The Michigan volleyball team's resiliency paid big dividends Sunday, as the Wolverines earned their second NCAA Tournament bid in the program's history.
"To us, it's a total gift," middle blocker Annie Maxwell said. "It was icing on top of the cake."
The surprise bid will pit Fairfield (30-3), the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference champion, against Michigan (16-15) in the first round in Stockton Calif. on Friday. The winner of the match will then face the winner of the top-seeded Pacific vs. Colgate match on Saturday for a berth in regionals.
"Something that is in our favor is that Fairfield hasn't played a very strong schedule," Michigan coach Mark Rosen said. "I imagine we're going to match up pretty well but you never know."
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| Katrina Lehman and the rest of the Wolverines didn't expect an NCAA Tournament berth, but they got one. Michigan plays Fairfield in the first round on Sunday.
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Their selection caught Michigan off guard. The Wolverines had not even organized a team meeting to watch the selection process and two players had already left for Chicago thinking their season was over.
A friend of Maxwell's, who plays for Virginia, had been watching the selection process and had seen Michigan's name pop up in the 64 team brackets.
"She called me up and said, 'Annie, do you that you guys are in the tournament?'" Maxwell said. "So I started screaming and said to Maggie (senior defensive specialist Maggie Cooper), 'We're in the tournament!' Maggie said, 'No we're not. My career is over.' It took 15 minutes before it sunk in."
The next thing Maxwell knew, she was calling Rosen and the rest of the team with the news.
"We called around immediately to let them know there was practice today and to just get things rolling," Rosen said.
What really got the postseason rolling for the Wolverines was winning three of their last four games - two of those opponents - Michigan State and Illinois also made the tournament.
Michigan did so while ranked second-to-last in the conference with what appeared to be no chance at a postseason berth.
"We could have very easily said, 'Well let's just sit at the bottom of the Big Ten and throw the towel in,'" Maxwell said. "But we all love to compete and play, so we all stuck in there for that reason."
Another big factor in the Wolverines' selection was their non-conference record. Michigan upset then-No. 7 Brigham Young to start off their season and then upset Arkansas - ranked 16th at the time - five matches later en route to an 8-1 non-conference record.
A 4-12 Big Ten record and a five-match losing streak before their 3-1 finish seemed to doom Michigan to a losing record and no chance at the NCAA Tournament.
But the resiliency that had been Michigan's trademark all season finally translated into wins to bring them to a 7-13 record in what is regarded as the nation's toughest volleyball conference.
"We've worked extremely hard these last couple weeks and we didn't have to," outside hitter Nicole Kacor said. "We continued to play hard throughout the whole year. It's a big relief that everything paid off."
The bid is the first since the Wolverines' initial bid in '97. That squad finished with a 13-7 Big Ten record, but was 21-12 overall. They defeated Temple in five games to advance to the second round of the tournament, but were swept by Texas A&M the next night to end Michigan's season.
The tournament selection tops off the Wolverines' first winning season since '97. But the Wolverines said they weren't nervous or overly anticipating what will be for most of them their first tournament experience.
"At this point anything can happen and often does," Rosen said.
Michigan did so while ranked second-to-last in the conference with what appeared to be no chance at a postseason berth.
"We could have very easily said, 'Well let's just sit at the bottom of the Big Ten and throw the towel in,'" Maxwell said. "But we all love to compete and play, so we all stuck in there for that reason."
Another big factor in the Wolverines' selection was their non-conference record. Michigan upset then-No. 7 Brigham Young to start off its season and then upset Arkansas - ranked 16th at the time - five matches later en route to an 8-1 non-conference record.
A 4-12 Big Ten record and a five-match losing streak seemed to doom Michigan to a losing record and no chance at the NCAA Tournament.
But the resiliency that had been Michigan's trademark all season finally translated into wins, as a 3-1 finish brought them to a 7-13 record in what is regarded as the nation's toughest volleyball conference.
"We've worked extremely hard these last couple weeks and we didn't have to," outside hitter Nicole Kacor said. "We continued to play hard throughout the whole year. It's a big relief that everything paid off."
The bid is the first since the Wolverines' initial bid in '97. That squad finished with a 13-7 Big Ten record, but was 21-12 overall. That team defeated Temple in five games to advance to the second round of the tournament, but was swept by Texas A&M the next night to end Michigan's season.
The tournament selection tops off the Wolverines' first winning season since '97. But the Wolverines said they weren't nervous or overly anticipating what will be for most of them their first tournament experience.
"At this point anything can happen and often does," Rosen said.
KIMITSU YOGACHI/Daily
11-30-99
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