The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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14 THE WOLVERINE ❱ JANUARY 2026 ❱ INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS ❱ Student-Athlete Of The Month Senior Volleyball Player Serena Nyambio This season, Serena Nyambio led the Michigan volleyball team in blocks with 151, which sixth in a single season in program history, and became the first Wolverine in the 25-point rally scoring era with 100 blocks in conference play (104). She also added a career-high 220 kills and a career-best .394 hitting percentage, which helped her earn American Volleyball Coaches Association All-North Region honors. The three-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree, majoring in Biology, Health and Society, has been a strong role model for the program, and her sell to future generations is a simple one. "The biggest thing I always ask recruits is, 'Would you be at this school if there was no volleyball?' Because you never know what's going to happen," she told MGoBlue's Jon Jansen. "Michigan is just such a fully formed school. There are so many opportunities, so many things to do. The alumni network, the people you meet — there's nowhere like Michigan. Even other sports are insane, football, basketball, women's basketball … Every person's amazing here. And that's kind of what sells you. "Our volleyball program is great and it's growing, but at the end of the day, if you couldn't play volleyball tomorrow, would you want to be here? And my answer was always yes. That's why I stayed all four years." Nyambio balanced her senior season with studying for the MCAT with her work as a student-athlete, and said the time crunch was worth it. "That was a hard time," she said. "My mentality has been just work through it, grind through it. It was really hard, and I was really tired. My teammates would see me study when we were traveling. "I just made that a priority. Volleyball is also at the forefront of anything and everything. But one of my dreams was always to be a doctor, so if that's my dream, I have to go get it. "The timing sucked, but I had to make it a priority every day, even when I was tired. I really want to do orthopedics in bone surgery and help athletes. Sports medicine really would be cool." When she is able to take in other athletic events at U-M, two sports stand out above the rest. "I'm really tied between football and basketball, and I really think it depends on the season," she said. "Once it's winter, basketball takes the win because it gets a little cold, and I don't want to be out there. But football's also so fun to watch." — Anthony Broome MICHIGAN'S TOP PERFORMERS Women's tennis junior Piper Charney: The Charleston, S.C., na- tive, the No. 3 seed in the NCAA Singles Champion- ship, earned All-America honors in singles for the second straight season with a 6-4, 7-6 (5) win over Baylor's Zuzanna Kubacha to reach the round of 16. Charney is the sixth Wolverine in program history to win multiple singles All-America citations in a career. Senior Lily Jones, mean- while, was tabbed as an All-American at the same event for the first time. Women's basketball sophomore guard Syla Swords: The 6-foot Sudbury, Ontario, native knocked down 8 three- pointers — including 3 in the span of 36 seconds to pull the Wolverines within one point with 13 seconds remaining — in a 72-69 loss to No. 1 UConn Nov. 21. She exploded for 29 points with 9 rebounds and 3 assists in a stellar perfor- mance, one of many in her career. Men's swimming and diving freshman Luka Mladenovic: The Salzburg, Austria, native set a school record in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 50.92 at the CSCAA Dual Meet Challenge, and was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week Nov. 26 for the third time this season and in a five-week span. Mladenovic owns two top-12 national marks in breaststroke, ranking fifth in the 100-yard race and 12th in the 200-yard event. Volleyball graduate student Allison Jacobs: The Stevenson Ranch, Ca- lif., native was named a unanimous first-team All- Big Ten selection, U-M's first of that variety since Jess Mruzik in 2022. Ja- cobs, an outside hitter, tal- lied 448 kills on a .246 hit- ting percentage with 214 digs, 33 aces and 60 blocks — all career highs — during the regular season. She earned Big Ten Player of the Week honors twice and was selected to the All-Big Ten first team for the second consecutive season. — Clayton Sayfie Nyambio, a senior from Troy, Mich., is a three-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree who earned AVCA All-North Region honors this season. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN PHOTOGRAPHY