All Blue Issue 0.5: Oops All Previews

When I first announced the newsletter, my goal was to send out the first "real" issue on August 24th. Instead, I got COVID and laid down and basically didn't get up for several days. While I was out of commission Michigan had its first truly full weekend of the sports calendar, with women's soccer continuing and men's soccer, volleyball, and field hockey all getting going. We'll do some game recappy-previewy stuff Friday, but today, let's do some previews in the same vein as last week's soccer previews.

Field Hockey

Last year: The Big Ten is quite good at Field Hockey. At the time the Big Ten Tournament began last year, the top 5 teams in the conference were all included in the top 7 in the nation. Michigan earned the fourth seed in the BTT while ranked #6. Relative to the nation, the 2022 Wolverines were elite. Relative to their conference, they won just about every game they were favored in but couldn't quite get a signature upset.

Then they went off in the conference tournament. Over the course of three days they beat national #7 Iowa, #5 Penn State, and #2 Northwestern to earn their second BTT title in three years. Michigan was five minutes away from keeping a clean sheet in the final. It looked like they were clicking at the right time, and they earned hosting rights in the NCAA Tournament.

In the first round, Michigan led 1-0 with three minutes left when Albany knocked in their equalizer, and Albany sent the Wolverines home early with a goal nine minutes into OT. A week after lifting a trophy and setting up an extended NCAA Tourney run, Michigan was out.

Michigan had a successful season by any reasonable measure, and odds are they'll have another one this year. The question is, do they have the ingredients to make this one truly special?

Three Names

• Caylie McMahon, GK, RS So.: New backstop dropped. Last year, McMahon made eight appearances, mostly in non-conference play. In her one start, McMahon made three saves in a 4-1 win for the Wolverines over Rutgers. This year, McMahon grabs the full-time starting role. Anna Spieker spent an insane (and impossible to repeat) five seasons as Michigan's starter. McMahon is being set up for similar longevity.
• Juliette Manzur, F, Fr.: Michigan has scored two goals on the young season and one of them came off the stick of the freshman Manzur, so she gets the nod here. Manzur comes out of Lycée International de Saint-Germain-en-Laye in the western suburbs of Paris (maybe they don't call them suburbs in France). She has played extensively with the French youth national team, most recently grabbing a goal as France finished second in the pithily-named "EuroHockey Junior Championship II" in 2022. By the way, the assist through traffic on the goal above? That's Natalie Millman, also a freshman. I think of the two you're more likely to have heard of Millman's high school, Ann Arbor Pioneer.
• Lora Clarke, F, Sr.: Clarke scored a team-high 11 goals in 2022, and will look to pick up right where she left off. So far, she has an assist on Michigan's non-Freshman-powered goal this season (scored by Anouk Veen who very easily could be the name in this spot instead). Clarke is part of a Michigan attack that returns the majority of its big scorers, and was named to the Big Ten Preseason Players to Watch list.

Three Games

• #11 St. Joes, Sun. Sept. 10, 1p: St Joe's is Michigan's highest-ranked remaining non-conference opponent (they already played their biggest one, we'll get there), and they'll get them in Ann Arbor. It will be the first meeting between the two since a 4-3 Michigan win in Philly in 2019. Michigan will have plenty of chances to pick up important wins in the Big Ten, a non-conference win here will help beef the resume.
• #3 Maryland, Fri. Oct. 13, 4p, BTN: Take your pick between #2 Northwestern and #3 Maryland as the biggest conference game of the season. We're picking this because it's at home. Leave work early, go watch some field hockey, grab Side Biscuit on your way home. Doesn't that sound like a nice Friday afternoon? Michigan lost 1-0 in OT in College Park last year, this one very easily could be a top 5 matchup.
• Big Ten Tournament, Thu. Nov. 2-Sun. Nov. 5, Ann Arbor, MI: I'm cheating. Obviously the Big Ten Tournament is important. We're including it here because Michigan is hosting for the first time since 2014. If Michigan needs a couple more wins to get them into position to host a regional, they'll get the opportunity to pick up those wins in friendly confines.

Outlook: Field hockey season has already started, and Michigan is 0-2. While that's not an ideal start, there was a lot to like in those two games: Michigan scored two on #1 UNC at their house, and did not give up a goal in open play against #12 Wake Forest, losing on a penalty stroke. On a season-long timeline, there's nothing to be worried about, but it does put pressure on the Wolverines to pick up wins in their remaining non-conference matches against ranked opponents.

For Michigan, once again it'll be all about postseason play. Can they win another BTT trophy at home, and how far can they go nationally? Michigan's going to be very, very good this season, but the fact is we probably won't know how they'll be remembered until the season's second-to-last weekend, or ideally, its final game.

Volleyball

Last season: Is last season even the best starting point for discussing Michigan women's volleyball in 2023? Let's get the basics out of the way: Michigan finished 9th in the Big Ten (which, for clarity, has 14 volleyball teams), part of a clear second tier of teams all bunched up with somewhere between 7 and 10 wins.

But the story of last season is really the offseason, where after 24 years Michigan removed head coach Mark Rosen from that position. Rosen's tenure is sort of hard to judge. On the one hand, you don't stay at a place for 24 years without being kind of good at your job. I mean, 19 NCAA Tourney appearances! That's good! On the other, in those 24 years Michigan did not finish better than 4th in the Big Ten and made it further than the Sweet 16 just twice. Michigan was very rarely bad, but you knew where the ceiling was.

Rosen made way for Erin Virtue, a career assistant coach with the pedigree to make the next step. Virtue played at Illinois and assisted at Loyola, Cincy, Michigan (hey!) and Northwestern. Her immediate previous gig was as an assistant with the US Women's National Team, where she was a major figure in the youth development system and was on the bench at the 2020 Olympics when the US won gold.

This is Virtue's first head job, but you can see on her resume it was a long time coming. Michigan is a program that is solid, has good fan support, but couldn't take the next step. Together, they'll get their shots.

Three Names

• Hannah Grant, RS Sr.: Hannah Grant was one of Michigan's two All-B1G players, making the second team (the other being first-teamer Jess Mruzik, who has since graduated). She lead Michigan in service aces last year with 44 and has 3 so far this season.
• Valentina Vaulet, Fr.: Vaulet is the only true freshman that has played both games so far this season, though many got time in the Sacred Heart game. Vaulet hails from Argentina, where she has a good deal of experience in their youth national team setup.
• Jacque Boney, Jr.: Among returners, Boney led the team in kills last season with 187, good for fourth on the team. With everyone ahead of her having graduated, Boney has shouldered the load so far this season, with a team-high 20 kills.

Three Games

• Fri. Sept. 8 v. North Carolina, Sat. Sept. 9 v Duke, both 7p:: Michigan and Michigan State team up to host the Big Ten/ACC challenge, with Duke and UNC each spending a night in Ann Arbor and a night in East Lansing. Michigan will have had a couple weeks to settle in and can take stock against two teams in the same tier within their conference as Michigan is in the Big Ten.
• Sun. Oct. 1, @ #1 Wisconsin, 2p: Michigan will play the #1 team in the nation just once this season and it will be on the road, pretty early in conference season. Michigan has not won in Madison since 2018.
• Sun. Oct 29, #12 Ohio State, 2p, Fox: Yes you read that right. This game is on Fox. "Big Fox." The one that Big Noon Saturday is on. You can stick an antenna in your TV and watch volleyball. This is the first time that big Fox will ever broadcast a college volleyball game and they're coming to Crisler to do it. Pretty cool!

Outlook: Erin Virtue gets a long leash. She replaces a successful but stagnant head coach and will be given the time to mold the program in her own image. This year, the lineup will be senior-heavy, for good or for ill. If they can overachieve just a tiny bit, that should set up Virtue well in recruiting and for next season.

Cross Country

Men: Last year, Michigan hosted the Big Ten Championship race on the golf course. It was a surprisingly cool event as a spectator, though I did not realize that the spectators also run around the course, trying to scope out the best places inside the loop to watch runners pass. They finished second, anchored by the fourth-place performance of Tom Brady. He is of no relation to, you know, Tom Brady, but if you're going to remember one name on this year's cross-country team on merit, he's made it easy on you. Now a fifth-year senior, Brady paced Michigan in three of the four races he participated in, all of which were postseason events. Also watch out for senior Nick Foster, who led Michigan at last year's Notre Dame Invite.

Women: The Michigan women also came in second at those same Big Ten Championships. Michigan has been very strong on top the last several years, led by Erika VanDerLende and Kayla Windmuller. Both have now graduated, leaving a void at the top of Michigan track. Fifth-year senior Sam Tran finished second among the Wolverines at all three postseason events this year, and is a candidate to fill the void left by their departure.

If you want to see the Wolverines live this season, you have two opportunities, both at Hudson Mills Metropark in Dexter. Michigan will host the annual Michigan Open on Friday September 1st (men at 5, women at 5:30), while EMU will host their Fall Classic on Friday October 20th (women at 5, men currently listed as TBA). Michigan's top competitors do not always participate in the EMU event. Both the Big Ten and National Championships will take place in Madison, WI.

Friday: Our first normal issue! Soccer recaps! Volleyball previews! US Open Qualifying! Subscribe and tell your friends!