Michigan volleyball dominates early, bounces back against Duke

Every team faces adversity, but not every team responds to it well. Good teams get right back up while others keep sliding. On Saturday, the Michigan volleyball team pulled itself right up. 

The Wolverines (10-1) rode a hot start against Duke (4-7) and battled through a tough final set to complete a 3-0 sweep in Durham. The win came just a night after Michigan dropped its first match of the season in a five-set battle Friday night against North Carolina just 16 miles down the road in Chapel Hill.

After struggling offensively in the last set a night earlier, the Wolverines came out firing on all cylinders on Saturday, jumping out to a 6-2 lead and forcing the Blue Devils to burn a timeout. Duke never stemmed the tide, and Michigan cruised to a 25-17 set win.

“It’s something we talked about all day today, just this idea of being urgent and learning from our mistakes,” graduate outside hitter Allison Jacobs said. “There was a lot of room for personal upgrades in each player, but also as a unit working together. To prove to ourselves that we can bounce back like that is huge.”

Even in the first set, it was clear that the service line would be key for the Wolverines’ success. Senior middle blocker Mira Chopra had two aces, while sophomore opposite hitter Valentina Vaulet and senior libero Maddi Cuchran added one each. 

“We wanted to be aggressive, especially from the service line,” Michigan coach Erin Virtue said. “We just kept the pressure on really good through the whole match. I think that the MVP of tonight’s match was the serving.”

The second set went much like the first. Four straight Wolverine kills opened the scoring while a Vaulet service ace put Michigan up 10-3. Another service ace from Vaulet, combined with a balanced attack that saw six players earn kills, helped the Wolverines roll, taking the set 25-10. 

Vaulet, who returned to play Friday after missing nearly a week, finished the day with four aces. But service wasn’t the only place she excelled, racking up 11 kills on a .647 hitting percentage and adding 10 digs on defense.

“I think someone that stood out was Valentina Vaulet, offensively, and she did a nice job as a defender as well,” Virtue said. “She wasn’t available to play last weekend, so coming back after being out for almost a week, it was really nice to see how steady her performance could be.”

As the third set started, it seemed like deja vu. Several mistakes from the Blue Devils and aces from Vaulet and Chopra helped Michigan jump out to another early 10-3 lead. A small Duke run pulled it closer, but the Wolverines pushed the lead to six at 18-12.

But unlike in the previous two sets, the Blue Devils responded. Back-to-back kills and four straight Michigan attack errors tied the set at 18-18. Two more Wolverine attack errors and four kills gave the Blue Devils a 24-22 advantage.

“Duke made a couple lineup changes,” Virtue said. “And for us, we had 10 errors just from the attack alone in the third set. Some of that they forced. Duke did a nice job with the block. And some of it was unforced errors.”

Despite Duke taking the lead, Michigan wasn’t content to let the set slip away. With three kills from Vaulet and one from Jacobs, the Wolverines took the set 27-25 and completed the sweep.

In coming back in the final set, Michigan showed poise and resilience. But further, the Wolverines proved that even after defeat, they can quickly return to their winning ways.

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