The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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66 THE WOLVERINE NOVEMBER 2019 OLYMPIC SPORTS the NCAA Championships will be at the end of November. MVP: Freshman Ericka VanderLende won the Big Ten Pre- view on the Ohio State Golf Course, then led the way with a fifth-place run at the Pre-National Invitational. Her 20:13.4 at the Pre-National Invitational was the second-fastest time ever for a freshman. Field Hockey (12-3, 5-1 Big Ten) National ranking: No. 9 in Oct. 15 coaches' poll Best Win — 1-0 over No. 2 Maryland Oct. 18: Senior Guadalupe Fernandez Lacort's goal in the closing minutes of the first half held up and paved the way for an upset in this showdown of who were, at the time, the No. 9 (Michigan) and No. 2 (Maryland) teams in the country. The Wolverines had not topped a higher-ranked foe since opening the 2017 campaign with a win over No. 1 North Carolina. MVP: Lacort's influence isn't always reflected on the stat sheets, but the native of Buenos Aires, Argentina, is the glue that holds everything together for the Wolverines from her position patrolling the midfield. She has three goals, includ- ing a pair of game-winners, and a team-leading 10 assists on the season. Men's Soccer (6-4-3, 2-1-2 Big Ten) National ranking: Unranked Best Win — 2-0 over Ohio State Oct. 2: Freshman for- ward Christian Pulselli and junior defender Jackson Ragen scored second-half goals to led Michigan to the win in a crucial road contest. Pulselli's goal was his career first. Senior goalkeeper Andrew Verdi bagged his fourth clean sheet of the season in the victory. MVP: Senior forward Nebojsa Popovic, a graduate transfer from Oakland, continues to pace the Michigan offensive attack with a Big Ten-best seven goals, plus three assists, in 13 games. Women's Soccer (12-3-1, 7-1-1 Big Ten) National ranking: No. 19 in Oct. 14 coaches' poll Best Win — 4-1 over Nebraska Oct. 11: Michigan treated their fans to a 4-1 home win over the Cornhuskers, thanks to seven different players contributing points. Sophomore midfielder Meredith Haakenson notched her sixth goal of the season, while senior defender Sura Yekka and sophomore midfielder Kierra Krawec each scored their first career markers. MVP: Junior goalkeeper Hillary Beall stands as Michigan's steadying force in net, has played every second in goal to date while posting a 0.79 goals against average and .806 save percentage. "Hillary Beall has always been a solid player here at Michi- gan, but this year just has a different way and confidence she's playing with," Michigan women's head coach Jennifer Klein said. "She's done a tremendous job." Men's Swimming & Diving Michigan swept their season-opening event against Miami and Navy Sept. 20-21 in a two-day event held at Canham Natatorium. Seniors Tommy Cope and Miles Smachlo, and juniors Ricardo Vargas and Ross Todd all won two events. Cope won both the 100-yard breaststroke and 200 breast- stroke, while Smachlo swept the 100 and 200 butterfly. Pan American Games winner Vargas excelled in the distance 550 and 1,000 freestyle events, while Todd was victorious in both the one-meter and three-meter diving events. "We're three weeks into training, but the team outper- formed expectations this weekend," head coach Mike Bot- tom told MGoBlue.com of the opening weekend. "The divers were fantastic," diving coach Mike Hilde added. "This was a great start for us, and it's only going to get better." Women's Swimming & Diving U-M scored convincing wins over both Miami and Navy in their season-opening weekend at Canham Natatorium Sept. 20-21. Freshman Kaitlyn Sims made her collegiate debut with a pair of wins in the 1,000 and 500 freestyle events, while senior Miranda Tucker and sophomore Maggie MacNeil also added two wins each to the Wolverines ledger. Tucker won the 100 breaststroke and added a come-from-behind win in the 200 breaststroke. Fresh off her medal-winning success at the World Championships this summer, MacNeil posted victories in the 100 backstroke and the 100 freestyle. In diving, junior Camryn McPherson won the one-meter com- petition and sophomore Allie Klein took three-meters honors. Volleyball (13-5, 6-2 Big Ten) National Ranking: Unranked; received 26 votes in the Oct. 21 coaches' poll Best win — 3-1 over Iowa Oct. 11: Michigan lengthened their Big Ten win streak to five straight with a four-set road victory over Iowa, their toughest test at that point in the conference season. Sophomore outside hitter Paige Jones and senior outside hitter Sydney Wetterstrom provided the firepower with double-digit kills and two services aces each. Senior setter MacKenzi Welsh provided both assists and defense, leading the team in digs with 12. MVP: Sophomore outside hitter Paige Jones leads the Wol- verines in points (262.5), points per set (4.17) and total kills (226), and ranks second in service aces (24), showing added improvement over her solid freshman season. — Bob Miller Ericka VanderLende's 20:13.4 time at the Pre-National Invitational, which is a regular-season meet contested at the same site as the end-of-year NCAA Championships, marked the second-fastest time ever posted at the meet by a freshman. She missed the record by 0.2 seconds. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN ATHLETICS