The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Wednesday, October 12, 2022 — 11
Attack errors foil Michigan in
loss to Minnesota
JOSHUA BROWN
For The Daily
Beating a perennial contender
is a difficult feat. It is even harder
to do when attempting to over-
come self-inflicted wounds.
For the No. 24 Michigan vol-
leyball team (12-3 overall, 3-2 Big
Ten), Friday’s matchup against
No. 11 Minnesota (9-5, 4-2) was a
litmus test. Ultimately, the Wol-
verines were overwhelmed by the
Golden Gophers’ stout defense,
3-0, and committed numerous
attacking errors in the loss.
Michigan came into the match
with momentum off a 3-1 win
at Northwestern on Oct. 1, and
it looked to carry that into this
anticipated matchup after finally
cracking into the AVCA Coaches
top 25. But right away, Minnesota
stole the energy by going on a 9-0
run to capture a 15-5 lead in the
first set.
“I just thought we were really
streaky tonight,” Michigan coach
Mark Rosen said. “A lot of times
when you get into the streaks, it’s
your first contact. Our passing
was great tonight and we passed
the ball really well, and they’re
a tough-serving team. … We just
didn’t have very good rhythm
between our setting and our hit-
ting.”
The Gophers rode their own
stout play to a dominant 25-12
first set win, with no attack errors
compared to the Wolverines’ nine.
Michigan junior outside hitter
Kendall Murray contributed four
of those early errors without pro-
viding a single kill. The Wolver-
ines also significantly trailed in hit
percentage in the set, just getting
out of the negative at .034, while
Minnesota finished the set at .500.
Despite the lopsided first set
score, senior middle blocker May
Pertofsky began to emerge as a
bright spot with four early kills,
ending the match with eight total.
Rosen noted some tweaks from
the week’s practices that raised
Pertofsky’s game.
“(Pertofsky) was really good
and they’ve been working all week
to get a different look or rhythm to
their offense,” Rosen said. “May
hits a quicker ball better, so we
tried to spin speed it up. … Her
numbers today reflect how hard
she’s worked all week.”
But
even
with
Pertofsky’s
improved performance, Michigan
got backed into a corner after the
first set. It needed to rally to put
up a more competitive showing in
the second set without pressing in
a reckless fashion.
“When you are playing a team
where we’re not playing our best
game, you have to stay pretty
even with your attitude and even
when you’re playing,” Pertofsky
said. “So you can’t just go out and
rip as many balls as you can. You
just have to play smart.”
In the second set, Michigan
found better rhythm but the
end result did not change. Play
between the teams went back
and forth, but Minnesota nudged
ahead with a 21-16 lead and held
on for the set win. Gophers
outside hitter Taylor Landfair
recorded the set-winning kill
and racked up a remarkable 18
kills in the match to complement
a .452 hit percentage.
The third set was more analo-
gous to the first set, with Michi-
gan’s
self-inflicted
attacking
errors continuing to stack upon
each other as they dropped the
set 25-13. The gap between the
teams’ total attacking errors
proved decisive: 25 for the Wol-
verines and a mere eight for
Minnesota.
Moving forward in confer-
ence play, Michigan knows it has
to continue to work on its com-
munication and collective team
effort if it wants to diminish its
errors. On Friday, it made too
many mistakes, and that ulti-
mately cost it the game.
Sports
VOLLEYBALL
Wolverines learn lesson in adversity in loss to Huskers
JAMES DOYLE
For The Daily
Going
into
their
matchup
with perennial powerhouse No.
3 Nebraska, the No. 24 Michigan
volleyball team knew it was being
thrown into the frying pan. But,
after both of the Wolverines’ mid-
dle blockers — senior Jess Robin-
son and sophomore Jacques Boney
— were blocked in the Cornhusk-
ers’ 11-3 opening run, they realized
they were fully in the fire.
Nebraska is such a tough oppo-
nent, in part, because of its strength
from the service line. The Corn-
huskers recorded six service aces to
Michigan’s zero, but the pressure
they put on the Wolverines’ passers
was apparent throughout the entire
game. Suboptimal passes took away
some of junior setter Scottee John-
son’s options and speed. Michigan
had to rely on junior outside hitters
Jess Mruzik and Kendall Mur-
ray scoring against a fully formed
Nebraska block.
“I thought our team stayed
really aggressive, which was really
important,” Michigan coach Mark
Rosen said. “(Nebraska’s) a team
that, when they’re blocking really
well and they’re playing great
defense, they can kind of make you
want to back off a little bit.”
Indeed, playing aggressive is just
what Michigan did. Mruzik and
Murray didn’t hit timidly against
the Nebraska block, but the Corn-
huskers’ defense allows the lowest
opponent hitting percentage in the
nation. Playing aggressively against
them is bound to yield good, bad
and ugly results. Mruzik hit .025,
her lowest percentage of the sea-
son. There were times when she
and Murray committed errors or
were blocked. There were times
when Nebraska libero Lexi Rodri-
guez turned sure-fire Michigan
kills into Nebraska points. Still,
Murray stressed the value of an
aggressive mindset:
“Being able to stay aggressive
is what kind of drives our team,”
Murray said. “When we’re scoring
out of system, it’s not only ener-
getic, but it also gives our setters
confidence, it gives our liberos
confidence, like it just feeds off
throughout the entire team.”
The Wolverines demonstrated
their ability to stay confident in the
second set. Following a disheart-
ening 25-14 first set loss, Michigan
bounced back in the second set.
Notably, with the set tied 20-20,
Mruzik ended a long rally with a
kill. In a high pressure situation,
Mruzik and the Wolverines reaped
the benefits of their maintained
confidence and took back the
momentum. While they went on
to lose 26-24, they took the Corn-
huskers to their brink.
“They executed a little bit better
that time, but I don’t think we did
anything wrong,” Rosen said. “I
was really proud of how we played
that set.”
In the second set, Michigan
proved they could hang with the
best of the best in the NCAA. While
the box score shows a definitive
loss, there were lessons learned for
the Wolverines.
“I thought we saw a lot of good
things
tonight,”
Mruzik
said.
“When things aren’t necessarily
going our way, keeping connected
and keeping that eye contact and
EMILY ALBERTS/Daily
I thought tonight we did a really
good job.”
Despite their ability to come
together as a team, the Wolver-
ines would lose the third set, 25-19.
Nebraska looked more polished,
and it showed in the box score. As
a team, the Cornhuskers had a .330
hitting percentage compared to the
Wolverines’ .184. They were able
to turn quality passing into kills,
registering a sideout percentage
20 points higher than Michigan
throughout the match.
“We weren’t as clean as they
were and that’s where we need
to get better,” Rosen said. “(We)
played the way we wanted to play,
even though we didn’t get the
result we wanted.”
While Michigan may have felt
the heat, they have already proven
they can beat the best of the best,
upsetting No. 9 Penn State on Sept.
24. However, ranked No. 24, the
Wolverines have yet to stake their
claim as a member of that upper
echelon. While the result against
Nebraska may not bolster its case,
the lessons learned from the game
may help Michigan as it continues
conference play in a difficult Big
Ten conference.
Michigan loses focus in loss
against Wisconsin
ISABELLA VILLACORTA
For The Daily
Games can change in a matter
of minutes.
That’s what happened on Fri-
day night in the Michigan men’s
soccer team’s (3-6-3 overall, 1-3-1
Big Ten) bout with Wisconsin
(4-5-1, 1-3-0), where it fell, 2-1.
Beginning the first half, the
Badgers applied consistent pres-
sure to the Wolverines. With
eight shots to Michigan’s zero,
Wisconsin quickly took the upper
hand. But sophomore goalkeeper
Hayden Evans kept the Wolver-
ines in the game with five incred-
ible saves, ending the game with
eight saves — the most he’s had in
a game this season.
“We kind of weathered the
storm in the whole first half,”
Michigan coach Chaka Daley
said. “We weren’t on it, but
Hayden made a couple of good
saves to keep us zero-zero at
halftime.”
When the half ended in a
scoreless draw, it remained to
be seen what changes each team
would make. Coming back onto
the field, it was clear the Wol-
verines had made the necessary
adjustments. Right away they
maintained possession, played
quicker on the ball and took more
shots on goal.
“We made some adjustments
at halftime that gave us…that
shot in the arm,” Daley said.
“That shot in the arm changed
the momentum of the game. We
were on it and created chances
and kind of were on the front
foot.”
This led to a corner kick for
Michigan, which it successfully
capitalized on.
Senior forward Inaki Rodri-
guez, kicking the corner, placed
the ball into the box where senior
defender Brennan Callow took a
header shot. Though Badgers
midfielder Tim Bielic blocked it,
freshman defender Nolan Miller
was quick to rebound with a
header, scoring the first goal of
the game in the 66th minute.
Soon after, tides shifted.
The Badgers quickly regained
momentum and in the 72nd
minute scored their first goal.
With a cross in from the left by
a Wisconsin defender, Badgers
forward Jack Finnegan one
touched the ball into the top of
the net.
“Once they got the equal-
izer, that’s when the games get
hard,” Daley said. “We just lost
our focus for a minute.”
After Wisconsin scored the
equalizer, Michigan was unable
to regain focus, giving the Bad-
gers the upper hand once again.
Within minutes of their first
goal Wisconsin scored another,
taking the lead, 2-1. With a pass
from the midfield, Wisconsin
defender Max Keenan was able
to take a shot from the right,
evading the Wolverine’s defen-
sive line.
“I think we just relaxed
maybe a little bit thinking we
were on top of it,” Daley said.
Michigan earned three more
corner kick opportunities in
the second half, but could not
finish them. The Badgers con-
tinued to take more shots, dou-
bling the Wolverines. These
fewer
and
missed
scoring
opportunities were crucial, and
they ultimately led to Wiscon-
sin taking home its first Big Ten
win.
MEN’S SOCCER
Michigan suffers second back-to-back loss against Nebraska
After falling to No. 11 Minne-
sota in straight sets on Friday, the
Michigan volleyball team (12-4
overall, 3-3 Big Ten) looked to
bounce back with an upset win
against No. 3 Nebraska on Satur-
day. The Cornhuskers (14-1, 6-0)
entered the match undefeated in
Big Ten games, including a huge
five-set win over No. 6 Ohio State.
Ultimately,
the
Wolverines
couldn’t handle the more expe-
rienced and fast-paced Nebras-
ka, losing in straight sets, 14-25,
24-26, 19-25. The Cornhuskers
beat Michigan defensively at the
net, totaling 11 blocks to the Wol-
verines’ two. There’s a reason
Nebraska’s defense is ranked No. 1
in the country, holding opponents
to a hitting percentage of just
0.113 in 14 matches.
However,
Michigan
didn’t
back down. It was led offensively
by junior outside hitters Kendall
Murray, who notched 13 kills, and
Jess Mzurik, who recorded her
fourth double-double of the sea-
son with 10 kills and 10 blocks.
“I thought our team stayed
really aggressive,” Michigan
coach Mark Rosen said “When
they’re
[Nebraska]
blocking
really well, they’re playing great
defense, they can kinda make you
wanna back off a little bit, be a
little more timid… but I thought
our hitters kept coming right back
after them.”
The Cornhuskers set the tone
from the get-go with a well-
placed serve and a strong block.
From there, they never looked
back, winning the first set 25-14.
It seemed that for every point
Michigan won, it had to work lon-
ger and harder than its opponent.
Murray saved one set point down
13-24, but another kill by the
Cornhuskers sealed the first set
after her hard-fought effort.
After losing the first set, the
Wolverines regained a sense of
confidence they possessed all
season, starting the second set
out with newfound aggression.
Michigan came out guns blaz-
ing, taking the first point—their
first lead of the night. The first 10
points saw the teams trade blows
back-and-forth with kill after
kill. Finally, four straight kills by
Murray and sophomore middle
blocker Jacque Boney saw the
Wolverines take a 4-0 run and a
9-6 lead. The Cornhuskers called
their first timeout of the night
after digging themselves an early
hole.
“Being able to stay aggressive
out of system is what drives our
team,” Murray said. “When we’re
scoring out of system, it’s not only
energetic, but it also gives our set-
ters confidence, it gives our libe-
ros confidence, it just kinda feeds
off throughout the entire team.”
Michigan
continued
its
momentum, taking a 15-12 lead
with a deceptive soft kill by senior
opposite hitter May Pertofsky.
However, Nebraska wasn’t giving
up easily.
The Cornhuskers fought back
to take set point at 23-24. As
Nebraska’s libero Lexi Rodriguez
looked to serve for the set, home-
court advantage finally turned
the Wolverines’ way.
Momentum shifted to Michi-
gan and roars filled Crisler Cen-
ter when senior middle blocker
Jess Robinson hit a crushing
spike to save set point. Despite
Robinson’s best efforts, it was too
little too late, as two successive
Nebraska kills saw Michigan lose
the second set 24-26.
“I don’t second guess any of
it,” Rosen said. ”They had a little
better execution, but I was really
proud of how we played that set.”
Michigan couldn’t hold on to
its second set momentum, losing
the third set. Nebraska displayed
more poise, experience and domi-
nance on the defensive end in
their sweep of the Wolverines.
VOLLEYBALL
SOHUM PAVASKAR
For The Daily
EMILY ALBERTS/Daily
SYDNEY HASTINGS-WILKINS/Daily
SELENA SUN/Daily
Attacking errors played a large part in Michigan’s loss to Minnesota on Friday.
VOLLEYBALL
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