super proud of this 
team and very appreciative 
of 
what 
they’ve 
done 
for 
our program and Michigan 
athletics.”

Out of the 16 games in the 
second round of the NCAA 
Women’s Volleyball Tournament, 
only three were won by lower 
seeded teams — and Michigan 
was not one of them.
After 
sweeping 
Northern 
Kentucky (19-13) Friday night, the 
22nd-ranked Wolverines (21-11) 
fell to No. 11 Kentucky (25-6) in 
straight sets Saturday night, as the 
Wildcats out-hit Michigan, .323 to 
.146, and sided-out over 15 percent 
higher.
But this was expected. The 
Wolverines 
were 
supposed 
to 
beat 
Northern 
Kentucky. 
Michigan was supposed to lose 
to Kentucky. That is exactly how 
the Wolverines’ season has gone, 
nearly without fail; they have 
beaten the teams they were meant 
to beat and have lost to the teams 
they were meant to lose to. 
Michigan’s record against the 
five Big Ten teams that finished 
above it in the standings — 
Wisconsin, Nebraska, Minnesota, 
Penn State and Purdue — was a 
combined 0-7. Its record against 
the eight teams that ranked below 
it? 13-0.

So when the Wolverines arrived 
in Lexington, Kentucky for their 
fifth-straight NCAA tournament 
appearance, the outcome was all-
but decided. They were going to 
beat Northern Kentucky in the 
school’s 
first-ever 
tournament 
berth, and they were going to lose 
to Kentucky, which touted the 
SEC player of the year and libero 
of the year — Leah Edmond and 
Gabby Curry, respectively.
But that doesn’t mean that 
Michigan coach Mark Rosen was 
disappointed in the outcome. 
“I’m really proud of this 
team,” Rosen said. “Tonight’s a 
frustrating night. It’s a difficult 
night but when you get to a point 
like this when the season’s coming 
to an end. I think you have to look 
at the big picture, and the big 
picture is this group. This group 
came a long way … I’m really 
proud of how far they’ve come. 
I think that I couldn’t be more 
appreciative of what this group’s 
done.”
The group did what it was 
supposed to be able to do — no 
more, no less. And now, after 
the season is over, Rosen and its 
players will move on to the next 
season, but not without any losses.
The Wolverines are losing 

seven seniors — out of 18 total 
players on the roster — four of 
which started in the weekend’s 
NCAA tournament matches. This 
includes Big Ten first-team setter, 
MacKenzi Welsh and Big Ten 
second-team middle blocker Cori 
Crocker. In a large senior class, 
the loss is sizeable, but the seniors 
aren’t leaving without making 
their mark. 
“I thought this group really did 
a great job of stepping up to be 
senior leaders and senior veterans 
and really set a great course for 
our young players coming in,” 
Rosen said. “It’s been a great 
group.”
The young group is anchored 
by sophomore outside hitter Paige 
Jones. In only her second season, 
she was unanimously named 
to the All-Big Ten First Team 
and leads Michigan in kills and 
service aces. 
Among the freshman, outside 
hitter 
May 
Pertofsky 
and 
middle blocker Jess Robinson 
were named to the Big Ten All-
Freshman 
team 
after 
strong 
freshman seasons. This group 
also includes players that haven’t 
seen the court as much this year, 
but show promise. Players such 
as freshman defensive specialist 
Amber Beals who got her chance 
to prove herself against Kentucky.
“We were subbing a lot in the 
sets, more than me normally 
do,” Rosen said. “Unfortunately 
it didn’t work, but I thought the 
players that went in really were 
ready to go in and try to get an 
impact, and I thought Amber did 
a great job.” 
At the end of a season that went 
as expected, Rosen looks forward 
to his 22nd season as Michigan’s 
head coach and looks to a core of 
young players to fill the positions 
left open by the graduating seniors 
— but not without reflecting first.
“I think they’ve been a really 
fun team to work with,” Rosen 
said. “They work hard every 
day. They’re good personalities. 
They’re team players. So I really 
am super proud of this team 
and very appreciative of what 
they’ve done for our program and 
Michigan athletics.”

Feeling bluegrass

Michigan falls to Kentucky in three-set sweep, ending season in Round of 32

BRANDON TRACHTENBERG
Daily Sports Writer

NICHOLAS STOLL
Daily Sports Writer

ALLISON ENGKVIST/Daily
Coach Mark Rosen and the Michigan volleyball team ended their season with a straight-sets loss to Kentucky on Saturday.

In drawing matchup with Alabama, Harbaugh and Michigan get a chance they wouldn’t otherwise have in the bowl game

