Michigan suffers reverse sweep at hands of USC

The Michigan volleyball team couldn’t close the door. 

Coming off a big reverse sweep over Rutgers, the Wolverines (12-2 overall, 2-1 Big Ten) seemed primed for a win over No. 21 Southern California (10-3 overall, 2-1 Big Ten) on Friday night. Instead, they found themselves on the opposite end as they were reverse-swept by the Trojans, 3-2. 

“In general, we’re happy with the progress and the way that our team competed, but down the stretch, we need to be able to execute,” Michigan coach Erin Virtue said. “Especially the last set, USC was able to rattle off a lot of points in a row, and we had done a better job slowing down runs earlier in the match.” 

In the first two sets, it seemed like the Wolverines had the game well in hand. They defeated the Trojans by 10 points in the first set, a sizable margin against a ranked opponent. Michigan dominated in kills, 16-9, and kept its attacking errors to a minimum at three. 

The second set was more of the same, with the Wolverines once again out-killing USC 12-9 and adding three service aces to win the second set 25-20. The Trojans seemed knocked off their bearings as the Wolverines, led by sophomore outside hitter Valentina Vaulet and graduate outside hitter Allison Jacobs, dominated. 

“It’s really easy to see (Jacobs’) attacking numbers, but just as a passer, tonight (she) did a really nice job, and she got a couple key blocks throughout the match lining up some things,” Virtue said. “She just continues to be really effective for us, front and back row attack.”

But cracks began to appear in Michigan’s armor in the second set as it recorded six service errors, which, while mostly balanced out by the Trojans’ six attacking errors, indicated an emerging problem. USC narrowed the points gap in the second as well, indicating that the Trojans were not going to go down as easily as they had in the first. The Wolverines had a fight on their hands. 

USC began by invigorating its own kill game, going from nine in the second to 19 in the third set and outpacing Michigan, who managed only 14 in the third. The Wolverines’ blockers lacked the firepower to minimize the new offense of the Trojans. The teams traded points back and forth until the very end of the set, going into the final stretch tied 22-22. But USC managed a smart tip and a huge block on Michigan graduate outside hitter Kendyl Reaugh, and ultimately sealed the set win with a kill, 25-23. 

It went downhill from there for Michigan. Despite leading for much of the fourth set and out-killing the Trojans 15-10, the Wolverines failed to close the door late in the fourth set. Up 23-19, an out-of-bounds serve from senior middle blocker Mira Chopra — Michigan’s sixth service error of the set — spurred USC to a six-point run to ultimately win the set 25-23.

But it was the fifth set that really distinguished the two teams. Jacobs was a standout hitter all night for the Wolverines, and Michigan was up 11-5 after three straight kills from her. USC knew just how effective Jacobs had been, and its blockers went to work, blocking her twice on its ensuing six-point run to take the lead 12-11. The Trojans recorded seven blocks in the third set, more than all four previous sets combined, effectively shutting down Michigan’s strongest players at the net, and recording a service ace to win the fifth set 15-12. 

“In the fifth side, at that point, you show your hands,” Virtue said. “And we wanted to go with our most efficient … and they wanted to put two blockers in front of her, or even when she had one in front of her. Allison had been killing the ball really well for us all night. And I thought their sub opposite came in and did a really nice job lining her up and blocking her down the stretch.”

Falling to USC reflected the gap between Michigan and ranked teams, but it also showed that the Wolverines don’t have too far to go. Michigan has improved tremendously since last season, but it will have to wait for its first ranked win in the Virtue era.

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