It was supposed to happen, just not this quickly.
The Michigan volleyball team finished in tenth place last year and the young team was predicted to finish there again this year - at least that's what the other Big Ten coaches predicted in the annual pre-season poll. But while everybody seemed to be telling the Wolverines how bad they would be, Michigan focused on shocking everyone.
Last week, the Wolverines (5-1) garnered their first USA Today/AVCA top 25 ranking in their 16-year history, cracking the poll at No. 25.
The Wolverines continued their success by beating No. 16 Arkansas - their third win over a ranked team - and now find themselves ranked 21st in the country.
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| DAVID ROCHKIND/Daily The Michigan volleyball team earned its first top-25 ranking last week. The Wolverines will travel to South Carolina to compete in the Carolina Classic this weekend. |
"This early in the year, we're looking to grow and get better," Michigan coach Mark Rosen said. "We just got their film Monday, but South Carolina looks very good, and Virginia is 7-0."
Michigan will also face Connecticut this weekend.
The Wolverines know that to reach their goal of a NCAA birth they will need to tally as many non-conference wins as possible. The Big Ten has the highest RPIof any conference and features five other ranked teams.
"I don't think that we've really set a goal for the Big Ten season," junior outside hitter Alija Pittenger said. "We've really just been concentrating on the non-conference tournaments. There are a lot of really good teams in the Big Ten and we're just trying to compete with them."
After last season, sophomore Shannon Melka would like Michigan to qualify for its second NCAA Tournament and show that last year's poor showing was an aberration.
"Even though we haven't talked about our Big Ten goals, there's no doubt that our team's goal is to get to the NCAA's and do really well there, not just make it," Melka said.
Though the Wolverines never formally sat down and set a record they would like to have heading into the Big Ten season, Rosen admits that he would have taken 7-2 before the season started.
"We didn't set any long-term goals at the start of the season, we set a series of block-goals. So we'll set goals one step-at-a-time," Melka said. "7-2 is where I wanted us to be, but you're never satisfied. You're always trying to get better."
Now that 7-2 is well within reach, the Wolverines are hoping to maintain the success.
Pittenger is as big a reason as any for that success.
"Alija was a setter and is getting more confident every match outside," Rosen said. "She was a huge spark for the team and she's just getting better as she plays more and gets more confident outside."
The move upgraded two positions, Pittenger is third on the team with 64 kills and Melka, her replacement, is the team leader is assists.
"Shannon has done a really good job setting," Pittenger said.
USA Today/AVCA top 25
Number one votes in parentheses
Team pts. prv.
1. Pacific (55) 1,494 1
2. Penn St. (1) 1,404 2
3. Hawaii (3) 1,392 3
4. Long Beach St. (1) 1,306 4
5. Nebraska 1,261 5
6. Florida 1,201 6
7. Stanford 1,108 7
8. Texas 1,093 8
9. Cal-San. Barb. 1,034 9
10. Pepperdine 940 11
11. UCLA 938 10
12. BYU 823 12
13. Wisconsin 651 13
14. Arizona 644 15
15. Clemson 618 18
16. Texas A&M 610 17
17. Colorado St. 537 19
18. Ohio St. 430 14
19. Southern Cal. 389 20
20. Arkansas 330 16
21. Michigan 315 25
22. Colorado 210 23
23. Illinois 191 22
24. Kansas St. 142 24
25. Loyola Marymount 132 NR
09-16-99
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