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The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Wednesday, March 17, 2021 — 13

Pertofsky credits her success to her teammates’ support in win over Indiana

Sophomore right-side hitter May

Pertofsky led the Michigan volley-

ball team (4-3 Big Ten) to a 3-1 win

over Indiana (3-13) on Saturday with

17 kills on the day, only one shy of

her career-best. Junior outside hit-

ter Paige Jones had an outstanding

match the day before, but Pertofsky

stepped up in the second game to lead

the Wolverines when Jones fell back.

“This team does that really well,”

Michigan coach Mark Rosen said.

“They just rely on each other, they

have confidence in each other. They

trust each other, and so if someone is

a little off, somebody will step up in

another way.”

Pertofsky, however, credits her

stellar performance to the rest of her

teammates and the role they all play

in each other’s performances.

“The biggest thing is I know my

team has my back,” Pertofsky said. “I

could swing as hard as I could and if

I get blocked, or if they get a touch or

something like that, I know my team

is going to be there for me.”

Pertofsky started the day with six

kills in the first set, helping the Wol-

verines to a 30-28 win. Two aces from

Pertofsky in both the third and fourth

sets helped lead the team to win both

of those games as well. She also hit

a .593, the second highest for Michi-

gan, behind only junior middle block-

er Kayla Bair. Pertofsky also had an

impressive performance Friday, rack-

ing up the second-most kills for the

team with 13, but she was outshined

by Jones, who had a program-record

37 kills. Pertofsky’s outing came off of a

two-week pause for the Wolverines, as

they were quarantined due to COVID-

19 contact tracing the previous two

weeks and missed games against Min-

nesota and Rutgers. Despite previously

playing just seven games, compared to

Indiana’s 16, Michigan was still able to

record a pair of wins this weekend.

“We’ve been hit pretty hard,” Perto-

sky said. “I think we’re one of the three

schools that has been hit the hardest

with COVID and restrictions and stuff,

so that’s definitely sucked a lot, but

every time we have the opportunity to

come into the gym, we work as hard as

we can and we stay connected.”

Although Wolverines have had

many pauses in their season, they

place an emphasis on focusing on

what is controllable.

“We talk about that in our pro-

gram a lot — don’t worry about or

don’t get focused on the things we

have no control over,” Rosen said. “I

think this team has a lot of potential,

and we knew that at the beginning

and we felt that at the beginning, but

now once we can have some time in

the gym and some consistent com-

petition, I think we’ll see that. And I

thought this weekend we kept getting

better.”

Without Pertofsky’s performance

and her resiliency, Michigan may

have taken a step backwards this

weekend. Instead, it did the opposite.

BECCA MAHON/Daily

May Pertofsky played a pivotal role in Michigan’s win over Indiana.

SAMI RUUD
For The Daily

Puzzling final possession cements Michigan defeat

INDIANAPOLIS — Regardless of the

result, Juwan Howard was steadfast in his

plan. Following a 3-pointer from senior

guard Chaundee Brown, the Michigan

men’s basketball trailed Ohio State by just a

single point with 47 seconds left. Assuming

the Wolverines could get a stop on defense,

Howard drew up a play in the huddle — a

berth to Sunday’s Big Ten Tournament final

resting on the outcome.

A stop, a score and Michigan would

complete a double-digit comeback that

seemed unfathomable just minutes before.

The Buckeyes’ point guard C.J. Walker

obliged with the former by stepping on his

own baseline and turning the ball back over

to the Wolverines with 28 seconds to go.

Howard, with a timeout remaining and his

team riding a surge of momentum from the

last few minutes, let his team go.

“I did not want to call a timeout, didn’t

want to let their team get set up,” Howard

said. “Teams don’t know what you’re gonna

run when you have the ball in your hands for

the last possession.”

Michigan started the possession in an

empty set — spacing the floor on the perimeter

and giving graduate point guard Mike Smith

ample space to initiate the final play. As the

seconds ticked away, it became clear that

the Wolverines would hold for the final shot.

With go-to options Isaiah Livers and Franz

Wagner on the bench — Livers, due to injury

and Wagner, having fouled out — the ball was

entirely in Smith’s hands.

Just eight seconds remained when

freshman center Hunter Dickinson set a high-

ball screen for Smith. Ohio State switched

defenders, leaving 6-foot-7 forward Justice

Sueing on Dickinson and forward E.J. Liddell

on Smith. Rather than dump it down-low to

Dickinson, who had scored six of Michigan’s

last 11 points, Smith kept it and put up a

stepback 3-pointer over Liddell’s outstretched

hand. The shot richotected on the back rim

with virtually no time left for an offensive

rebound opportunity. The Wolverines had

lost.

“We had the play, we had the ball, we had

the shot, unfortunately we just missed it,”

Howard said. “But I’ll take that shot any day.”

Added
Dickinson:
“Everybody
was

confident in it. If we had the opportunity to

go back, I would not be hesitant at all with

letting Mike shoot that next one. We were

all confident in Mike. and I told him after the

game, I’d let him shoot that one again if he had

the chance.”

Smith is a proven scorer, having averaged

22.8 points his last season at Columbia and

shooting 45.8% from 3-point range this

season. He also was coming off arguably his

best game in a Michigan jersey, a double-

double performance against Maryland on

Friday. And yet, with all that said, one can’t

help but question the final play.

Howard and Michigan might have felt

comfortable with Smith taking the last shot,

but feeling comfortable about that shot being

a stepback three seems unlikely — especially

trailing by just one point. The Buckeyes

had been unable to deal with Dickinson all

afternoon. If given the ball on the block, there

was a high chance he would’ve scored or

gotten fouled. At least, a better chance than a

contested 3-point attempt.

To bleed the clock down to the last possible

moment leaves no second chance opportunity,

no margin for error.

Howard’s belief in his players has been

well-documented, and one confounding

possession
shouldn’t
necessarily
be

extrapolated into something larger, but with

all that hung in the balance on Saturday

afternoon, it stung nonetheless.

CONNOR BRENNAN

Daily Sports Writer

MADELINE HINKLEY/Daily

Down by one in the final posession of Saturday’s game, the Wolverines couldn’t complete their comeback.

Livers’s presence missed in loss

to Buckeyes

As the Michigan men’s basketball team

made its way out onto the court for its

Big Ten semifinal matchup against Ohio

State, no player received louder cheers

than Isaiah Livers. As fans in attendance

cheered from the stands, the Wolverines’

captain extended his hand and waved to

them before the start of a top-10 matchup.

But Livers wouldn’t be playing.

Just hours before tip-off, Michigan

revealed that Livers had sustained a stress

injury in his foot and would remain out

of the lineup, indefinitely. Outfitted with

a boot, Livers was forced to watch the

biggest game of his team’s season from the

sidelines.

“It’s not just something that happened

one day,” Livers said. “A stress fracture is

an injury that happens over time. It was

something that I was just battling and we

were rehabbing.”

When Livers received the news of his

injury, he felt a whirlwind of emotions.

Averaging 13.1 points and 6.6 rebounds per

night, Livers returned to Ann Arbor with a

vision: winning a national championship.

Now, it appears that his senior campaign

may not feature the storybook ending he

intended.

“I kinda felt like Zavier Simpson and Jon

Teske, how their season got shortened last

year around this time,” Livers said. “You

just hate to see it.”

With so many emotions running

through his head, there was only one

person Livers wanted to speak to:

“Juwan Howard, who really helped me

once I got the news, he was the first person

I talked to on the phone,” Livers said. “It

says a lot about his character, he was there

for me, he understood. It was comforting,

especially hearing his voice. I had no words.

But he did all the talking for me, I didn’t

have to speak.”

As the game tipped off in Indianapolis,

Livers was replaced in the starting lineup

by junior forward Brandon Johns Jr. While

Johns performed admirably in relief, the

absence of Livers loomed large, especially

in a first half that saw the Wolverines put

up just 27 points, a season low.

“Obviously, Isaiah’s a great talent, one

of the best players in the country and so

missing him was obviously gonna be a big

hill that we had to climb over, but I think

the team did a really good job of next man

up,” freshman center Hunter Dickinson

said.

While Livers did not touch the floor, he

still remained an active and key voice on the

sidelines for Michigan.

“At the end of the day, Isaiah is very

disappointed he’s not out there to help his

teammates,” Howard said. “(But) being

on the bench, having his presence, his

leadership, his voice, he is helping.”

The Wolverines nearly pulled off a

13-point comeback in the game’s final six

minutes, but ultimately lost, 68-67, after

graduate guard Mike Smith missed a step-

back three at the buzzer. While the loss

signifies the end of Michigan’s Big Ten

Tournament run, its NCAA Tournament

tale is still waiting to be written.

And if Livers has it his way, he’ll be out

there to help author it.

“I don’t want people to write me off yet,”

Livers said. “Still gonna rehab and work my

butt off to get back with this team because

I know we’re going to make a run and I’m

gonna be there for it.”

TEDDY GUTKIN
Daily Sports Writer

United States Paralympic hopeful Leo Merle joins Michigan ASAF

Earlier this month, Michigan’s

Adaptive Sports and Fitness (ASAF)

program scored a significant addi-

tion to their ranks with the news that

track and field athlete and 2021 U.S.

Paralympic team hopeful Leo Merle

would be joining the team.

Merle will be the second interna-

tionally competitive track and field

athlete to join the program, the first

being the decorated Cathryn Gray.

Now, with two elite athletes repre-

senting the track and field arm of the

program, it’s seemingly only a matter

of time before the accolades follow.

Merle arrives with a considerable

reputation. He’s the current U23

national record holder in the 5k for

his para-athletic classification with a

time of 16:58.

“I have times that are faster than

that, but because I wasn’t declared

a para-athlete just yet, they don’t

count,” Merle said. “I don’t have any

qualms with that, but I know I can

run faster.”

Despite the fact that he’s now

in contention for a spot on the U.S.

Paralympic team this summer, Merle

started competitive running relative-

ly late. Only in his junior year of high

school did Merle really begin to take

running seriously. Luckily, Merle

is an adept learner. As a teenager,

he picked up competitive shooting

after posting a perfect score on the

very first occasion he held a shotgun.

Within a few years, he was competing

at international competitions, being

coached by a world champion and

looking into potential Olympic oppor-

tunities for 2016.

Ultimately, Merle chose to drop

competitive shooting to focus on his

academics and running. However,

the pace at which Merle became an

elite competitor at the sport is a testa-

ment to his intelligence, diligence and

overall athletic ability.

After graduating from high school,

Merle enrolled at the University of

California, Santa Cruz in his native

state of California. There, he com-

peted as a Division III track and field

athlete for four years, participating

in countless events and posting com-

petitive times. However, one thing

set him apart from his competitors

— Merle has cerebral palsy, a disor-

der that affects mobility, posture and

balance.

“I didn’t know about the broad

spectrum of para-athletics until my

junior year (of college) when I started

doing the research and signing up for

nationals and whatnot,” Merle told

The Daily. “I didn’t have any special

accommodations and I didn’t really

think anything of it.”

In 2019, as a college junior, Merle

competed in Minnesota at the U23

U.S. Nationals. There, he had his

first-ever physical evaluation for clas-

sification as a para-athlete.

“As I was letting them know what

I was running for the 15k and the 5k,

they kind of just stopped and were

like, ‘Okay, there’s some people you

should start talking to to get more

information about (para-)athletics,’ ”

Merle said.

At that very same competition,

his first as a para-athlete, Merle went

on to set the U23 national record for

the 5k among T-38 (a disability sport

classification for those with cerebral

palsy) athletes.

“I didn’t realize the actual speed

that I had,” Merle said.

Once taken into the fold of

para-athletics, Merle set his sights on

qualification for the U.S. Paralympic

Team that will compete in Tokyo this

summer. Merle is in constant contact

with his coach from the U.S. Paralym-

pic Team, who prescribes his training

regimen and modifies it based on how

Merle is feeling and progressing.

As one would expect, training for

this once-in-a-lifetime event hasn’t

come without obstacles. In January,

Merle slipped on an ice patch while

leaving the library one night. While

falling, Merle tweaked a muscle that

kept him from running for almost

two months.

“I was so mad,” Merle said. “This

was when I was supposed to be ramp-

ing up, not sitting on a stationary

bike. I was thinking that if this really

affects my ability to race the time I

need to race, that’s really messed up.”

In some ways, however, the injury

was a blessing in disguise for Merle.

In a visit with a Michigan Physical

Therapist, Merle was introduced to

and given the contact information for

the ASAF program.

“One of the things that she men-

tioned that I’ve always had a fasci-

nation with and wanted to do was

expanding education about adaptive

sports and physical disabilities for

athletes and people in general,” Merle

said. “I’d be bummed if I didn’t make

the U.S. team for the Paralympics, but

at the end of the day, the larger impact

I want to have is to extend that invi-

tation.”

In addition to the injury setback,

Merle has had a lot on his plate

while training for Tokyo — Merle is

the president of his first-year dental

school class in the Michigan School of

Dentistry.

“It’s definitely a lot of time man-

agement,” Merle said. “As of right

now, I would say that I’ve been doing

a pretty good job of it. The one thing

that I have to keep in mind first and

foremost is that school is priority

number one.”

The Paralympic trials are in June,

where Merle will finally find out

whether his many months of training

have earned him a seat on the plane to

Tokyo. Admittedly, Merle describes,

there’s work to be done before then if

he’s to be selected. Historically, Merle

is a distance runner, competing in

events like the 5k, 8k and 10k. Howev-

er, for the T-38 physical classification,

the longest distance event available to

him to compete in at the Paralympics

is the 1500 meter.

“It’s a pretty large switch for me

compared to some other athletes who

have already been doing this,” Merle

said. “I’ve had to start doing a lot more

weightlifting and a lot more speed

work which I haven’t really done.”

Despite having to significantly

transform his running style, Merle is

already running times nearly 30 sec-

onds faster than the Paralympic stan-

dard for the 1500 meter of 4:45, with

a personal best of 4:19. However, to

meet the standards specific to the U.S.

team, Merle will have to cut a further

seven seconds off that time in order to

be at the threshold. Ultimately, Merle

aims to have a personal best of around

4:10 by the time June rolls around.

“I’ll need to cut about a handful

of seconds per race, which sounds

impossible,” Merle said. “But from

when I ran my personal best, I’ve got-

ten a lot stronger, I’ve gotten a little bit

older so I’ve had a little bit more mus-

cle development, so my body is going

to be able to respond much more

quickly.”

Going forward, Merle’s role as

part of the ASAF program will be

twofold. Given his potential status

as a Paralympian, the hope is that by

joining ASAF, Merle will bring noto-

riety and attention to the program.

At races and competitions, Merle

will now compete under the banner

of Michigan ASAF and wear pro-

gram-branded gear. In turn, ASAF

will support the costs of Merle’s

registration and travel to and from

events.

“We want to make it clear that hey,

we’re brand new, but we still have

people that are world-class at what

they do,” Merle said.

Additionally, those within the

program believe that the addition of

Merle will make it clear to Michigan

that ASAF and the strong foundation

it has built represents an opportunity

for the University to support the pro-

gram and establish itself as a leader in

adaptive sports.

“With Leo joining the program we

now have a roster of accomplished

athletes who have bright futures

ahead of them,” Erik Robeznieks,

Michigan ASAF Program Manager,

said. “It would be a missed oppor-

tunity if these athletes didn’t get the

support, access and opportunity that

is afforded to able-bodied athletes at

the institution.”

Robeznieks cites a plaque com-

memorating Michigan Olympians

that hangs in the Michigan Varsity

Track and Field Center as an embod-

iment of his hopes for how Michigan

should back ASAF:

“Given the caliber of athletes in

our program, and with support from

all levels of the system, we have the

opportunity to be leaders and the

best,” Robeznieks said. “For the Uni-

versity of Michigan, it is difficult to

conceive of better timing to start sup-

porting ‘Michigan Olympians and

Paralympians.’ ”

In addition to competing under

the banner of Michigan ASAF, Merle

will work with program staff and

Services for Students with Disabil-

ities at Michigan to provide and

expand education about adaptive

sports to students and community

members. For Merle, this role is the

more significant of the two.

“You can inspire a lot of people

by being an athlete who competes at

the Olympics or Paralympics,” Merle

said. “But by making a local impact

and expanding education, those peo-

ple can then go on to wherever they

go in their lives to leave an impact

that is equal to or greater than mine.”

SAMI RUUD
For The Daily

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