'M' volleyball splits weekend on the road

Wolverines nd themselves in the middle of the pack, defeating Iowa but falling to Minnesota

The Michigan volleyball team is beginning to find its identity. That identity happens to be somewhere in the middle of the Big Ten standings in a gray area with two other Big Ten teams: Ohio State and Indiana.

When the Wolverines split their road trip this weekend, it was quite evident where they weren't.

Michigan was swept by No. 22 Minnesota, the second ranked team in the Big Ten on Saturday.

But the Wolverines also swept Iowa, the second-worst team in the conference, Friday.

"Right now I feel like Minnesota is the second-best team in the Big Ten," Michigan volleyball coach Mark Rosen said. "They're playing almost at the level of (No. 1) Penn State."

On the road, the Wolverines were beaten in almost every way possible against the Golden Gophers. Minnesota hit an attack percentage of .330 compared to Michigan's .058.

The Golden Gophers outdug, blocked, served and killed by a margin of at least four and at most 19.

The Golden Gophers led in every category except one.

The Wolverines had 10 more attack errors. It was quite evident who the better team was, but it wasn't indicative of Michigan's resilience.

"Minnesota played very very well," Rosen said. "The scores weren't reflective of the match. The first two games were scored 15-3, 15-3 but they took 55 minutes."

It was also apparent who was the better team on Friday. The Wolverines' .276 attack percentage was their top performance offensively in conference play so far on the season.

The match wasn't dominated by Michigan the way Minnesota did the following night, but the Wolverines found the easy way to win.

They came out quickly, taking the early lead and steadily put more and more distance between themselves and the Hawkeyes - something Michigan has had difficulty doing in Big Ten play.

"I think we're better than them," Rosen said. "It's nice to feel that way in the Big Ten. I think we're physically more talented, we executed better and I think the scores reflect it."

So Rosen's squad knows where they aren't.

They're not able to rub elbows with the conference's upper echelon, but then again, the Wolverines aren't slumming in the conference's cellar either. That leaves Michigan with few places to go.

All the teams that are below .500 in the conference the Wolverines have already beaten or have come close.

With their 4-8 conference record, Michigan finds itself toward the bottom of this group, but only a few wins away from .500.

"I think we're gradually getting better," Rosen said. "I talked to the girls about this in the locker room. I think it's a difficult thing in this conference. When you progress, you don't feel it ... it doesn't always let you know you're developing."

11-01-99