Rutgers doesn’t beat Michigan in volleyball. Entering the night, the Wolverines had defeated the Scarlet Knights in 12 straight matches. But on Sunday, that streak was almost snapped, as Rutgers jumped out to an unprecedented lead.
After a hot start in the first, the Scarlet Knights fought off Michigan to win just their second ever set in Ann Arbor. The second was a similar story, and for the first time in the matchup’s history, Rutgers found itself with two set wins.
“The first two sets, we knew we weren’t playing Michigan volleyball,” sophomore setter Morgan Burke said. “We had so much more to give.”
The third set started much like the first two, with the Scarlet Knights on top. However, the tide quickly turned. Jacobs recorded a kill and a Burke serve forced a Rutgers error, before an ace from the setter saw the Wolverines take a 3-1 lead.
Already at their largest set lead so far, Michigan looked to keep piling on. After a Scarlet Knights point, kills from Jacobs, sophomore opposite hitter Valentina Vaulet and freshman outside hitter Ella Demetrician put the Wolverines up 6-3.
After the teams traded a couple of points, Demetrician — making her first appearance of the night as a third set starter — was back at it again. She went on a personal run with two kills and an ace in the span of three points, bringing Michigan’s lead to 10-5 and forcing a Rutgers timeout.
“It was a big momentum shift,” Burke said. “Just having her come into the core, a little change of pace got us going. So that was really awesome.”
It wasn’t smooth sailing from there, though. Out of the timeout, the Scarlet Knights went on a seven-point run punctuated by three kills from outside hitter Anna Hartman and three aces from libero Kenzie Dyrstad, giving Rutgers a 14-11 lead.
“(It was a) good job by Rutgers serving,” Michigan coach Erin Virtue said. “We just made our life a little tougher. So that’s a good thing for us to learn, either as a coach or a player, to have made an adjustment quicker. I certainly could have.”
After a series of back-and-forth points, the Scarlet Knights looked poised to put the match away, holding a 20-17 lead.
But Demetrician had other plans. She found the ball and the scoreboard again, slamming home an assist from Burke, who set a career high with 54 on the night. Finally, Michigan settled in.
Rutgers standout outside hitter Alissa Kinkela, who ended the match with a .432 hitting percentage, made a rare attack error. She hit into the block of Jacobs and Nyambio, who recorded six blocks in the match. Two Jacobs kills later, the Wolverines were back in front, 21-20. Then Nyambio and Jacobs, who tied her career high with 25 kills, extended Michigan’s lead to 24-22.
And on match point, Demetrician did what she’d done all set. Leading the way for the Wolverines with five kills on just six attacks, she put the final one away and tied the bow on a run-filled third set.
A smoother fourth set, one Michigan won by eight points, led the way to a drama-filled fifth, where the Wolverines wrapped up their 13th win over the Scarlet Knights in as many tries.
“Really good job by our team coming back,” Virtue said. “That takes a lot of heart coming back down 0-2 to win that game. (It) takes a lot of steadiness and honestly, some failure recovery.”
In a hard-fought third set, Michigan showed poise in the face of adversity. Even when put on the ropes, the Wolverines showed they can get the job done.
