ROSEMONT, Ill. — When John Beilein shook the college basketball world with his sudden decision to leave Michigan in May, the impact was felt beyond Ann Arbor and Cleveland.
Most of the country woke up to the news, with ESPN’s initial report coming before sunrise on the East Coast. After preaching a family culture throughout his decade-plus with the Wolverines, Beilein’s players and staff learned of his decision the same way everyone else did.
Three decades ago, Rosen’s dominance at the middle blocker position elevated Ohio State to a national powerhouse. The Buckeyes won their first-ever conference title in 1989 and made a Final Four appearance in 1991, netting her the 1988 Big Ten Freshman of the Year award and consensus first team All-America honors in 1991.
The Daily breaks down what Michigan coach Juwan Howard had to say at Big Ten Media Day.
Powered by sophomore outside hitter Paige Jones’ third consecutive double-double, the Wolverines (7-3) finished their non-conference slate on a high note, exacting revenge on Notre Dame, 25-23, 25-15, 20-25, 25-16, in the second half of the home-and-home series.
After an underwhelming start to a season in which she figured to be the Michigan volleyball team’s top offensive weapon, Paige Jones put a dent in any notion of a sophomore slump on Friday night.
In her best performance of the young season, the sophomore outside hitter posted 12 kills on 29 swings to propel the 24th-ranked Wolverines to a sweep of Navy (4-4).
When trampoline champion Goerge Huntzicker discovered his championship ring was missing two years ago, he phoned Rapper — the team’s captain — to ask how to get a new one. These types of rings are hard to come by, so Rapper thought it was worth it to reach out to the whole team to see if other players lost their rings too. The wheels began turning in his head and, soon enough, the idea snowballed.
This year, the No. 14 Michigan volleyball team knows Skjodt’s production is gone. And with such a realization comes another: Nobody on the roster can replicate the numbers she posted.
So, the Wolverines (4-2) have chosen to adapt rather than force.
Their offensive makeover was on full display over the weekend at the Dayton Invitational, even as they lost two of three matches against unranked competition in the Flyers and Missouri. Throughout the non-conference tri-match, senior setter MacKenzi Welsh turned to three relatively new faces — senior outside hitter Sydney Wetterstrom and freshman middle blockers May Pertofsky and Jess Robinson — to shoulder the majority of the burden.
The 15th-ranked Wolverines (2-0) have opened their season this deep into the calendar only once since 2004. But despite the long preseason, they didn’t show any signs of being behind the curve in a 25-18, 25-23, 25-8 sweep of Oakland (1-1) in the first match of the annual Michigan Invitational before fending off an upset bid against Northern Arizona (1-1) in a 25-18, 19-25, 14-25, 25-17, 15-10 nightcap victory.
In their debuts, freshmen Jess Robinson and May Pertofsky were the driving offensive forces in the 15th-ranked Wolverines’ sweep of Oakland.
It took 21 years and 6,000 miles of travel, but Michigan volleyball coach Mark Rosen and Purdue assistant Kathy Jewell finally found themselves on the same side of the net again this summer.