The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Wednesday, January 29, 2020 — 7A
Johnson, Hillmon adding leadership
On
Sunday,
the
Michigan
women’s
basketball
team
desperately needed a win against
Rutgers to get its season back on
track. Putting up a career-high
24 points and 11 rebounds, senior
guard Akienreh Johnson stepped
up with her first career double-
double to help the Wolverines
win, 71-57. Her performance was
even more crucial with senior
forward Kayla Robbins out with
a torn ACL.
But equally important to her
performance on the court has
been her emergence as a leader.
It’s something she’s had to do all
season, but now that Robbins is
out, she’s the only healthy senior
on the team — thrust into a much
higher-pressure situation.
She answered the call.
“That’s the first thing I thought
about (after Robbins’ injury)
when we got back to Ann Arbor,
is like, ‘How am I going to lead
this team without my partner in
crime?’ ” Johnson said last week.
“We’re still roommates, we’re
still going to do that, but it’s just
going to be difficult without an
experienced person and that’s
part of the worker she is. She’s
just not going to be on the court.
So my leadership role is definitely
going to have to change.”
That change was clear Sunday.
With three freshmen — guards
Maddie
Nolan
and
Michelle
Sidor, and center Izabel Varejão
— all seeing meaningful minutes,
Johnson was much more vocal
on the court than she has been
in the past. When her teammates
made shots, she was the first to
congratulate them. When they
missed shots, she was there to
pick them up.
But even more telling of her
leadership
capabilities,
she
publicly called on them to step up.
“(My role) is going to have
to change, but also everybody
else,” Johnson said. “(Sophomore
forward Naz Hillmon) is going to
have to step up, be a more vocal
leader. Amy (Dilk) is going to
have to step up. I think Danielle
(Rauch) did a great job during
that game of being a vocal leader
… I’m only one person, and it’s
just not going to get done with
just one person being a leader on
the court.”
Hillmon will be looking to
answer that call. Though she’s
only a sophomore, her role as the
team’s leading scorer means that
she’ll need to mature as a player
more quickly than her teammates.
On Sunday, she led by example.
Beyond her usual scoring — she
scored 20 points, 3.9 more than
her season average — she added
12 rebounds. On defense, she
anchored a 2-3 zone that helped
force the Scarlet Knights into 17
turnovers.
“I think that I’m still coming
into that role, just trying to make
sure I’m focusing on myself, make
sure I’m focused in,” Hillmon
said. “Because I can’t really tell
other people to do stuff that I’m
not already locked in on. … Trying
to talk as much as I can, especially
when we’re in zone. I mean the
top of the zone doesn’t know
what’s going on half the time and
just trying to be in those huddles,
being a positive energy.”
It’ll be a process for both
Johnson and Hillmon to adapt to
their new roles. Both of them have
stressed that they’re going to lead
their own way — they won’t try to
be Kayla Robbins.
Against Rutgers, they showed
that they don’t have to be.
Michigan sweeps ITA kickoff, 2-0
Andrea Cerdan was ready to
deliver the dagger.
The freshman had taken the
upper
hand
against
Valeriya
Zeleva, forcing her into the alley
to respond to an aggressive series
of groundstrokes. All Zeleva could
manage was a desperation heave,
sending the ball in a slow, looping
trajectory over the net, while
Cerdan positioned herself for a
volley to put the point out of reach.
She fired it into the net.
The dagger would have to wait.
The No. 15 Michigan women’s
tennis team (2-0) played host
to
the
International
Tennis
Association
kick-off
meet
at
the Varsity Tennis Center this
weekend, and after a 4-2 semifinal
win over Mississippi (3-1) and a
4-2 defeat of No. 12 Central Florida
(2-1), the Wolverines clinched a
berth to the ITA National Team
indoor championship. It did not go
without a hitch.
“We’re going to have a lot of
opportunities there to play the top
teams in the country,” Michigan
coach Ronni Bernstein said. “That
was our goal, so (we’re) happy to
get through this weekend.”
Against
the
Rebels,
the
Wolverines jumped out to an early
lead thanks to their sweep of the
doubles matches; in the singles,
the only major casualty was No. 1
singles player and No. 26 overall,
senior Guilia Pairone, who fell in
straight sets.
“For our first match, to play
a quality team like that and get
through … that was a big team
win,” Bernstein said.
On Sunday, Michigan found
itself on the other side of a
doubles sweep. Two of Central
Florida’s pairs ranked inside the
top 15 nationally, compared to
three unranked Wolverine duos.
Michigan kept all three matches
close with competence on the
baseline, but Central Florida used
its subtlety at the net to create
winners and end rallies in its favor;
the same could not be said for the
Wolverines.
“We’re staying back more, and
they’re hitting it big,” Bernstein
said, “so it’s hard to come in unless
it’s the right ball, so maybe they
just weren’t picking the right ball.”
Six points were still available
at the start of singles play, and
both squads claimed one after
early
straight-set
victories.
Meanwhile,
Pairone
and
the
Knights’
Evgeniya
Levashova
took their time, exchanging long
rallies and dueling deep into each
game. Levashova grabbed a slight
advantage when she went up a
break, riding it to a first set victory.
On the other side of the
complex,
Cerdan
dropped
a
tightly-contested first set, 7-5.
“The first set, I was going a little
bit too much, being a little overly
aggressive.” Cerdan said. “I was
too focused on holding back or
being too aggressive; I couldn’t
find the in-between. That also led
to me getting frustrated.”
Cerdan found the balance deep
in the second set. Moments after
the unforced error on the volley,
she faced a similar opportunity
on a set point. Zeleva surrendered
another lob, but before she could
get back to the middle, Cerdan
used an overhead smash — over
the net this time — to even the
match. She took the third set, 6-1,
delivering the final blow.
While Pairone won her second
set by that same score, senior
Chiara Lommer was frustrated on
the adjacent court.
She had made quick work of
Nadja Bay Christians in the first
set, 6-2, and built a 5-1 lead in the
second, but began to hemorrhage
points. As the match wore on,
she leaned on her forehand more
and more, taking inside-out shots
instead of the more efficient
backhand
from
the
baseline
corner.
Her
groundstrokes
barraged the net, leaving ample
“what-ifs.”
“I haven’t been feeling great on
the court, so a little bit of belief in
closing out the second set was just
missing,” Lommer said. “And she
also, obviously, didn’t miss a ball
anymore.”
Bernstein
stopped
pacing
around the remaining matches
and sat by Lommer’s court.
“I knew that I didn’t want her to
slip,” Bernstein said. “She had a big
lead, you want them to get off the
court there, get that third point.”
Lommer managed to win the
first-to-seven tiebreaker, taking
the set, match and even more
crucially, the fourth and final point
needed for Michigan’s team win.
“That’s a great win for her,”
Bernstein said. “For her to come
back in that pressure moment, to
come through, I think it’s going
to give her a lot of confidence. I’m
really proud of how she fought and
stuck with it.”
Lommer fell to her knees as Bay
Christians’ final ball soared out
of bounds. The first to join her in
celebration was Pairone, whose
match was abandoned in the midst
of a neck-and-neck third set.
Cerdan wasn’t far behind. She
had delivered the dagger after all.
It’s a moment Michigan coach
Sean Bormet always talks about:
being the guy to decide the
match. The one with the weight
of the team on your shoulders.
It’s usually the heavyweights.
The 125-pound duals get the
match started off on the right
foot, then sit back and watch
their teammates try and pull out
a victory.
But Friday night, on the road
against No. 15 Northwestern (3-4
overall, 1-3 Big Ten), 125-pound
redshirt sophomore Jack Medley
found himself competing in the
final bout of the night with the
score tied at 17.
“I think Jack enjoyed the
moment
and
enjoyed
the
opportunity,” Bormet said. “...
I turned around on the bench
to check with each guy before
they step on the mat. I could
see he was excited and eager for
the moment to be the last guy to
wrestle and decide the team dual
victory.”
The Wildcats won the coin
toss and strategically started
the dual with the 133-pound
bout in hopes that the fate of
the dual would come down to
the 125-bout. Their wish was
granted, but it was Medley and
the No. 25 Michigan wrestling
team (5-3, 4-1) that pulled off the
upset road victory, 20-17, over
Northwestern.
Medley faced sixth-ranked
Michael DeAugustino with the
dual on the line. The score was
tied after the first period, with
neither wrestler finding the
opportunity for a takedown.
DeAugustino scored an escape
point to take the lead in the
second
period,
but
Medley
quickly evened the score with
an escape of his own to start the
third, and final, period.
With 1:24 left in the third
period,
Medley
scored
a
takedown, putting him up, 3-1,
which would ultimately be the
deciding factor in the match and
meet. With under one minute
left,
DeAugustino
needed
a
takedown for the comeback
victory.
“The last 15 seconds I told
myself, ‘Stay smart don’t back up
and get a stalling call’ cause I had
a stalling call against me, so that
would have given him a point,”
Medley said.
Though he scored an escape
point,
Medley
miraculously
avoided a takedown with just
nine seconds left to clinch the
bout. Medley won, 3-2, securing
an upset victory for himself and
a 20-17 win for his team.
“He’s a guy that’s a tireless
worker and we as a staff and as a
team have a ton of confidence in
Jack,” Bormet said.
Competing in an unusual spot
in the lineup and wrestling a
highly-ranked opponent did not
faze Medley and was a challenge
he fully embraced.
“They definitely had a strategy
of having our match as the last
match to give their other guy
some
more
recovery
time,”
Medley said. “But it didn’t
matter.”
The Wolverines began the
match strong, winning the first
three bouts in dominant fashion
to give Michigan a 12-0 lead. 133-
pound fifth-year senior Austin
Assad set the tone from the onset
with a 10-0 major decision.
However,
inconsistency
in the middleweights, which
has plagued the Wolverines
throughout the season, caused
the outcome of the dual to be in
doubt. After a hot start, Michigan
lost five straight bouts in the
157, 165, 174, 184 and 197 weight
classes.
“I think we need to be
consistent in how we think and
in how we wrestle,” Bormet said.
“There were a couple of matches
that we lost our composure and
we didn’t refocus the way we
needed to.”
The
Wildcats
turned
a
12-point deficit into a 14-12 lead
after
11th-ranked,
184-pound
redshirt
sophomore
Jelani
Embree fell to Northwestern’s
Jack Jessen. Embree took a 2-1
lead after the first period, but was
taken down in the second period
and never recovered. Jessen
won the decision, 7-6, and, more
importantly, stole the lead and
momentum from the Wolverines.
“I think (Embree) was really
capable of scoring with his speed
and some leg attacks,” Bormet
said. “He kinda got caught up
wrestling
some
upper
body
positions that he is pretty good
it but its just positions that he
didn’t need to wrestle in.”
Sophomore
and
No.
2
heavyweight
wrestler
Mason
Parris brought consistency back
to the team as he dominated his
bought.
Parris’ 20-5 win, including a
technical fall and bonus points,
proved instrumental in a victory
that provided momentum and
confidence to the wrestlers.
“I think this team is still
learning a lot but we are starting
to come together,” Medley said. “I
think a lot of our guys are starting
to believe in themselves.”
Split decision
Michigan wrestling’s Jelani
Embree battled Illinois’ Zac
Braunagel for control in the
184-pound match.
Down 4-3 in the match,
Braunagel went low, grabbed
Embree’s legs and slammed
him onto the mat to take the
lead, 5-4. Braunagel finished
Embree
with
a
second
thunderous takedown to end
the match and clinch the
meet for the No. 15 Illini (5-3
overall, 2-2 Big Ten) giving
them a 20-13 win over No. 23
Michigan (5-3, 4-1) on Sunday
afternoon.
“I’ll say it wasn’t our best
performance,” Michigan coach
Sean Bormet said. “We lost
some close matches. (Had)
some attacks that didn’t finish
cleanly, quickly. We had a
couple matches in the middle
get away from us with some
bonus points.”
The Illini got off to a quick
start, winning the first three
matches.
Travis
Piotrowski
had an early takedown in the
133-pound match against the
Wolverines’
redshirt
senior
Austin
Assad.
But
Assad
fought back before losing, 9-7.
In the 141-pound
match,
Dylan
Duncan
swept
freshman
Cole
Mattin 6-0 to
extend
Illinois
to 9-0. Michigan
responded
in
the
149-pound
match
with
redshirt
junior
Kanen
Storr
gaining a bonus
point to cut the lead to 9-4.
Redshirt freshman Will Lewan
followed that up with another
win over Eric Barone to cut the
Illini lead to two.
“I’d say Kanen Storr wrestled
pretty well, offensively and
on his feet,” Bormet said.
“But he needs to find ways to
take guys to their back off his
takedowns (that’s) something
he’s working on. He had some
missed opportunities there.
But I think Kanen wrestled
really well on his feet.”
Junior Reece Hughes missed
several early opportunities for
takedowns
in
the 165-pound
match.
Danny
Braunagel took
advantage
with two late
takedowns and
extended
the
Illinois
lead
with a bonus
point to 13-7.
Joey
Gunther
added another
bonus point with a 15-3 major
decision before Zac Braunagel
clinched the win.
“Guys did some good things
in really almost every match,”
Bormet said. “Overall I thought
we wrestled pretty hard. Just
in some critical moments, we
just didn’t get as tough as we
needed to on some finishes,
we didn’t get as tough as we
needed to on some defenses.”
Redshirt
senior
Jackson
Striggow
won
his
match
with a single leg takedown
and
sophomore
Mason
Parris dominated with four
takedowns to add consolation
victories for the Wolverines.
In the end it was too little,
too late for Michigan, and
Bormet believes there were
several missed chances in the
match.
“We’re going to continue to
work on the things we’ve been
working on which is finishing
our
leg
attacks,
defending
our legs and mat returns,”
Bormet said. “Those would be
the three things we’re going
to continue to work on. They
were three areas that cost us
some matches today.
“Every one of these guys had
opportunities to score more,
we left a lot of points on the
match and it cost us a couple
matches.”
Michigan beats Northwestern, falls to Illinois in weekend swing, giving Wolverines first Big Ten loss
JACK WHITTEN
Daily Sports Writer
FILE PHOTO/Daily
Senior Chiara Lommer won, 6-2, 7-6, in Michigan’s win over Central Florida.
BRENDAN ROOSE
Daily Sports Writer
FILE PHOTO/Daily
Redshirt junior Kanen Storr excelled Sunday, despite Michigan’s eventual 20-13 loss to Illinois that finished a weekend split.
AVI RAJENDRA-NICOLUCCI
Daily Sports Writer
LILY ISRAEL
Daily Sports Writer
Guys did some
good things in
really almost
every match.
EMMA MATI/Daily
Senior guard Akeinreh Johnson has stepped up as a leader after Kayla Robbins’ ACL tear sidlined her for the season.