Wednesday, August 10, 2022 — 7
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
After learning and overcoming, Jess Mruzik readies to lead Michigan
LINDSAY BUDIN
Summer Managing Sports Editor
CHICAGO — When Michigan
junior outside hitter Jess Mruzik
arrived at Michigan after graduating
high school a semester early in
January 2020, she finally got the
opportunity to take her talents to
the collegiate level. But when she
contracted mono and spent weeks
dealing with the illness, she faced her
first road bump.
And when she finally returned to
campus, she was met with an even
bigger setback: a complete shutdown
of the University due to the onset of
COVID-19.
Now, heading into her third
season, Mruzik will get to play in an
environment that’s foreign to her —
one without the heavy burden and
impediment of the pandemic.
After leading the Wolverines with
446 points and 389 kills en route to
collecting First Team All-Big Ten
accolades last year, Mruzik enters the
upcoming season with experience,
drive and the desire to lead.
In the inaugural Big Ten Volleyball
Media Days, Mruzik put aside
discussing her formidable on-court
skills to focus on what she can bring
to the locker room.
“This year I definitely see myself
as someone who is going to try and
push my teammates to be better
every single day,” Mruzik said. “But
also, they’re pushing me to be better.”
Mruzik is used to being pushed,
whether it comes from herself, her
teammates or her opposition. When
she joined the program, Mruzik
received her first big push — this one,
from the ruthless Big Ten. Quickly,
other teams were able to figure her
out, target her and come after her. But
she learned to adapt, overcoming the
challenge to stay one step ahead of
Big Ten sets standard with inaugural Big Ten Volleyball Media Days
CHICAGO — The Big Ten stands
at the helm of collegiate women’s
volleyball, with three of its member
schools winning five out of the last
nine national championships. This
week, the conference broke ground
with the inaugural Big Ten Volleyball
Media Days, marking a new age in the
sports’ media coverage.
“This is the first-ever (Big Ten
Volleyball Media Day) and this is
the coolest opportunity,” Ohio State
senior libero Kylie Murr said. “And
little girls are going to want to keep
playing volleyball because it’s going to
give them opportunities like this. And
I think that’s what was missing and I
think we’re heading in that direction,
but it’s obviously still not perfect yet.”
Representation in the media opens
the door to even more possibilities.
Young girls reading sports articles
or turning on Big Ten Network
see volleyball players beginning
to receive equitable treatment to
football and men’s and women’s
basketball players. And while the
longstanding popularity of volleyball
may suggest that the media days are
overdue, the execution and success
should be celebrated.
Two players and the head coach of
every Big Ten volleyball program were
in attendance and had opportunities
to speak at a press conference and for
outlets like Sirius XM, NCAA.com,
ESPN and the Big Ten Network’s
digital media and television. Recap
shows aired live on Big Ten Network
each day, including an interview with
Big Ten Conference Commissioner
Warren.
“I think our sport’s growing so fast
right now,” Michigan coach Mark
Rosen said. “We have 55 matches this
year on the Big Ten Network or ESPN
from our conference. That’s going
to be huge for us. … (Volleyball is) a
sport people are watching because
it’s fun to watch, because it’s exciting,
it’s drama, (it’s) great athleticism.
They’re seeing this and they’re
getting attracted to our sport.”
Out of the six Big Ten matches
featured on ESPN2 or ESPNU in
the fall, Michigan is slated in three
of them — twice against Wisconsin,
and once against Ohio State. And the
Wolverines’ other matchup against
the Buckeyes will be one of two
matches featured on FS1.
Volleyball’s popularity is growing
rapidly, and as it receives more
television exposure, that growth
becomes more sustainable. The 2021
National
Championship
between
Nebraska and Wisconsin set a
record with 1.19 million viewers as
the highest viewership for women’s
volleyball on any ESPN network.
And the sport’s popularity has
also translated to name, image and
likeness success. In the first year
after NIL was passed, women’s
volleyball ranked fourth in total
NIL compensation on Opendorse’s
platform, and fifth in total NIL
activities.
Given the popularity of the sport,
events like the Big Ten Volleyball
Media Days are necessary to support
growth. Exposure to the public is
crucial to build upon teams’ successes
season after season.
“(The media) keeps evolving,”
Michigan junior outside hitter Jess
Mruzik said. “And I think there’s
always new ways to get content out
there, but I just think the media has
helped build this little community
within volleyball itself. These kids
that come to camp, they take pictures
with us and they tag us on their
Instagram and then they follow us
on Instagram. It’s cool to have this
network and community with people
from all over the world.”
The changing media landscape,
the introduction of NIL and the
popularity of social media platforms
like TikTok and
Instagram
make
it possible to learn
more
about
the
person
beyond
the
names
on
their backs. The
engaging aspects
of
social
media
help
student-
athletes
become
more
accessible
to fans, and the
increased
news
coverage
and
television time for
volleyball players
from the Media
Days
amplifies
that.
“And I think especially with today,
this is a huge step in the volleyball
world.
We’re
definitely
setting
precedent for people to follow,”
Mruzik said.
The Big Ten made history with
its recent television contract and the
inaugural media days. Now, eyes turn
to other conferences to follow suit and
allow coverage to grow alongside the
sport.
VOLLEYBALL
VOLLEYBALL
TAYLOR DANIELS
Daily Sports Writer
JULIANNE YOON/Daily
her competition.
“A lot of people, they’ve done
things to try to affect her game
because they need to be able to try
to slow her down,” Michigan coach
Mark Rosen said. “She’s one of the
best learners I’ve ever worked with,
she picks things up very quickly.”
Despite finding ways to deal with
conference challenges and earning
an AVCA All-American Honorable
Mention, Mruzik’s season ended
on a sour note: a first-round NCAA
Tournament exit to Ball State, leaving
the Wolverines disappointed and
dissatisfied.
This year, with only two incoming
freshmen on the team, nearly every
Michigan player is holding onto that
loss as additional motivation for this
season.
“You could just visually see
on people’s faces that we were
disappointed,” Mruzik said about
last season’s tournament loss. “I
definitely know we’ll play with a fire
under us this year.”
And Mruzik is somebody who can
help lead the Wolverines past the
heights they reached one season ago.
With an increased understanding
of the competition and a more
advanced skill set, Mruzik — despite
only being a junior — serves as a
prominent leader for Michigan.
Mruzik
recognizes
that
the
Wolverines cannot rest on the
success of making the tournament
last year, and instead must take that
learning experience — and the pain
of that defeat — to reach a different
outcome this year.
“She’s
extremely
competitive,”
Rosen said. “… And I think that’s a
true test of a champion, somebody
who can take those battles and really
kind of enjoy (them) as well as learn
through them.”
The competitive nature that drives
Mruzik
is
something
Michigan
needs in order to find success within
the high-level Big Ten field. And
it’s something that Mruzik aims to
spread through her leadership.
“Like Mark mentioned, I’m pretty
competitive,” Mruzik said. “That’s
definitely what I like to bring into
the gym every day and into our
practices.”
With high aspirations this season,
the Wolverines need somebody to
lead the charge. And after facing
— and overcoming — road bumps
throughout her first two years at
Michigan, Mruzik believes she can
be the one to take the helm.
JULIANNE YOON/Daily
Jess Mruzik spoke at the inaugural Big Ten Volleyball Media Days.
Michigan volleyball coach Mark Rosen spoke at the inaugural
Big Ten Volleyball Media Days.