The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Wednesday, September 22, 2021 — 11

On Senior Night, seniors lead 
Michigan to comeback victory

The Michigan volleyball team 

(7-2) cruised to an easy victory 
against Boston College (10-4) 
on Friday evening, winning 
3-0 in its final match Friday. 
The Wolverines jumped to an 
early lead as they took the first 
set 25-13 behind senior outside 
hitter Paige Jones’s five kills 
and junior middle back May 
Pertofsky’s three aces. 

“In the gym, we talked a lot 

about first contact, which is 
serving and passing, and that’s 
something that we really focus 
ourselves on,” Jones said. “First 
contact wins games, so if we can 
get them out of system and serve 
aggressive, it makes our lives 
easier on the defensive end … 
it’s like our staple of what we’re 
trying to do.” 

Jones played exceptionally 

well, slamming a series of kills 
at a speed too fast for the Eagles 
to 
handle. 
This 
aggression 

worked in the team’s favor, as 
she and Petorfsky finished with 
ten kills each throughout the 
match.

“Since my freshman year, I’ve 

been learning how to serve more 
consistently with the hybrid 
since it’s not something that I 
did before college, and we’ve 
put so much time into it over the 
years and really worked on a lot 
this year,” Pertofsy said. “We’ve 
been really working on location 
and tempo … I think that the 
communication is really open 
when I’m with my team and with 
my setters, so it’s really nice just 
to tell them what I need, or if it’s 
my fault.”

The second set was no different 

as the Wolverines carried the 
momentum from the first set 
to win 25-17. Part of Michigan’s 
overall success resulted from 
an emphasis on countering the 
Eagles’ style of play. 

“Early on, we knew that 

they run a really fast offense,” 
Pertofsky said. “We saw that 
when they played Dayton and 
so we scouted that, and early in 
the game, just made sure that we 
were set up out wide. Working 
from the outside in (allowed us) 
to make sure that we were on 
the pins.” 

Michigan 
did 
have 
some 

hiccups along the way. Early in 

the third set, the Wolverines 
found themselves trailing, 18-14, 
and called a timeout. Boston 
College turned four pancakes 
into kills, and the momentum 
was in its favor. The Wolverines, 
though, 
appeared 
to 
have 

regrouped after the timeout as 
they went on a 7-1 run to take a 
21-19 lead. 

“Their system is so fast, 

that when it’s clicking, it’s 
hard to stop,” Michigan coach 
Mark Rosen said. “But I don’t 
think you can sustain it very 
consistently. I really wanted 
to just talk about being patient 
but urgent. We needed to keep 
serving 
tough. 
They 
were 

passing pretty well during that 
time, but if you keep serving 
tough, sooner or later, you’ll 
get them. Even though they’re 
scoring right now, sooner or 
later, the errors will come and 
they kind of did.” 

After a loss to UNC last 

Sunday, Michigan has been 
on a hot streak, sweeping the 
Michigan Invitational over the 
weekend. With Big Ten play this 
week, the team looking to carry 
the momentum forward after a 
strong stretch.

Women’s volleyball wins to 

sweep invitational

JAKE SINGER
For The Daily

Fifteen minutes into extra 

time, senior midfielder Meredith 
Haakenson collected the ball 
at the top of the box. After 
surveying the field, Haakenson 
slipped it past the defense to 
the foot of junior forward Dani 
Wolfe. Wolfe dribbled to the end 
line before finding sophomore 

forward Sammi Woods, who sent 
a shot just past the goalkeeper’s 
outstretched arm, into the back 
of the net.

Woods’s goal completed the 

21st-ranked Wolverines’ (1-0-0 
Big Ten, 7-1-1 overall) comeback 
2-1 victory over Illinois (0-1, 
4-4) on Friday. Despite trailing 
for nearly 80 minutes of the 
game and needing two extra 
time periods, Michigan’s strong 
defense and slew of offensive 
chances eventually propelled it to 
the win. 

The defense got off to an 

unpromising 
start, 
however, 

when an early foul by senior 

defender Janiece Joyner in the 
box led to a penalty kick for the 
Illini. 
Fifth-year 
goalkeeper 

Hillary Beall made the save, but 
the ball bounced off her hands 
onto the foot of Illinois attacker 
Makena Silber, who gave the 
Illini a lead just two minutes into 
the game. 

Despite 
senior 
defender 

Sydney Shepherd — who had 
started every game to this point 
— being unavailable, and Joyner 

going down with an injury in the 
15th minute, Michigan’s defense 
tightened up after the early goal. 
Senior back Alia Martin and 
junior midfielder Emily Leyson 
held the unit together as their 
replacements. 

“This is where you are very 

thankful that you have some 
depth,” Michigan coach Jennifer 
Klein said. “Typically (Leyson) 
plays in the midfield, but we slid 
her back there … She did a great 
job.”

But while Michigan’s defense 

rebounded, its offense stalled. 
Despite holding the ball in the 
offensive end for most of the 

half, strong defense in the box 
from Illinois prevented quality 
chances, limiting the Wolverines 
to six first half shots and 
maintaining the Illini’s one goal 
lead into the break. 

The Wolverines came out of 

halftime energized, doubling 
their shot total within the first 
10 minutes of the half. Still, 
many of the chances were 
not high quality with shots 
constantly being taken from 
the top of the box and sailing 
way over the top of the net. 
Though it outshot Illinois 20-2 
throughout the half, it would 
take until the 80th minute for 
Michigan to even the score, 
when the Wolverines earned a 
corner kick. 

As the ball flew in, Illinois 

goalkeeper Naomi Jackson made 
an aggressive move, attempting 
to punch the ball out of the box. 
Instead, it hit off her hand, right 
to the head of senior midfielder 
Raleigh Loughman. Loughman 
hit it up to Haakenson, who 
headed it into the back of the net, 
knotting the game at one. 

“I got to give credit to Raleigh,” 

Haakenson said. “It was a great 
ball … I didn’t really have to do 
much. She’s a senior, and I’m a 
senior … On senior night it was a 
present for all of us.” 

Though Michigan earned a 

few more chances throughout 
the rest of regulation, nothing 
resulted. The first 15 minutes of 
extra time carried on similarly, 
with the Wolverines creating 
chances but not capitalizing. 

Finally, in the 105th minute, 

Woods put the ball into the 
bottom left corner of the net, 
completing the comeback win. 

“Overtime is always a lot of 

high emotions,” Woods said. 
“Being the team that gets that 
golden goal is always a surreal 
feeling, but being the one to 
actually get that goal is even 
better.” 

MILES MACKLIN/Daily 

Senior midfielder Meredith Haakenson spurred the Wolverines to a 2-1 victory.

JULIA SCHACHINGER/Daily 

Michigan dispatched Boston College with ease, winning in straight sets.

NOAH KINGSLEY

For The Daily

The Michigan men’s soccer 

team faced a tall task in its first 
Big Ten opponent of the season: 
No. 8 Maryland. 

While the Wolverines (3-3-

1 overall, 0-1 Big Ten) played 
the Terrapins (5-1, 1-0) close, 
they were not up to the task, 
ultimately falling, 2-1.

The first half was largely 

dominated by Maryland. It was 
able to dictate the tempo of the 
game with its ability to move 
the ball up the field, get traffic 
in front of the net and create 
numerous scoring opportunities 
though 
it 
wasn’t 
able 
to 

capitalize. 

The Terrapins’ best chance of 

the half came with ten minutes 
left on a mad scramble in front 
of the Wolverines’ net, but the 
defense was persistent. Junior 
defender Evan Rasmussen was 
key in getting the stop on the 
play.

The game remained scoreless 

heading into halftime with the 
Terrapins having a 6-to-3 shot 
advantage. Michigan hoped to 
limit their chances in the final 
45 minutes.

But 
as 
the 
second 
half 

kicked 
off, 
the 
Wolverines 

were unable to stick to their 
gameplan. Maryland’s offense 
was even more ferocious in the 
second half, creating numerous 
opportunities 
and 
drawing 

penalty kicks. 

Ten minutes into the second 

half, the Terrapins drew a foul, 
resulting in a penalty kick. 
Maryland 
midfielder 
Joshua 

Bolma buried a goal on a curve 
shot that just barely missed the 
gloves of freshman goaltender 
Hayden Evans. 

The Terrapins kept riding 

their 
momentum 
and 
just 

nine 
minutes 
later, 
scored 

another goal. Maryland’s trio 
of midfielders worked a tic-
tac-toe play which ended with 
Justin Harris scoring in front 
of the net. He broke through 

the Wolverines defenders and 
buried the goal to make it a 2-0 
game. 

Despite allowing two second-

half goals, Evans finished the 
game with eight saves. 

With the game winding down, 

Michigan was able to cut the 
deficit to one with a goal from 
senior forward Derick Broche. 
Broche scored off a nice pass 
from senior midfielder Kevin 
Buca which froze the Terrapin 
goaltender. 

Despite the late push by the 

Wolverines, 
they 
ultimately 

came up short. The Terrapins 
finished the second half with 
ten 
shots, 
further 
elevating 

themselves from their first half 
performance. Michigan failed to 
keep up as it only tallied six shots 
compared to Maryland’s sixteen.

If the Wolverines want to stay 

competitive in the Big Ten, they 
will need to breakout offensively, 
after only scoring eight goals in 
the first seven games. 

No players or coaches were 

available for comment.

Michigan fails to complete late 

comeback

MARK PATRICK

Daily Sports Writer

MADELINE HINKLEY/Daily 

Derick Broche scored a goal in Michigan’s loss to Maryland.

