8 — Friday, April 10, 2020
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
What Michigan’s young corps learned from national team tryouts
Three players from the 2019
Michigan
volleyball
roster
were invited to the USA College
National Team tryouts. In
the fall, they accounted for a
combined 56.8 percent of the
Wolverines’ kills, 48.4 percent
of their blocks and 44.6 percent
of their serving aces.
Another key fact about them:
All three are underclassmen.
Sophomore outside hitter
Paige Jones is the oldest of
the three, being invited after
a season where she topped
the team with 463 kills. Jones’
attack power slotted her as
the Wolverines’ top offensive
weapon and secured her a
unanimous selection to the All-
Big Ten First Team.
Middle
blocker
Jess
Robinson and opposite hitter
May
Pertofsky,
meanwhile,
both received invitations fresh
off of All-Big Ten Freshman
Team nominations. Pertofsky
and Robinson were second and
third on the team in blocks and
third and fourth on the team in
kills, respectively.
Even with just 204 college
athletes
from
across
the
country taking part in the
National Team tryout, it’s
clear why Michigan’s young
core were invited. But while
their basis of selection may
be evident, the Wolverines’
experience at the tryout was
not as easily predicted.
The underclassmen knew
they would be separated into
three waves and participate in
many drills over the course of
the three-day February tryout
in Colorado Springs, Colo. They
knew that they would be split
up by position and ranked by
evaluators. They knew they
would be separated from their
teammates.
But they didn’t know just
how much that might impact
them.
“It
was
really
individualistic,” Robinson said.
“When we came back, the first
thing our coaches asked us was
to share one thing we thought
we had learned at USA, and
the first thing that I said was
‘teammates.’ ”
Robinson was offered a
position on one of the national
teams and turned it down.
She cited her desire to work
with her own team in Ann
Arbor over the summer as the
primary reason why.
Robinson
wasn’t
alone.
Pertofsky, who was offered an
alternate position, declined for
the sake of her team as well.
“I think the biggest lasting
impact for me, honestly, would
be I never really realized
how important having a real
connection with the people
you’re
playing
around
is,”
Pertofsky said.
“I remember I was blocking
with a bunch of different
middles, and then I went on a
court with Jess (Robinson) and
we were just super connected
and super fluid, and it was fun.
It just felt right.”
For the rest of the time, when
it didn’t feel ‘right,’ the tryout
was something new for all three
Wolverines. It forced them out
of their comfort zone and asked
them to perform at the highest
level possible without their
Michigan teammates in order
to impress the college coaches
who served as evaluators. For
Michigan coach Mark Rosen,
who served as one of the
evaluators, that lack of comfort
was exactly what he wanted for
his players.
“For us to learn, for us to
grow, and for us to get better,
we have to be uncomfortable,”
Rosen said. “We have to
struggle. We have to fail. … I
want them to struggle, and not
because I want them to not
feel great, but I just know it’s
what they’re going to get better
from.”
One of the largest struggles
for the players at the tryout will
be an important adjustment
in the fall — adapting to a new
setter.
Experienced
senior
setter
MacKenzi
Welsh
played her final season at
Michigan this past fall, and the
Wolverines will need to find a
new rhythm with a fresh setter,
whether that setter is former
freshman Maddie Dowd or
incoming freshman Jenni Liu.
Jones, a player Rosen described
as a strong tempo hitter, ran
into some struggles with the
constant switching of setters at
the tryout.
“It was a little tough trying to
connect with the setters there,”
Jones said. “It was a good
lesson to learn that we both had
to adapt and it wasn’t on one
person … but it was definitely a
challenge.”
Jones didn’t bat an eye,
however, at the insecurity
of losing Welsh, citing the
adaptability she, Robinson and
Pertofsky learned in Colorado
Springs as a key factor in the
transition. “It can only go up
from here,” Jones said. “It was
nice that we had young players
last year because now that we
have that we’re able to just
keep them and build off of their
experiences that they had last
year.”
The Wolverines will enter
their upcoming season with
just two seniors on the roster,
only one of whom was in the
starting rotation last year.
And its young core looks ready
to become a force come fall.
Michigan is replacing seven
seniors from a year ago and
will have to rely on all levels of
players to find success.
But after their tryouts, the
Wolverines aren’t worrying
much about experience or
talent. They believe one thing
to be more important than
anything else: teamwork.
NICHOLAS STOLL
Daily Sports Writer
ALEC COHEN/Daily
Sophomore Jess Robinson is a key part of Michigan’s young core.
Jayde Riviere relishing journey from World Cup to Ann Arbor
For many students, the
summer
before
heading
to college is filled with
leisure time and bittersweet
memories with high school
friends.
Not for Jayde Riviere.
But she’s not your typical
18-year old. For her last
summer as a high school
student, she was in France
representing Canada in the
2019 FIFA Women’s World
Cup.
But before she competed
on soccer’s biggest stage,
Riviere sat in a training
camp in Spain with no idea if
she was going to be selected
to the Canadian squad. At
the end of the camp, all of
the players were led into
a dark room. The lights
flipped on and projected
onto a board were the names
of the final World Cup team.
The celebrations erupted.
Riviere said that she almost
broke down in tears when
she realized she was going
to France.
“For me, the World Cup
is huge,” Riviere said. “It
defines women’s soccer. The
FIFA Women’s World Cup —
everyone knows about it. To
be a part of it at a young age,
no one can take that away
from me.”
Being
the
second-
youngest member of the
team,
Riviere
felt
that
connecting
with
the
veterans
was
important.
36-year-old
star
forward
Christine
Sinclair
took
Riviere under her wing and
when she was handed a start
in the second match of the
group stages against New
Zealand, Sinclair challenged
her to bring her A-game. It
ended up being one of her
best performances for the
national team, and Canada
cruised to a 2-0 victory.
“My
coach
likes
to
say that if you don’t get
butterflies or anything with
an international match then
there’s
something
wrong
with
us,”
Riviere
said.
“There’s obviously a lot of
pressure to be representing
my country. Always a sense
of pride and pressure when
you’re wearing that jersey
and have that badge over
your heart.”
Riviere was selected for
a reason. With her pace
and attacking qualities, she
fit in well at the wingback
position. Canada finished in
second place in their group,
advancing to the knockout
stages. Unfortunately for
Riviere and her teammates,
her run ended in a 1-0 loss to
Sweden in the Round of 16.
***
For
Riviere,
playing
soccer
isn’t
just
about
winning games or scoring
goals. It’s about family. Her
father, Antony Riviere, grew
up playing soccer in the
island nation of Dominica.
He taught her everything he
knows about the game.
But
Antony
wasn’t
the only member of the
family who helped teach
her
about
the
game.
One of her role models
growing up — alongside
Sinclair,
Ronaldinho
and
Cristiano Ronaldo — was
her
late-grandfather,
Arlington
Riviere.
Arlington
saw
promise
in his granddaughter and
wanted Jayde to be just as
invested in her academics
as her athletics. Arlington
was never able to see her
represent Canada or play at
Michigan. He passed away
when she was young. But
playing soccer allows her to
stay connected to her role
model.
“I was kind of like his
favorite
granddaughter,”
Riviere said. “Every time
I walk on the field I do
the sign of the cross and I
always point to him because
I know he has the best seat
right now.”
That
emphasis
on
academics
was
part
of
the reason Riviere ended
up at Michigan. In her
recruiting process, she had
it narrowed down to two
schools: Michigan and West
Virginia. Riviere chose to
come to Ann Arbor partly
because she planned on
graduating college, and saw
value in getting a degree
from Michigan.
During an era in which
growing numbers of players
are
choosing
to
forgo
college altogether, Riviere
is playing the long game.
“Because of my success,
I’ve had agents reach out,”
Riviere
said.
“But
my
answer has been the same
for every agent — I’m going
to continue to do my four
years at Michigan and get
my
diploma
from
there
and after that, the doors
can open up to anything
professional-wise.”
When Michigan coach
Jennifer Klein accepted the
job two years ago, Riviere
was already committed to
playing for the Wolverines.
“One of the big things
about Michigan and Canada
is there is a connection
between the two programs,”
Klein said. “Michigan has
had a lot of great Canadians
that have been part of our
program so that relationship
was created years ago and
we’ve just been able to
continue to develop that
relationship.”
Riviere
was
initially
recruited to play as a wide
forward
closer
to
the
goal. But, as she became
more involved with the
national team she shifted
to the wingback role which
combines
the
defensive
duties
of
a
traditional
outside
back
with
the
attacking
responsibilities
of a winger. The Canadian
national
team
let
the
Michigan
coaching
staff
know they preferred Riviere
to be deployed in a more
defensive role at fullback to
continue her development.
“Defensively
her
individual ability, her speed
is good,” Klein said. “I think
those skill sets allow her
to be impactful within our
group and I’m just excited
for the experience that she’s
going to gain being with the
Canadian team.
“I think she has the ability
to be a major contributor for
our program. I think as the
season went on last year you
could see that she has the
ability to take a game on and
really capitalize and put the
ball in the back of the net
when the team needs it.”
***
Due to the postponement
of the summer Olympics,
Riviere is planning on using
this summer to do online
classes and said that as of
right now the Wolverines
are preparing to play in the
fall. She has kept in touch
with
teammates
during
quarantine,
using
Zoom
to reach out to incoming
freshmen
and
returning
players.
Even
though
Riviere had her eyes on
Tokyo, she is still focused
on the upcoming fall season.
“There
will
definitely
be a kind of new flair to
Michigan,” Riviere said. “I
believe that we’re trying
out new platforms, maybe
new players in different
positions kind of having a
more versatile team. I think
we obviously want to win a
Big Ten (championship) and
we want to win an NCAA
Tournament. I think we set
the bar last season and now
it’s just about raising that
bar.”
Riviere has already played
on some of the world’s
biggest stages in women’s
soccer. Now she’s ready to
bring that experience and
flair to Michigan.
ALLISON ENGKVIST/Daily
Jayde Riviere made the Big Ten All-Freshman Team this season after playing in last summer’s World Cup.
AVI RAJENDRA-NICOLUCCI
Daily Sports Writer