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Despite early troubles, the Michigan volleyball team showed that it can pull through, even when a win seemed out of the question.
The Wolverines (12-1 overall, 2-0 Big Ten) started off the season dominating all facets of the game, and they looked to keep this up entering their game against Rutgers. On Sunday night, they battled with the Scarlet Knights (5-8 overall, 0-2 Big Ten) and ultimately escaped with a 3-2 win after falling down 2-0.
The first two sets did not go as planned for Michigan. After taking a 5-4 lead during the first set, the Wolverines didn’t regain it until the middle of the second set.
“I think it’s easy when you’re down to play scared but I feel like we didn’t do that,” sophomore setter Morgan Burke said. “It was cool to see the relentless pursuit and effort out there, even though we were down.”
The first set was defined by errors on the Michigan side, while Rutgers played efficiently on its end . The Wolverines’ first set attacking percentage of 15% – compared to the Scarlet Knights’ 40% – showcased the difference in hitting discipline.
This difference was especially apparent through the dominance of Rutgers’ outside hitter Alisa Kinkela. Lighting up Michigan blocks all night, Kinkela has consistently shown her attacking prowess all season.
“She was a big part of our scouting report … and she’s their go-to girl,” Wolverines coach Erin Virtue said. “So it’s not a matter of trying to stop someone, but can you slow her down?”
The second set briefly seemed like a turning point for Michigan, as it took its second lead of the game behind dominant play from graduate outside hitter Allison Jacobs. The Wolverines couldn’t prevail though, going down 2-0 to a team it hadn’t lost to in its last 12 matches.
However, Michigan truly turned it around in the third set. The substitution of freshman outside hitter Ella Demetrician, who didn’t play in the first two sets, provided a spark that ignited the offense. Immediately after coming on the court she recorded three monstrous kills and an ace.
“When she came in I expected her to kill it from the start,” junior middle blocker Serena Nyambio said. “She knows what she’s doing and always kills it in practice.”
Carrying the momentum from the third set, the Wolverines’ offense – led by Jacobs and Nyambio – caught fire to start the fourth. Michigan fine tuned its errors from the previous set and played the fundamental volleyball it’s played all season.
Riding the energy of two consecutive set wins, Michigan entered the fifth set looking to pull off its first Big Ten reverse sweep since 2017 against Maryland. The fifth set was incredibly tense, as no team held a lead larger than two points. Eventually, Jacobs and Nyambio dealt the final blows to Rutgers and secured the reverse sweep with a 17-15 fifth-set victory.
“I really liked our poise in the fifth set,” Virtue said. “And I think just tackling this match, every set is how poised we can be throughout and the composure we had.”
After a slow start, the Wolverines showed their tenacity and perseverance, propelling them to turn the tides and earn a victory.
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