The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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OLYMPIC SPORTS elli, Lauren Thomas and Mackenzie Ellis all played their last game for the Wolverines, and Pankratz praised them for leaving the program in its current condition. "I think with the leadership of these seniors, they brought our pro- gram back to the elite group in the nation, where we belong," Pankratz said. "Their leadership did that, and it was the effort of the whole team. "Team 43 goes down as one of our best. They represented Michigan with total honor, and I couldn't be more proud of them." After an 18-5 record, an NCAA Tournament quarterfinal exit and a top-10 national ranking, Pankratz is already looking forward to next season. Sophomore goalkeeper Sam Sw- enson returns next year after lead- ing the Big Ten in save percentage (.837), and should give the Wolver- ines a chance in every game they play. Sophomore midfielder Katie Trombetta was second on the team in goals scored with eight, while fresh- man forward Emma Way scored four goals in her rookie campaign. Forward Courtney Enge will be a senior next year and will be called upon to be a leader after scoring four goals of her own in 2015. All of those pieces have Pankratz optimistic about Team 44. "Next year, hopefully we can make our own lucky breaks," she said. VOLLEYBALL HOPES TO FINISH STRONG Through 27 matches, the Michigan volleyball team was No. 37 in the RPI. The Wolverines' 17-10 record isn't going to wow a selection com- mittee, but considering the fact 10 Big Ten teams have a realistic shot of making the NCAA Tournament, the double-digit losses are little more understandable. The Wolverines lost 3-0 at home against No. 11 Wisconsin Nov. 11, but followed that up with a 3-0 upset victory at No. 14 Ohio State Nov. 14. Head coach Mark Rosen was op- timistic following the big road win over the Buckeyes. "It's certainly exciting to have that win," Rosen said. "We've been working on trying to get more con- sistency out of our team, and we're trying figure out the right combina- tion to make everything work. "Against Wisconsin, we didn't feel very good about that match, but I loved the response our team had during practice and match prepara- tion going into Ohio State. "The way we played at Ohio State finally looked like what we're striv- ing for. Hopefully that will give us some momentum heading into the later part of the season." The later part of the season in- cludes road contests at No. 8 Penn State Nov. 18 and Indiana Nov. 25, and home matches against No. 9 Ne- braska Nov. 21 and No. 22 Illinois Nov. 27. Those four games will put a bow on the regular season, with the NCAA Tournament beginning Dec. 3. ❏