After receiving votes in Sunday’s AVCA Poll, the Michigan volleyball team came into Crisler Center on Tuesday with the chance to establish itself on the national stage.
So the Wolverines’ first match of this week’s Big Ten/SEC Challenge — a primetime bout with South Carolina — was the perfect opportunity to continue trending upward. Michigan came out firing, building a two-set lead over the Gamecocks. But when their offense tapered away in the final sets, the Wolverines (2-1) couldn’t reassert control as South Carolina (3-0) pulled off a stunning reverse sweep, 3-2.
“We’ve been cooking as an offense,” Michigan coach Erin Virtue said. “And I thought South Carolina played some really good defense, both block and backcourt, and they had a really good game plan against what we were trying to bring offensively. I just never felt like we got in a super good rhythm, especially with the way we have been in the last couple matches.”
The Wolverines entered the mini-showcase hitting above .300 through its first two matches, and it picked up right where it left off Tuesday, out-killing the Gamecocks by 16 through the first two sets. Yet much of that early production came from individual splash plays rather than in-system hitting.
Players like junior opposite hitter Cymarah Gordon and junior middle blocker Jenna Hanes constantly switched up their swings to fool their blockers. But as South Carolina’s front row settled into the match, the Gamecocks brought extra sets of hands to force Michigan into less efficient attacks.
Among the Wolverines’ most reliable looks was a back set to Gordon from senior setter Morgan Burke. Gordon racked up eight early kills on her way to a career-high 17 as her and Burke combined for eight points over the course of the match.
When South Carolina middle blocker Sydney Davis shifted to Michigan’s right side and closed blocks, however, Gordon struggled to execute her shots. The front-row positioning opened up the court for the Wolverines’ middles, who were errorless leading into the third set.
But without consistent pin hitting, Michigan’s offense began to stall. In the third, Davis stuffed three different Wolverines on consecutive points to take the set for the Gamecocks, 25-18. From there, South Carolina’s blockers began to take over.
“When we got uncomfortable, we just forgot that we also have strengths that we need to bring,” Virtue said. “I like the discipline in our system, and I think we got away from that a little bit. We were chasing the last play or something else that happened, and when we get outside of that, we lose what it means to be present on that same moment.”
As the match went on, Michigan’s offense continued to decline. The Wolverines started the fourth set 1-for-13, and although they showed flashes of quality, their front-row players faltered in the matchups they had previously dominated. As Michigan’s attack errors piled up — many of them directly created by the Gamecocks’ blockers — South Carolina edged out a 27-25 fourth-set win to force a tiebreaker.
The Wolverines dragged the contest down to the wire despite hitting zeroes in the fifth set. As the Gamecocks pushed for match point up 14-12, Hanes forced an important sideout to regain the lead for Michigan. But a couple of ill-timed errors allowed South Carolina to steal the set and complete the reverse sweep, 17-15.
A picture-perfect start to the season set up the high-flying Wolverines for a chance at a landmark win. But the Gamecocks’ stunning comeback brought Michigan back down to earth.
