The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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NOVEMBER 2016 THE WOLVERINE 13 INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS MICHIGAN'S TOP SPORTS PERFORMERS Men's golf sophomore Nick Carlson: The Hamilton, Mich., native finished in the top 15 individually for the third straight competition with his tie for ninth place at the Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate Oct. 4. On a course with a par of 70, Carlson shot a 68, 70 and 72 in his three rounds. He has not finished lower than 12th in an event this season. Field hockey freshman Meg Dowthwaite: The forward from Weybridge, England, has been a bright spot for the Wolverines in a rough stretch of play. Although U-M lost four of its five games from Sept. 25-Oct. 8, Dowthwaite contrib- uted goals in two of those con- tests, including one in the team's 3-0 win over Rutgers. In her first year, she has three goals, three assists and is fifth on the team in points (nine). Hockey senior Max Shuart: The forward from Northville, Mich., recorded assists in the first two games of the season for the Wol- verines, both against Union. Sh- uart tallied one assist in the open- ing game, a 4-3 loss, and then recorded the third multi-assist game of his career with two the following night in his team's 4-0 victory. He has 22 career assists three games into his final season as a Wolverine. Soccer senior Nicky Waldeck: A three-goal performance in a double-overtime 3-2 win over Rutgers helped earn the forward from Chicago Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week honors Oct. 4. On top of the hat trick against the Scarlet Knights, Waldeck tal- lied an assist in the team's 3-1 vic- tory over Maryland the following game. She was tied for the team lead in goals with six through her 14 games played, while her average of 0.46 goals per game ranked 10th in the league. Volleyball freshman MacKenzi Welsh: The Bolingbrook, Ill., native earned consecutive Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors Oct. 10 and 17. In the upset over No. 14 Ohio State, she tallied 50 assists and 14 digs then posted another double- double against No. 1 Wisconsin. Through 20 matches, Welsh led the squad with 716 assists and her average of 10.23 assists per set ranked 10th in the Big Ten. — Leland Mitchinson MAIZE AND BLUE NOTEBOOK VOLLEYBALL PULLS OFF WIN OVER NO. 14 OHIO STATE The U-M volleyball team upset No. 14 Ohio State Oct. 9 to bring their conference record to 4-2 through their first six Big Ten games. The Wolverines took down the Buckeyes at home in front of a sellout crowd to earn their first win over a top-25 team this season. After taking the first two sets of the match, the Wolverines were unable to close out the sweep as Ohio State took the third set, 25-16. The victory propelled Michigan, who is 16-4 (5-3 Big Ten) through Oct. 18, from No. 23 to No. 18 in the Oct. 10 coaches' poll. Seven days later, they were tied for 16th in the updated listing. TWO WOLVERINES ON NFL.COM'S TOP COLLEGE PLAYERS LIST The NFL.com released a list of the top 25 college football players in the country Oct. 13, and two Michigan defenders were on it. Coming in at No. 4 na- tionally was redshirt sopho- more linebacker Jabrill Pep- pers, in large part due to his extreme versatility. Draft analyst Lance Zier- lein wrote, "Peppers has become a downhill tackler near the line of scrimmage and has an ability to turn games on a single return on special teams," though the article failed to mention his offensive ability, which was on full display against Rutgers Oct. 8. Peppers is joined on the list by senior cornerback Jourdan Lewis, who comes in as the No. 23 player in the nation. Lewis was originally No. 21 on the preseason list (Peppers did not make that ranking), but missing time due to injury caused him to drop slightly. The author noted Lewis' impressive cov- erage numbers, including just 11 yards receiving allowed and five passes defended through his first three games played. The list is topped by Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson. The Big Ten is also represented by Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett and Iowa cornerback Desmond King, who come in at 15 and 18, respec- tively. Only Alabama (four) and LSU (three) have more players on the list than the Wolverines. MICHIGAN SOCCER GETS FIRST CONFERENCE WIN The men's soccer team got its first Big Ten win of the season Oct. 2 with a 2-0 triumph over Penn State at home. In its previous outing, U-M had notched its first victory of the season, a 2-0 triumph over the University of Detroit Mercy. The Wolverines were also able to use the momentum of their first two wins of the season to pull off a draw against Rutgers in Piscataway, N.J. Against Penn State, Michigan logged 18 shots, eight of which came from goal scorers Francis Atuahene and Jack Hallahan. Atua- hene's goal was his fourth of the season, which is the most on the team this season. Goalie Evan Louro made three saves on his way to the third shutout the team has recorded this season. — Leland Mitchinson Peppers has rushed five times for 98 yards (19.6-yard average) and two touchdowns, returned 14 punts for 249 yards (17.8) and a touchdown, run back three kickoffs for 95 yards (31.7), and amassed 37 total stops, 10 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, six quarterback hurries and one forced fumble through six games. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL