All Blue: Hitting Reset
People love it when you start your niche newsletter with few readers with some navel-gazey content notes.
We've been here for a almost three months and gotten through most of the fall season. When I think about what writing I'm most proud of, ultimately it's not the weekly stuff, it's the small handful of bonus pieces I've done, from the previewy stuff I did at the beginning to the bubble watch I released just the other day (that still contains a lot of relevant information you might like to read!)
The thing about those pieces is that I thought of something I wanted to write about and I just wrote. We're going to try something for at least the next couple of weeks but likely forever: I'm just going to write. I don't think the content is going to change dramatically, but I ultimately feel that the "three previews/three recaps" format is more constraining to me than it is helpful to the reader. I like talking about this stuff, and to keep it fun for me I'm just going to write the way I like to write.
Thank you for indulging me, if you are one of the 70% or so of my readers that consistently opens the newsletter. Also, very sincerely, thank you for reading. This is never going to be a huge operation, but I appreciate the very gradual growth in my readership over the last few months. Tell your friends. (I promise I'm working on stickers.)
BluTV
| Day | Date | Time | Sport | Opponent | Location | TV/Stream |
| Friday | 11/3 | 3:30p | 🏑 Michigan/Rutgers winner | Iowa/Maryland winner | Home |  |
| Sunday | 11/17 | Noon | 🏑 B1G Tournament Championship | Probably Northwestern | Home | |
Ok you have to admit it's a little funny I was like "hey no structure anymore" and then immediately went "lets go recurring segment baby". Anyways: IF Michigan wins its first B1G Tourney game (Thursday 2p v. Rutgers, B1G+), this is the TV guide for the other two rounds. If they do win today you'll likely see me at Ocker tomorrow (high stakes here: if I go to this game I'm bringing home Side Biscuit for dinner, a rarity since we've moved to Ypsi).
The big watch grid has some wrestling on it now, so that's fun. Hopefully we get a TV schedule for women's gymnastics soon but with ESPN (who used to grab some meets for ESPNU) out of the picture I'm very curious where any non-BTN coverage ends up, if at all.
NEXT WEEK'S EARLY-WEEK BONUS: If you seek a peninsula dotted with D2 and D3 schools, look about you.
Bubble Update
A summary of my Tuesday newsletter: Michigan men's soccer can only make the NCAA Tournament by winning the Big Ten Tournament. Field Hockey has a narrow path to the NCAA Tournament without winning the BTT but needs at least one and maybe two wins (at home!) to make the bubble stuff matter, but the cleanest path is stealing the auto-bid. Women's soccer did not make the Big Ten Tournament but is in okay position on the bubble anyways, barring the possibility that the committee leaves them out as is their discretion.
There's a full rooting guide to all of the tournaments that matter to any Michigan team in the newsletter above, and I'm keeping my bracketology spreadsheet updated with results. Here are things that have happened since Tuesday:
Field Hockey
Field Hockey plays Rutgers at 2pm today (Thursday, if you opened this in time) in the quarterfinal of the Big Ten Tournament. If they do not win, none of the bubble watch stuff matters. I want nothing more than for me to spend all weekend paying close attention to the bubble and then Michigan just winning the damn thing so I didn't have to do any of that.
That said, field hockey developments have gone pretty well since Tuesday! In the ACC our main goal was to get Louisville, Syracuse and Boston College out of the tournament as soon as possible. Syracuse is out, Louisville beat BC but then was beaten by Duke in the semi. Looking forward, the A10, Big East, Ivy, and America East semis are all Friday (root for St. Joes, Liberty, Harvard, and one of UAlbany or UMass-Lowell).
Field Hockey Corner updates RPI daily (a luxury we do not have for women's soccer), and not much has changed. Michigan's up a spot, but it has not affected their spot in the pecking order.
Women's Soccer
Out of the B1G tournament, women's soccer can't help itself, there is only bubble watching. Things have gone pretty okay on the bubble, with the teams we need mostly winning.
- AAC: Memphis wins their quarter and plays in a semi against Charlotte today (4p), we want Memphis to win the AAC.
- Big 12: BYU beat UCF (good!), Texas beat Texas Tech (bad!). That's the final (Saturday, 8p, I know you'll be busy), you want BYU to win.
- SEC: Texas A&M beat South Carolina (bad!), Arkansas beat Auburn (good!), Texas A&M is in a semi now (Thursday, 8:30p), you want Texas A&M to lose. If they lose the semi the tourney winner doesn't matter to us.
- Sun Belt: South Alabama wins their quarter, semi against James Madison Friday (8p), you want USA to win the Sun Belt.
Those are the results since Tuesday. In conferences that haven't played yet, in the A10 you're still rooting for St. Louis and in the Big East you're still rooting for Providence and UConn to lose.
Volleyball
It's been a long season. Michigan was 1-10 in Big Ten play entering last Sunday's match against Ohio State, and 4-17 overall. Hopeful for any positive momentum, I had started getting excited when Michigan won sets in matches it lost, after getting swept in their first six B1G losses. With Fox truck parked outside of Crisler Arena for the biggest national broadcast in the history of Big Ten volleyball, would the Wolverines be ready for their close-up?
Oh yeah, they were ready.
After Ohio State closed the opening set with a 10-5 run for 25-20, it looked like we might see more of the same from Michigan. But they came out firing, with Brooke Humphrey serving Michigan to an early 3-0 lead. Kills from Jaque Boney made it 8-3, and then 10-5. The Buckeyes eventually settled into the set, getting it as close as 19-17 before Michigan won 5 of 7 to ear set point. Again OSU rallied, before freshman Valentina Vaulet killed the set to tie the match. Vaulet earned the kill on each of Michigan's last two points of Set 2.
Ohio State came out firing in the third, and was up 9-4 after a four point run before Michigan bested that with a five point run of their own, tying Set 3. The teams traded little 2-3 point runs for the rest of the set, but Michigan had the last one. When the Buckeyes scored to make it 22-21 Michigan, Michigan turned on the jets to win three straight and go up 2 sets to 1.
The Buckeyes' bid to force a fifth was going great, with OSU up 13-7. This is when Michigan's two big freshman, Valentina Vaulet and Morgan Burke, decided to absolutely go off. With Burke serving, Vaulet recorded a kill to make it 13-9, and added a service ace of her own for 15-12. With OSU leading 22-19, it was Burke's serve again. No one else would serve in the match. Vaulet got the kill to tie 22-22, and added two more for good measure to earn match point. Sophomore Serena Nyambio got the kill on the last point, and after a seven point run, Michigan had a national TV win over their arch-nemeses.
Volleyball's a team game, and it's hard to parse individual contributions. But Vaulet's 14 kills represent her second-best total of the season. Morgan Burke's 41 assists mark her third consecutive 40+ assist outing. If you're looking for progress and reasons for Virtue Year 2 optimism, look to the freshmen.
Emina Bektas
Emina Bektas played in two Grand Slams in 2022, making it through qualifying but losing in the first round at both the Australian Open and Wimbledon. The 2015 Michigan graduate came agonizingly close to qualifying in Flushing Meadows a couple months ago, before an injury in her qualifying final quashed her chances. But after winning her first WTA 125 title last week in Tampico, Mexico, Bektas has hope of making it to her first Grand Slam main draw.
Bektas entered the tournament ranked #104 in the world. Just making the final put her into the top 100 for the first time, and winning vaulted her all the way to 84th. While she's won a handful of tournaments on the ITF Circuit, the next tier down, this was the biggest professional win of her career. The WTA 125 is the lowest tier of the WTA, comparable to the Challenger Tour on the men's side. But rankings points are rankings points, and if she stays on this side of the 100th ranking, she shouldn't have to go to Australia early, starting fresh in Round One of the main draw.
The final in Tampico was against Anna Kalinskaya, who according to the WTA is merely a citizen of the world. (She's from Russia, this is a joke for tennis fans.) While she entered this tournament ranked #108, she was just outside the top 50 as recently as last year. Bektas cruised through her first set without dropping a break. Kalinskaya more or less controlled the second set, though Emina made her work for it; she fought off six set points before Kalinskaya broke through on the seventh.
It was a back and forth third set. They traded breaks at 2-2 to remain tied at 3-3, before each player swept the rest of their service games. In the tiebreak, Bektas served with a 2-1 deficit and won the next four points. She earned match point at 6-3, but Kalinskaya had the serve. It didn't matter. Bektas won the point, and her trophy.
If you happen to live in Midland, you might be able to see Emina in action there at the Dow Tennis Classic this weekend. She's in the Round of 16 of this WTA 125 event, where she'll play today around 2:30.
What Else Is Blue
- Men's cross country finished second at the Big Ten Championship. Tom Brady led the Wolverines at 3rd overall, with eighth-place Owen MacKenzie also in the top 10. The team will now go to the Great Lakes regional, where they are ranked fourth.
- Women's cross country finished third at the Big Ten Championship. Kayla Windemuller's seventh place finish paced the Wolverines, who are also ranked fourth in the Great Lakes region. Both the men's and women's regionals are next Friday the 10th in Madison.
- Men's tennis's Gavin Young is in the second round at the ITA Fall Nationals, and will play OSU's Jack Anthrop in the round of 16 today at 1:15(ish). Cross-court coverage at Cracked Raquets.
- Women's tennis has multiple athletes at the ITA Fall Nationals. Julia Fliegner and Kari Miller both won their first round matchups and are onto the Round of 16. Miller will play Yarlagadda from UNC around 11 today, and Fliegner plays Brantmeir, also UNC, around 12:15. Miller and Jaeden brown also won their first round in doubles, and will play a pair from Northwestern around 7:30pm.