Michigan volleyball’s strong serving propels it over Mississippi State

The Michigan volleyball workforce’s senior center blocker Jess Robinson approached the online as senior setter Maddie Dowd fed her an ideal set. Robinson skied up and slammed down the kill to a refrain of cheers, setting the tone for a dominant match for the Wolverines.

On Friday night time, Michigan (8-1 general) performed like a well-oiled machine because it defeated Mississippi State (7-3), 3-1. It was powered by its robust serving, notching eight aces on the night time, holding the Bulldogs on their again heels.

“I feel we actually got here out robust, one thing we’ve been speaking about all this yr,” redshirt junior libero Hannah Grant mentioned. “And I feel we did a extremely good job of simply leaping in, giving them numerous strain, and I feel they felt it proper out of the gate in the beginning of the sport.” 

From the opening serve, the Wolverines managed the match. After Robinson’s match-opening kill, Michigan jumped out to an early 13-6 lead. The Wolverines have been in a position to set up the short offense within the center by way of Robinson and Dowd. Together with the short offense, 4 mixed aces from junior setter Scottee Johnson, junior reverse hitter Kendall Murray and Grant fueled the run and helped Michigan win the set, 25-16.

The second set noticed pure dominance from Michigan. The serving excellence continued, and — coupled with a 9-0 and a 4-0 scoring run — the Wolverines handily cruised to a 2-0 lead, taking the second set 25-8.

“We have been actually good from the service line tonight,” Mruzik mentioned. “And I feel us serving so effectively affected them. They weren’t in a position to run as quick of a tempo as they needed to… (so) it was just a little bit simpler for us as blockers to grasp, like ‘OK, they’ll’t run this individual as a result of the setters pull off in that,’ so I assumed the serve was our first protection in establishing the block.”

Michigan placed on a clinic on the internet, outblocking Mississippi State 16-6 — and holding it to a paltry .047 hitting share. Sophomore center blocker Jacque Boney had a career-best 9 blocks, and the Wolverines had ten blocks within the third set alone.

Regardless of the blocking within the third set, Michigan wasn’t in a position to counter a rise within the Bulldogs’ power. The tempo of play sped up and the offensive effectivity plummeted, with the Wolverines’ hitting share dropping to barely over .100 within the set, later shedding the set itself, 25-22.

“We talked quite a bit within the locker room about simply when issues occur, ‘How do you reply?’ ” Rosen mentioned. “And I assumed they responded completely. They got here out and our effectivity went again up. Towards late within the fourth set, we have been hitting .530, you understand so from hitting just a little over .100 within the third set. That’s response.”

Michigan got here out of the break attacking with renewed power on the internet. The fourth set started with a collection of blocks from senior Might Pertofsky, Mruzik and Boney that boosted the Wolverines to an early 7-1 lead.

The protection picked up, with gamers scrambling and saving practically each tried kill. Every scramble play prolonged the rally, giving Michigan the chance to tally a kill in its subsequent alternative.

“We made some scramble performs the place we’re simply holding the ball off the ground,” Rosen mentioned. “And each time you try this, you make it robust for the opposite workforce to get kills. They really feel like they need to perform a little bit extra, and unexpectedly you begin seeing errors, you begin seeing them strive just a little bit more durable angle, just a little bit sharper. That pursuit is de facto vital. It simply makes it robust on the opposite workforce bodily, but in addition mentally.”

Protection fuels offense, and the Wolverines capitalized on the prolonged rallies with huge swings. Michigan closed off the ultimate set hitting at a .478 clip to win it 25-16.

The preparation the Wolverines put into the match all week paid off, leading to a comparatively simple victory over the Bulldogs’ fast-paced offense.

“We’ve executed a extremely good job this entire non-conference schedule of making ready for groups and simply going from night time to nighttime, which goes to be a fantastic factor for us to have through the Huge Ten season,” Mruzik mentioned. “And Mississippi State’s a extremely good workforce, so I assumed we did a extremely good job tonight of simply popping out and exhibiting them what Huge Ten volleyball is.”

Michigan took care of enterprise in opposition to the Bulldogs, proving it may well deal with non-conference groups. Now, the Wolverines hope that momentum can translate into the convention season.