Page 8 - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, September 4, 1986
GOPHERS END WOLVERINE DOMINANCE
a
etters aim to recapture
transfer from Pepperdine. Nagel has LAST YEAR'S freshman phenom ving Ann Arbor native Jon Morris (13-
By JERRY MUTH two years of eligibility remaining af- Dan Goldberg should provide the 11, 9-3) who anchored the fourth and
7Imagine finishing second at the Big ter transferring from the California Wolverines with a consistent ace in fifth singles spots respectively, last
Ten conference meet, sending three tennis powerhouse which finished either the first or second singles spot year. Again the last singles slot figure
4tarters to the NCAA championships, second in last year's NCAA cham- depending on Nagel's position in the s to be up for grabs.
and, in the minds of some, having a
disappointing season.
It's a tribute to 17-year head coach
rian Eisner that Michigan has
"come synonymous with dominance
Big Ten tennis. And yet last year's
men's tennis squad was only the
4eonid Michigan team in the last 19
tears that failed to bring home a Big
Ten Championship.
A FALLING dynasty? Hardly.
Not only do the Wolverines return
411 but two members of last year's
4quad, they've also added "one of the
lop 10 players in U.S.," according to
kisner, in the form of Ed Nagel, a
pionship.
Nafel should ease the loss of four-
year starter and All-American Jim
Sharton, who played second singles
and teamed with senior Ed Filer at
the first doubles slot. Sharton and
Filer combined to form the top
doubles team in the Midwest last
season, thus qualifying for the
NCAAs. There they bumped off third
seed Clemson in straight sets before
succumbing to the University of
Alabama's top twosome in three sets.
According to Eisner, Nagel and Filer
have played doubles together before
and are "an outstanding team."
lineup. Goldberg racked up a 9-1 mark
last season in the Big Ten at the top
singles spot with his consistent,
determined play.
The Avon, Conn. native was the
squad's third qualifier for the NCAAs.
But a nagging ankle injury forced
Goldberg to withdraw in his second
round match with Standford's Dan
Goldie - the eventual NCAA champ
- after leading 1-0 in the third set.
Beyond Nagel and Goldberg, the
Wolverines have a wealth of talent
and experience. It's no wonder Eisner
has "a very positive outlook" for next
season. More than likely, steady Ed
Filer (12-11 overall, 7-5 in Big Ten)
will return to his third singles
position: Also returning will be senior
John Royer (19-9, 10-2) and hard ser-
THE DOUBLES lineups aren't set
either, but Nagel and Filer figure to
be the first duo while junior Brad
Koontz, sophomore Chip McColl, or
sophomore Mike Pizutello figure to
team with some of the singles players
to fill out the final two doubles spots.
Even with their strong returning
nucleus, the Wolverines will still feel
heat from an increasingly com-
petitive conference. Minnesota, which
beat Michigan 5-1 at Bloomington last
year for the Big Ten Crown and
finished eighth nationally, should
provide the stiffest competition. .
According to Eisner, the Gophers
lose their top singles player in Matt
Grace but added a number of top
recruits to bolster their forces.
BigTe
Likewise, Indiana and Purdue, third
and fourth respectively at the Big
Tens, could challenge for the league
crown.
EISNER ATTRIBUTES the in-
creasing strength of the conference to
the fact that "there are so many good
tennis players around. Last year
there were 10 or 12 foreign players in
the Big Ten. Add those to the good
players in the U.S. and that makes the
competition that much tougher."
But the Wolverine mentor seems to
have title thoughts on his mind again.
"We improved throughout last season
and we lost several close matches that
I though we could have won. We must
continue to improve... and I think we
have."
If Eisner is right, the Wolverines
have just hit a wicked forehand down
the line, and it will be up to Big Ten
foes to hit a solid return to keep
Michigan from serving up its 18th Big
Ten Championship in 20 years.
n Title
I
Filer
.. . steady at number three
omen netters are healing
Basle, Mackey add Nq Y
depth to Ritt
By PAUL DODD "I'VE
If the women's tennis team can coming t
avoid another epidemic of New York Mackey]
Knicks Injury Syndrome, the 1986-87 petitor a
season should be a great im- being a s
provement for the Wolverines and more agg
coach Bitsy Ritt. my singl(
Injuries to no less than four key Basle r
players forced Ritt to juggle and pat- record ai
ch her starting lineup. The various seasons
wounds especially hurt Michigan in numbers
doubles play, where some players had the No. 2,
to compete with as many as four dif- Anoth
ferent partners during the season. seasonst
Hills nati
EVEN THOUGH last spring was a 12 singles
disappointing one for Ritt and the
women netters, a solid nucleus retur- ASH A
ns with plenty of Big Ten experience, ddble
which will start in February.'doubles
A host of juniors with two full assortme
seasons of experience are back, in- The lo
cluding Tina Basle and Leslie starting i
Mackey. The pair comprised the No. 2 left-hand
and 3 spots for most of the schedule good chuf
last season, other than the meets with a se
Basle sat out with a pulled hamstring, be a key
Both have improved their serve her final s
and volley games greatly since MichigE
coming out of the baseline-oriented two outsti
high school style of play. co-captai
Paula Rei
S
team
BEEN working hard on
o the net all winter," said
last March, a stalwart com-
nd performer despite only
ophomore last season. "My
gressive play has helped both
es and doubles play."
racked up an impressive 15-9
it No. 3 as a freshman two
ago, but saw her individual
slide a bit as she moved to
slot.
er junior with two solid
on her racquet is Bloomfield
Ave Erin Ashare, who posted
victories as a freshman.
RE ADDED some much
onsistency to the Wolverines'
matches playing with an
nt of partners.
ne senior returning to the
rotation is Tricia Horn. The
er from Cincinnati sat out a
ink of last spring's schedule
verely injured back, but will
performer for coach Ritt in
season.
an must deal with the loss of
anding players, last season's
ns Monica Borcherts and
chert.
Daily Photo by SCOTT LITUCHY
Senior John Royer returns as the number four singles player. Royer and
his teammates hope to return the conference championship to Michigan.
The Wolverines have won the Big Ten Title 17 of the last 19 years.
*'II6&
II
A
44 1
Headqartes fo Autenti
"Chapion SwatsT-shrts& Shrts
4
A MEMBER OF the All-Big Ten
team her sophomore year and the
second team her junior year, Reichert
had a strangle-hold on the No. 1
position for the past two seasons. Her
cannon-like backhand and consistent
play will be missed.
Ritt will look to till those two pairs
of shoes with the trio of senior Alsion
Miller and juniors Susie Patlovich and
Lynne Wise.
Patlovich andWise both came to the
Daily Photo by ANDI SCHREIBER
Bloomfield Hills native Erin Ashare was a pleasant surprise for last
year's women's tennis team, but this year her wins will be expected.
rescue last season when Basle and
Horn were out with their injuries.
Wise had to deal with a foot injury of
ther own, but returned to 100 percent
by season's end.
"Right now I'm waiting to hear
from a couple of recruits so I can't say
much about next year," said Ritt, who
will be in her third season as the
Michigan coach.
Men's golf team rebuilding this
fall after poor 86-86 outings
By PAUL DODD
If the 86-87 men's golf team can live
up to the expectations of last season's
squad, the Wolverines will likely
finish in the upper part of the Big Ten
standings.
As for last spring's edition of the
Michigan linksters, the operative
term seemed to be disappointment.
After fall, the Wolverines were the
third-ranked team in a district that
included the Big Ten, the MAC, Notre
Dame, and other independents.
UNFORTUNATELY, the spring
schedule held no realizations of the
success expected from graduating
seniors Scott Anair, Pete Savarino
and Chris Westfall, among others.
Things started on the wrong track
for the Wolverines at the Marshall In-
vitational in Huntington, W. Va. in
March, where only two Michigan
players broke 80 on what Savarino
called an "easy" course.
An ankle injury to Westfall held the
Grosse Pointe Farms native out of the
lineup for a pair of matches, thinning
out a Wolverine roster that was
already performing at a lower level
than was originally hoped.
"IT HURT (to lose Chris), but it
was only for two matches and you've
got to live with those things," said
Savarino, noting that the poor
showings were the responsibility of
the whole team. "You can't blame
just one person when things start
going bad."
After two good showings at tour-
naments in Florida and at Purdue,
the Wolverines, including Savarino,
admittedly lost some confidence just
as Westfall went out with his injury.
"We never played well as a team,"
Savarino said after the season. "No 4
one really played bad, but we all
struggled with our games."
COACH JIM Carras became so
frustrated with the lack of production
from his golfers that he ordered the
starters to play a re-qualifying round
to earn their spot in the lineup for the
Big Ten tournament.
"There will be some changes in our
lineup," a disgruntled Carras
proclaimed one week prior to the Big
Ten championships. When it came
time for the tournament, though,
senior John Codere was the only ad-
dition to the regular rotation.
The shake-up, if it could be called
such, had no effect on the
Wolverines' play, though, and the
Blue linksters finished the 72-hole
conference meet tied for ninth, while
Ohio State captured its fifth straight
Big Ten title.
"Our players will have to be a lot
stronger and better next season,"
Carras said following the end of the
dreadful spring.
With the loss of Westfall and
Savarino to graduation, at least the
expectations won't be as high going
into next spring.
Qcutfub ike at awwne p*OIc
Including the latest in lightweight bike technology -
ALUMINUM BIKES from Trek and Raleigh
Complete line of bikes from:
Schwinn " Raleigh o Fuji * Specialized * Kuwahara
I 1,
I .
i