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

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

