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