Michigan 2023

[bprtbone]

Nice to see Erin out on the street selling those Chiclets. I'm very interested in seeing who will be playing as back up setter. This spring lineup will look nothing like what we will have on the floor in the fall.

 

[Brutus Buckeye]

Where's all the enthusiasm for the Battle of Washtenaw County, just one day away? 







You have the Virtue debut, and the County Crown on the line. What more can you ask for on a Sunday afternoon in late March? 

The Crisler Center should be packed from the floor to the rafters, with two enthusiastic local fan bases.

What's the point spread? 

[bprtbone]

Pretty nice crowd yesterday for Michigan's only home match of the spring against Eastern Michigan at the Crisler Center. Typical rusty play from both teams for a spring scrimmage that featured the debut of both Erin Virtue at the helm for Blue and Kevin Foeman in just just his third week on the job at EMU. Some notes:

- Michigan won 3-1 (25-11; 21-25; 25-20; 25-19)
- The A team for Michigan was Jacobs/Simmons; Nyambio/Boney; Murray; Johnson and Grant.
- Everyone saw the floor, with Humphries and Cuchran swapping in at libero during sets 2 and 3
- Unlike Rosen, Virtue coaches from the end line, standing near the players
- Grant was the best player on the floor for both sides, flying all over the place digging balls and covering tips. She was playing with purpose and the team struggled when she sat out.
- Johnson set the entire match for Blue, she appeared healthy for the first time in a long time but her placement was inconsistent
- All of the OH's struggled passing. Eastern went on huge runs when Murray and Jacobs were in the back row without Grant
- Boney looked solid; Nyambio is still a work in progress; it was nice to see Simmons play but she did not have a good connection with Johnson

This spring squad is not going to look anything near what will likely be on the floor in the fall. The team is desperate for a 6-ro OH, maybe Vaulet is the answer. Burke will get a chance at setter. But 2024 is shaping up to be a rough year of transition. Go Blue!

[volleyparent]

Mar 27, 2023 9:04:20 GMT -5 bprtbone said:

Pretty nice crowd yesterday for Michigan's only home match of the spring against Eastern Michigan at the Crisler Center. Typical rusty play from both teams for a spring scrimmage that featured the debut of both Erin Virtue at the helm for Blue and Kevin Foeman in just just his third week on the job at EMU. Some notes:

- Michigan won 3-1 (25-11; 21-25; 25-20; 25-19)
- The A team for Michigan was Jacobs/Simmons; Nyambio/Boney; Murray; Johnson and Grant.
- Everyone saw the floor, with Humphries and Cuchran swapping in at libero during sets 2 and 3
- Unlike Rosen, Virtue coaches from the end line, standing near the players
- Grant was the best player on the floor for both sides, flying all over the place digging balls and covering tips. She was playing with purpose and the team struggled when she sat out.
- Johnson set the entire match for Blue, she appeared healthy for the first time in a long time but her placement was inconsistent
- All of the OH's struggled passing. Eastern went on huge runs when Murray and Jacobs were in the back row without Grant
- Boney looked solid; Nyambio is still a work in progress; it was nice to see Simmons play but she did not have a good connection with Johnson

This spring squad is not going to look anything near what will likely be on the floor in the fall. The team is desperate for a 6-ro OH, maybe Vaulet is the answer. Burke will get a chance at setter. But 2024 is shaping up to be a rough year of transition. Go Blue!

2024 will be the last year for COVID players... I would imagine that Michigan would be a great place for players to spend their last year of eligibility. Grant, Murray, Jacobs would potentially be available and transfers would be available. 

[gobluevb]

http://instagram.com/p/Cq6BusxvjbX

[bprtbone]

Michigan and Michigan State renewed their annual spring rivalry match last night in Grand Rapids as part of the 4 team Grand Rapids Sports Hall of Fame Volleyball Classic. After sweeping Bowling Green and Western Michigan early in the day, the Wolverines went the distance with MSU, pulling off a thrilling reverse sweep 19-25; 17-25; 25-16; 25-23; 15-8.

Michigan is playing with a very thin spring roster but managed to turn things around after a couple of rough opening sets. Better passing led to more opportunities for Boney and Nyambio and the team stepped up on the defensive side of the ball to change the momentum. Really nice performance from Allison Jacobs who is looking more and more like the floor leader that the team desperately needs. Everyone saw the floor and made contributions. Things were looking bleak in Set 4 down 19-22 when Mira Chopra came in went on a 5 point service run that included a couple of aces. Nyambio started Set 5 with a couple of stuff blocks and Blue rode that to the finish.

One coaching twist that Erin introduced was having the team split into position groups during time outs rather than huddling as a team. It will be interesting to see if she can find someone else in the spring portal that can help the team this fall. Vaulet and Burke have real chances at significant play time this fall, another solid OH would help our fortunes.

And now we enter the long sad time of no volleyball until August. Until then, Go Blue!

[exit237a]

Hey Wolverine fans!  Looks like you're playing a home and home with Bowling Green in the final week of preseason.  They just released their full schedule.

Friday, September 15 at 7PM - Michigan at Bowling Green
Sunday, September 17 at 2PM - Bowling Green at Michigan

[thevoiceofreason]

May 5, 2023 12:10:25 GMT -5 exit237a said:

Hey Wolverine fans!  Looks like you're playing a home and home with Bowling Green in the final week of preseason.  They just released their full schedule.

Friday, September 15 at 7PM - Michigan at Bowling Green
Sunday, September 17 at 2PM - Bowling Green at Michigan

Should be a very interesting matchup heading into Big Ten play.

BG is a GOOD team and will be battle-tested with opponents like against OSU, Texas A&M (plus Loyola and Wright State), and Baylor at the Colorado State tournament. 

Pretty cool for BG to get Michigan into Stroh for a game. I'll be interested to see the attendance for that.

[bprtbone]

Looks like Erin stole one away from Denver. Welcome Lydia!