_ SPORTS
The Michigan Daily Wednesday, September 15, 1982
Page 7
1981 LEADING TACKLER
Boren stars in mind and on field
By RON POLLACK
On any Friday night before a football Saturday,
Michigan linebacker Mike Boren can be found
peacefully lost in thought. He may look completely
at ease, but in reality he is playing a violent, hard-
hitting game. He is playing out the next day's
game in his mind.
On one play he'll make a bone-crunching tackle
that will jar the ball loose from some hapless
tailback who has dared trespass his area of
responsibility. On another play, Boren will leap in-
to the air, snare an errant enemy pass and ramble
toward the endzone for six points and certain
glory.
"YOU HAVE TO play the game in your mind the
night before," says Boren. "If you can't visualize
a play in your mind, you can't make it."
Boren must have visualized his making a lot of
tackles last year, because he was a constant hin-
derance to opposing team's offenses. The 6-3, 228-
pound junior from Columbus, Ohio led all
Wolverine defenders last season in tackles with
152.
With last year's Honorable Mention All-Big Ten
campaign under his belt, Boren is looking to main-
tain the quantity of plays he is involved in and im-
prove the quality.
"I WANT TO get more big plays," he says.
"Last year I led the team in tackling, but I wanted
to get more big plays." Boren intercepted one pass
and recovered one fumble last season.
The big play so cherished and sought after by
Boren came to pass this past weekend during
Michigan's hard-fought 20-9 victory over a stub-
born Wisconsin squad. With Michigan up 7-3,
Badger quarterback Randy Wright nudged his
way into the endzone from one-yard out. But be it
Friday night in his mind or Saturday afternoon on
the playing field, Boren could not have played the
conversion attempt that followed any better.
The Badger center snapped the ball, and Boren
blasted through the line as though he'd been shot
out of a cannon. A thud could be heard as the ball
was kicked. A second thud quickly followed as
Boren halted the flight of the kick.
AS USUAL, Boren was in on a lot of tackles (14)
last week, but it was the blocked kick that gave
him an extra sense of satisfaction.
"That extra point could have meant the game,"
says Boren proudly.
As it was, Boren thought the blocked extra point
was worth more than it really was. "On the quar-
terback sneak, I thought I'd stopped him," says
Boren. "I was so intense, that I thought it was a
field goal (attempt)."
INDEED, IT is intensity that epitomizes the
play of Boren. The curly-haired inside linebacker
likes to think of himself as a hell-bent, hit-it-if-it-
moves type player. "It's how much you
get to the ball," he says in describing
makes so many tackles. "It's desire."
want to
why he
That desire will be in abundance when Boren
charges onto the playing field to do battle against
Notre Dame Saturday evening. "It's going to be
easy," says Boren. "It's on national television. It's
easy to get up for national television."
If Boren has a worry about the night game
against the Fighting Irish, it is in his ability to
keep his intensity from getting the best of. him
Saturday afternoon. Instead of belting a tight end
out of bounds as he is accustomed to on any given
fall afternoon, Boren will be watching the second
hand of a clock wind methodically toward game
time. "I hate sitting around waiting for the
game," says Boren. "It goes so slowly."
And once the 9:00 (EST) game time rolls
around, Boren will have yet another new situation
to cope with. "Usually by nine or 10 o'clock at
night I'm ready to go to bed, so I hope it doesn't
hurt me," says Boren.
If there is a positive side to the 9:00 starting time
for Boren, it is that it will keep the Friday night
football games in his mind from becoming redun-
dant. He'll still make big plays in his mind games,
only this Saturday they'll be realized under bright
stadium lights instead of the midday sun.
Mike Boren, the leading tackler for the 1981 Wolverines, stops Wisconsin
quarterback Randy Wright in last Saturdays game which Michigan won 20-9.
Noble to provide leadership this
season for inexperienced spikers
BIG TEN PREVIEW:
Rugged schedule awaits Spartans
By LARRY MISHKIN
The bad news for the women's
volleyball team is that only four star-
ters return from last year's squad
which placed eighth in the AIAW
'national tournament.
The good news, however, is that
Alison Noble is one of the four returning
starters.
NOBLE, A junior from Toronto, was
one of the main factors in the volleyball
team's successful season last year and
coach Sandy Vong will be looking to her
to lead this year's team.
"Alison means everything to the
team," said Vong. "She's like the quar-
terback who calls the plays. She plays
with talent and technique and is
someone who the other players can look
up to."
Noble established herself as a team
leader as a freshman when she was
named to the AIAW All-Michigan team,
a role she continued to hold last year
when she was named to the AIAW All-
Regional team.
"SHE'S BEEN a leader since she was
a freshman," Vong said. "Now that she
is older, the other players look up to
her. She's quiet, not vocal, and leads by
example. The younger class has caught
on and seen what she's done."
On the court, Noble shares the
position of team setter with teammate
Jeanne Weckler, a position that
requires her to always be on her toes, as
it is her responsibility to set up the hit-
ters with sets that they can hit for poin-'
ts. She takes the responsibility in stride
though.
"I don't feel any pressure or respon-
sibility," said Noble. "That's my job
and I enjoy it. It's just a position."
ONE ASPECT of the sport that Noble
does find disappointing is the relative
obscurity of the team that rarely draws
large crowds to its matches in the Cen-
tral Campus Recreational Building.
But even the lack of school support does
not diminish Noble's fondness for the
game.
"We (the team members) are con-
stantly trying to recruit fans," said
Noble. "It's an entertaining and fun
game to watch. We all play though
because we all love the game."
It's the love of the game that keeps
Noble going through the rough two-and-
a-half-hour practices every night.
"SHE'S VERY intelligent," said
Vong. "She grasps the significance of
the drills. She's a hard worker and
never loafs in practice. She always
gives 110%."
Noble is no loaf in the classfoom
either, where she is majoring in com-
puter engineering while maintaining close
to a 4.0 grade point average, and it's no
trick that she manages to excel both on
the court and in the classroom.
"I have to budget my time," she said.
"I live a completely different lifestyle
in the fall than I do in the winter when
the season is over."
WHY THOUGH, if she wants to
devote the time necessary to being a
good athlete is she majoring in such a
time-consuming field?
"I'm at Michigan to go to school," she
said. "I play because I love the game
and I hope to always play and maybe
coach, but there is no real future in
volleyball."
These feelings are best exemplified
by her decision to turn down a tryout
with the Canadien National Team
because of the time commitment.
"I FELT that my career was more
important," she said. "Sacrificing my
future is silly for something so shor-
tlived."
Vong offered high praise for his
scholar athlete calling her a delight to
have on the team.
"In anything she wants to do, Alison
will be excellent," he said. "She's a
very intense person and very
coachable. She's a challenge because
when I get to practice I have to be
prepared for her."
AS FOR the team's chances this year,
Noble looks at it as a rebuilding year
because only four starters are retur-
ning and the team will be playing in the
NCAA for the first time.
"We will be facing better competition
this year," she said. "It will take a
while for the freshmen on the team to
gain experience, but we're all en-
thusiastic and working hard and
anyone's chances are great with that
attitude."
For her personal goals, Noble said
she would like to play the best she can,
be a good team leader, and see the team
make the Big Ten finals, a goal she
calls realistic.
Considering her past track record, it
wouldn't be a bit surprising if she
achieves these goals.
This is the second in a nine-
part series previewing the Big Ten
season.
By RON POLLACK
Even the most diehard
Michigan fan must feel a slight
twinge of sympathy for hated
rival Michigan State, what with it
playing its first five games of the
season against Illinois, Ohio State,
Miami-Florida, Notre Dame and
Michigan.
OK, so diehard Michigan fans
get a sadistic sense of pleasure at
the Spartans' dilemma, but if
they were to feel sympathetic it
would be understandable.
"WHAT worries me most is the
early part of our schedule," says
Spartan head coach Muddy
Waters. "If we can live through
the first- five games of our
schedule, we'll be a tough team."
Of course the Spartans, already
0-1, could just as easily go 0-5.
But Waters would rather not con-
sider the rather considerable
pounding his team may well take
during the initial five games of
the year. He'd rather think more
pleasant thoughts instead.
With the possible exceiption of
a November 6 contest against
Leisterb
-...starting quarterback
pitiful Northwestern, Waters
greatest reason for optimism this
year is his immensely talented
receiving corps consisting of
junior Daryl Turner and seniors
Ted Jones and Otis Grant. That
talented trio combined for an im-
pressive 105 catches for 1,797
yards last season.
"I DON'T think there's a corp
of receivers that can compare to
them," says Waters.
Responsible for getting the ball
to the Spartans' top-flight
receivers is quarterback John
Leister. "Two years ago, I felt he
was as good a quarterback as
there was," says Waters. "I still
feel that. His greatest im-
provement is that he now stays in
the pocket, although he can still
run when necessary."
When Michigan State shuns the
pass in favor of the run, it can
turn to its top four rushers from a
ground game that ranked seventh
in the conference. Heading the
list is sophomore Aaron Roberts
who led the team with 461 yards.
Terry Hawkins, James Hodo and
Darrin McClelland - who ranked
second through fourth for the
Spartans in yards gained last
season - will try to take some of
the pressure off Roberts.
Heading the offensive line which
will block for these backs is All-
Big Ten center Tom Piette.
ON DEFENSE, the Spartans will
be led by Carl Banks, one tough
dude according to Waters and the
team's leading tackler a year
ago. "Carl Banks is one of the
toughest young men I know,"
says Waters. "If he talks back to
me in practice, I pretend I don't
hear him."
Joining Banks on the Michigan
State line will be Joe Stevens,
Howard McAdoo and Smiley
Creswell.
The Spartans two linebackers
(they employ a 5-2 defense) will
be Steve Maidlow and James
Neely. Maidlow played a big role
in the MSU defense last year as
he was third in tackling on the
team.
IN THE secondary, Michigan
Stae must replace 1981 starters
James Burroughs and Thomas
Morris. Returning at defensive
back, however, are strong safety
Tim Cunningham and corner-
back Carter Kamana. Cun-
ningham was the Spartans' four-
th-ranked tackler a year ago.
Looking at his defense as a
whole, Waters speaks confiden-
tly. "We are deeper with ex "
perience on defense than at any
time since we've been here," he
says. "We feel we can effectively
stop runners ... and yet continue.
doing the job we have done ii
stopping the pass."
If MSU could have defensed they
schedule makers as well as-
Waters thinks it'll defend op-
posing offenses, the Spartans-
would have the makings of a pret;'
ty good season.
Banks
... anchors defense
).
BILLBOARD
There will be a "send-off" rally for
the Michigan football team this Friday
at 5:00 p.m. in front of South Quad. The
team will be boarding the bus there and
will leave directly for 'South Bend for
Saturday's game against Notre Dame.
Head coach Bo Schembechler and the E!
team tri-captains-Anthony Carter,
Robert Thompson and Paul Girgash-
are expected to speak briefly. Members
of the Michigan Marching Band and the
cheerleaders will also be in attendance.
The Michigan Lacrosse Club is going
to have a fall organizational meeting
for new and old members. The meeting
will be held tomorrow at 6:30 p.m., 1250
CCRB. No lacrosse experience is
necessary. For more information con-
tact Howard Handler, 665-9611.
Alison Noble goes up forsa spike in a Michigan volleyball match at the CCRB
last year.Coach Sandy Vong said he will be looking for Noble, one of four re-
turning starters, to provide the leadership for this year's young team.
pik ers down WSU;
avenge tourney losses.
special to the Daily
The Michigan women's volleyball
team got revenge against Wayne State
in straight games, 15-5, 15-2, and 15-13,
yesterday at Wayne State. Michigan
had lost twice to WSU twice at the
b Wolverine Invitational Tournament
Alison Noble. "Alison was all over the
place. Setting, hitting,she really took
command."
Michigan opens the Big Ten season
this weekend traveling to Purdue on
Friday and then to Indiana on Satur-
day.
LSAT & GMAT
LSAT Seminar beginning
on Campus September 17
For information reaardina anv of our LSAT
Not sure which HP
right for you?
is
We are having a
Hewlett-Packard Demonstration
Thursday, Sept. 16, 10:30-12:30 and 1:30-4:00
I