Michigan Wolverines2022 Record: 17-13
Conference Record: 8-12 (9th)
NCAA Tournament Placement: N/A
Final AVCA Ranking: NR
Head Coach: Erin Virtue (1st year at Michigan)
Record at Michigan: 0-0
Returning Starters | Departures * - 2022 Starter () - Transfer Destination | New Additions () - Transfer Origin |
Jacque Boney - JR - 6'4 MB
Hannah Grant - R-SR - 5'8 DS/L
Scottee Johnson - SR - 6'0 S
Kendall Murray - SR - 6'2 OH/RS
Serena Nyambio - SO - 6'2 MB | Amber Beals - SR+ - 5'2 DS/L ()
Maddie Dowd* - 5'9 S
Haley Hallgren - 6'1 OH/DS
Jenni Liu - 5'11 S
Jess Mruzik* - SR - 6'1 OH ()
May Pertofsky* - SR+ - 6'1 MB/RS ()
Jess Robinson* - SR+ - 6'2 MB () | Morgan Burke - FR - 6'0 S
Carly Greskovics - FR - 5'6 DS/L
Lydia Johnson - FR - 6'3 RS
Saj McBurrows - SR+ - 6'1 RS ()
Valentina Vaulet - FR - 6'1 OH/RS |
2022 Results:Michigan entered the 2022 season having appeared in six of the last seven NCAA Tournaments and fourteen of the last sixteen. Postseason appearances were the norm.
Signs seemed to be pointing toward another tournament berth with Michigan making a strong run in 2022 non-conference play. Not all the wins were particularly notable, but they were wins nonetheless. The Wolverines started with three wins in Arizona against Old Dominion, NAU, and Utah Tech (née Dixie State).
Michigan quickly took care of Toledo and Morehead State to start a successful home debut in Week 2. However, the Wolverines got everything they could handle from Loyola Chicago, the eventual A10 champions. The Maize and Blue won in the fifth to preserve its unblemished record.
Duke finished what Loyola Chicago could not. The Blue Devils scored a big win over Michigan in Raleigh to hand the visitors their first loss. Still, the Wolverines bounced back with a solid sweep over North Carolina to get back on the right track.
Michigan saved perhaps its best pre-conference volleyball for the end. Mississippi State and Bowling Green had nothing for the Wolverines in Ann Arbor. These were great W's to have on the docket with a Big Ten grind coming up.
This late-September surge carried right into conference play as Michigan scored one of the biggest early upsets of the Big Ten season. After stomping Rutgers in Piscataway, the Wolverines walked into Happy Valley and thoroughly dominated Penn State in a three-set sweep. It was the first loss of the year for the Nittany Lions, and it placed Michigan comfortably within the AVCA Top 25.
The Wolverines suffered their first conference loss immediately afterward. Michigan fell in four sets at home to Ohio State, a team that has dominated the bitter rivalry in recent years. Splitting matches against back-to-back top-ten opponents wasn't a bad result, though.
Blue escaped a strange matchup with Northwestern. I was there, and we had fun.
Unfortunately, the period from mid-September to early October had some of the last positive sentiments regarding Michigan's 2022 team. What ensued afterward was a colossal downward spiral characterized by helplessness and confusion.
The Crisler Center awaited another batch of elite visitors with Minnesota and Nebraska coming to Ann Arbor. Michigan was picked apart in both contests and failed to take a set over either foe at home. A road win against Michigan State stabilized things somewhat, but there were serious questions about whether Michigan could harness the same competitiveness it showed against Penn State.
Michigan's slide resumed. Two losses to Wisconsin bookended a bitterly disappointing home loss to Indiana, a team that always seems to bring something weird and unexpected for the Wolverines. Ohio State completed its season sweep of Michigan.
Another win over the Spartans from East Lansing was the only thing to break up a long string of Wolverine losses. Minnesota raced past Michigan again, and Purdue secured two wins of its own in a home-and-home series.
Michigan's late-season strife was exacerbated by the departure of Head Coach Mark Rosen, who took a leave of absence "for health reasons." Leisa Rosen, Mark's wife and lead assistant, was still on board to lead the team. It was another layer of uncertainty and confusion during Michigan's worst stretch of the year.
At least the Wolverines were able to beat a Northwestern team that didn't have a setter. But, the loss to Indiana in Ann Arbor was bad.
Still, nothing compares to the pain of losing in five sets to an Iowa squad that was glued to the bottom of the Big Ten leaderboard. This setback in Iowa City--which came after the Wolverines earned a 25-9 win in Set 1--was emblematic of the unmitigated collapse that Michigan experienced through most of conference play. The Wolverines were now firmly out of the tournament picture and finished the season with a 17-13 record.
On Dec. 20, the Michigan athletic department announced that Mark Rosen would not return as Michigan's head coach after spending 24 seasons in the role. He was let go as the program's winningest head coach who claimed all but one of Michigan's 20 tournament berths. Leisa Rosen became the new leader at Fresno State.
Erin Virtue was named Michigan's next head coach about a month after Rosen's release. The Illinois alum returned after a prior stint on the Wolverine coaching staff from 2011-15. Before returning to Ann Arbor, Virtue helped coordinate the offense of the USA Women's National Team--a role she's still helping with, to some degree. There are questions about Virtue's availability on the bench at the start of the upcoming season due to this persisting role with Team USA.
2022 Lineup:This was a bit of a mess.
Michigan's starting group often felt like it was undergoing an identity crisis, especially when the losses started piling up. "Disjointed" might be the best word for it.
It all starts at the setter position, where Michigan had one incumbent starter and another player who found a way into the lineup despite this. Junior Scottee Johnson had been a major contributor since she arrived as a freshman and seemed to be the leader before last season. One of Johnson's biggest struggles is that she endured stretches where she didn't appear to be fully healthy but played anyway.
Michigan decided to make senior setter Maddie Dowd a big part of the 2022 equation. She played in all but two sets last year and even made some early-season starts in a 5-1 with Johnson apparently unavailable. When Johnson was in the lineup, Dowd was almost always there with her in a two-setter offense.
And we saw the 5-2 and the 6-2 last year. The 5-2 was more of a fragment of Michigan's early run in conference play. Johnson was the frontcourt setter and had a serious physicality advantage over Dowd.
That's a lot about setters. Still, there's no questioning that the lifeblood of the team was junior outside hitter Jess Mruzik. The six-rotation L2 was ever-present as a scoring threat, even in the backcourt. She tallied about 3.7 kills per set over the 2022 campaign, out-pacing the next-best Wolverine average by about a kill and a half.
You can ask about the other left-side spot, but you'll get several different answers. The most consistent contributor here was junior Kendall Murray, who got her share of backcourt reps while in the lineup. Attacking efficiency at this spot was a glaring weakness, however. Michigan sometimes looked to UCLA transfer Allison Jacobs with limited success. Graduate senior Haley Hallgren, who was listed as playing the "utility" position on UM's roster, had brief stints in the frontcourt.
Middle blockers, for the most part, were a beacon of consistency for Michigan. Sophomore Jacque Boney was a consistent starter and made a concerted effort to improve her offensive capabilities. The final numbers still leave a lot to be desired, though Michigan occasionally got her grooving on the slide. Michigan's real efficiency numbers came from senior middle blocker Jess Robinson, who averaged a fantastic 0.438 hitting efficiency on the year. I just get this feeling that Robinson wasn't given enough opportunities, and her breakout season went widely unrecognized while the Wolverines collectively crumbled.
The rest of Michigan's frontcourt personnel is dependent on whether the 5-2 or 6-2 was in play. Michigan's go-to opposite was still May Pertofsky, who had some absences in 2022 but was still a firm starter. Her serve was notorious, but it missed a lot.
When the Wolverines went to a 6-2, the new face at the net was freshman Serena Nyambio. She was tabbed as a middle blocker but made the move to the right with Boney and Robinson entrenched. Nyambio was usually paired with Johnson, putting Pertofsky with Dowd.
Redshirt junior libero Hannah Grant was the best player on the floor for Michigan aside from Mruzik. Her passing figures were solid. The rest of the DS position was a smattering of in-and-out players. Senior Amber Beals was the backcourt sub for Pertofsky when Michigan had not yet delved into the 6-2. Serving sub duties sometimes went to junior Brooke Humphrey.
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2023 Projected Lineup:Several starting pieces are off the board for Michigan this year, including its two most reliable scorers and one of the setters.
Coach Virtue will try to find the right balance with what could be a volatile 2023 lineup. Inexperience will be a theme here, but improvement among returning players who struggled last year might be even more important.
Perhaps Johnson can reassume her familiar starting role at the setter in a 5-1. She's done it before. The only other setter on the roster will be true freshman Morgan Burke, who spent most of her high school days playing outside hitter. Johnson seems like a surefire starter, but she has to stay healthy.
Grant is still the libero, which is great news. Like the setter spot, though, there aren't a lot of defensive specialists to throw around. This limited depth could open a path for Humphrey to become a regular backcourt sub after frequently being limited to a serving role. Junior Maddie Cuchran and Carly Greskovics are also in this position group, but they're unproven.
Losing Mruzik stings, especially when she'll battle the Wolverines with a conference foe. 2023 will come with the acceptance that none of Michigan's players can replace Mruzik's production. We're looking for glimmers of hope on the pins now.
Murray is back and will be a vital part of keeping Michigan afloat. It's all about finding a stronger footing as a junior and limiting the errors that characterized Murray's 2022 season. She'll probably be entrusted with backcourt duties, too, furthering this need for steady leadership.
Conventional wisdom would have put Jacobs at the other outside hitter spot this year. However, she has recently undergone shoulder surgery and will likely be relegated to the bench throughout 2023. There are now serious depth concerns on the pin, and a young addition could take over. That could be Valentina Vaulet, a solid international acquisition from Argentina. Otherwise, you're looking at other inexperienced options like Amalia Simmons and, wait...that's about it. Seriously, Michigan does not have a big bench right now.
At least we can pare down the list of starting opposites from two to one, assuming a 5-1. Pertofsky is gone, leading Michigan to search for options. Columbia grad transfer Saj McBurrows adds some older talent to the right pin. She could make the starting lineup thanks in large part to that experience. Freshman Lydia Johnson adds depth.
Nyambio is a wildcard, as she can play in the middle or on the right. The same can be said of returning junior Mira Chopra, who could finally claw her way into the lineup after limited playing time. Michigan can at least lean on the middle stability offered by Boney, who will return at M1.
2023 Schedule:The Wolverines have never been known for awe-inspiring non-conference schedules. But, hey, I have no problems with this one--especially given the circumstances.
Michigan starts with the Boston College Invite featuring the hosting Eagles and Sacred Heart. Sacred Heart doesn't have their triple-double machine at setter anymore, which makes me sad. I don't have a good bearing on BC. Could be interesting.
The Crisler Center opens with a Tuesday contest against Western Michigan. The Wolverines should send them back to Kalamazoo.
Colorado State and Arkansas await in Week 3 at what the Razorbacks are calling the "Wooo Pig Invitational." Three O's. I made sure. I've been in the middle of Wooo Pig at the College World Series and it was some drunken chicanery. Michigan will be underdogs against the Hogs.
North Carolina and Duke are back as part of the Big Ten-ACC Challenge, the volleyball version. It's in Ann Arbor now, and the Wolverines would love to steal at least one win here. Neither will be easy.
The non-conference slate wraps up with a road match against Bowling Green and a home clash with Bowling Green.
Big Ten Green:
2023 Outlook:First-year head coaches were a major storyline in the Big Ten last year. A couple of those new coaches inherited unenviable situations and were immediately tasked with complete rebuilds. It's Virtue's turn to start a Michigan rebuild.
Expectations for Michigan are remarkably low heading into 2023, and that might be for the best. You can't get everything back in Year 1 with such a thin roster. This will require some recruiting cycles and/or a few big splashes from the portal in future offseasons.
So, for now, you're looking for signs of improvement from a Michigan lineup that has plenty of room to grow. The Wolverines will probably finish in the lower third of the Big Ten this year, but maybe there's a morale-boosting upset to be found in there. Positive morale is certainly needed after 2022's dramatic downturn.