Football
vs. UCLA
Saturday, 12 noon
Michigan Stadiuv
The Michigan Daily
SPORTS
Thursday, September 20, 1990
Field Hockey
vs. Ball State
Tomorrow, 3 p.m.
Tartan Turf
Page 9
BRADLEY-DOPPES TEACHESNEW ATTITUDE:
Spikers ready to
move ahead
by David Schechter
Daily Sports Writer
It never used to be like this -
hopping on wooden platforms to
build power, lifting weights, and
maneuvering through ropes to in-
crease leaping capacity. But Michi-
gan volleyball won't ever be like it
used to be. Soon they will be win-
ners. It's just a matter of how soon.
The University showed it's com-
mitment to the volleyball program
when it built Varsity Arena. They've
gotten serious about building a team
to play there. The women's athletic
department wooed the 1989 ACC
Coach of the Year, Peggy Bradley-
Doppes, from the University of
North Carolina to build the type of
winning program she is known for.
"Michigan was like a diamond in
the rough," Bradley-Doppes said. "A
great facility, and you're looking at a
great academic institution.... And I
think the people at Michigan deserve
a very good volleyball program."
Bradley-Doppes, 33, hired another
nationally known volleyball figure,
James Smoot, to aid in molding her
team. A former head coach at the
University of Hawaii and more re-
cently an assistantiat LSU, Smoot
brought his expertise in physical
conditioning.
With Smoot and assistant coach
Jennifer Dhaenensreturningfor her
fourth year, Bradley-Doppes started
the season with a solid staff, but that
doesn't translate into wins. This
year's team has produced only one
win in eight matches.
This year the staff has to look
more towards the future. Half of this
year's playing rotation consists of
first-year students. The Wolverines
are a team more concerned with
learning to play smart and win so
they can soon be competitive.
"Our biggest problem right now
is we don't have the offensive
prowess that's needed. We don't have
anyone who can spank a ball,"
Bradley-Doppes said.
The team has few veterans and is
limited in the ways it can produce
offensively. So the team doesn't
concentrate on things they can't do,
but rather on things they can.
"We can't concede our physical
conditioning because right now we
are already aware that we are shy on
experience. So we have to make up
for it with conditioning and we have
to be smarter," Bradley-Doppes said.
The team is noticing the differ-
ence, too. "Technique-wise it's a 180
degree turnaround (from last year),"
sophomore Michelle Horrigan said.
Players are in the best shape of
their lives, and it shows in their
level of play. The team is more dis-
ciplined and more focused, not to
mention more competitive.
Since there are no starting roles
set in concrete, the players go all out
in practice to secure a starting role.
That competitiveness has obvious
results. And double sessions are not
unheard of if Bradley-Doppes doesn't
like what she sees.
"Everything is so much better,"
sophomore Tamisha Thompson said.
"In practice there's more competi-
tion, and it'stveryhard to make a
starting line-up because everyone's
competing for that line-up. You
can't sit back and not work and think
you have your position under lock
and key."
Bradley-Doppes has concerns
about today's team, but sees promise
for the future. "It will take three to
four years for us to be competitive
in the Big Ten," she said. "To be a
respectable program in the top 20 or
15 nationally, I'd say five years."
Those are big words for the Big
Ten's recent doormat, but Bradley-
Doppes has delivered at other
schools. Her players are convinced of
the coach's ability. "Our record so
far may be a losing one, but we ex-
pect to do well in the future," Horri-
gan said.
A major part of the anticipated
success will come from recruiting.
Smoot just returned from a recruit-
ing trip and Bradley-Doppes leaves
for Chicago on Friday.
"We have to be able to establish
a tradition of recruiting the top play-
ers....We want to get the word out,"
Bradley-Doppes said.
Smoot knows Michigan has
plenty to offer prospective players.
"This is really one of the places in
the Midwest that could draw the
players needed to win a national
championship."
Michigan begins Big Ten play
against Northwestern on September
28 and welcomes the addition of
Thompson. She returns to the lineup
after ankle injuries caused her to
miss the beginning of the season.
"I'm not promising anything be-
cause there is a lot of pressure on me
right now, but I'm in full swing
right now and I think I can make a
really good comeback and help the
team out a lot," Thompson said.
The positive attitude found in
this year's team might aid in beating
teams such as Northwestern, Iowa,
Michigan State. "The thing is peo-
ple aren't going to be looking past
Michigan anymore," Bradley-Doppes
said.
Both Bradley-Doppes and Smoot
can't wait for the day when they've
made winning a tradition, not an ex-
ception, and recall the days when
they turned to each other and asked,
"What are we doing here?"
That day may be sooner than ex-
pected.
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New volleyball coach Peggy Bradley-Doppes left a successful University
of North Carolina team to build a winning tradition here in Ann Arbor.
USA spikers to battle
Cuba at Crisler Arena
by Albert Lin
Daily Sports Writer
Ann Arbor will get a rare look at international competition tonight when
the United States National Women's Volleyball team kicks off a six-city
Midwest tour against the Cuban National team. First serve is scheduled for
7:30 p.m. at Crisler Arena.
The Americans beat the Cubans in the bronze medal game at last
month's World Championships, 11-15, 15-12, 15-9, 15-6, even though
Cuba was the pre-tournament favorite.
, U.S. coach Terry Liskevych's team is led by Caren Kemner, an outside
Ohitter who has been on the team for five years. Liskevych called Kemner
"one of the best hitters and all-around players in the world."
: Two of the newest American stars are Teee Sanders and Tara Cross.
Liskevych calls them, "The who's who of collegiate women's volleyball."
Both led their colleges to the NCAA Championships, and although they are
new to the team, "they've been coming into their own internationally."
The Cuban team has its own star in Mireya Luis. "She is an outstanding
leaper, one of the best hitters in both men's or women's volleyball, and
many times has been MVP in major tournaments," Liskevych said.
Although Cuba has many younger players, boasting half-a-dozen athletes
,born after 1970, the entire American team was born before 1968. The
Americans, however, do not have an edge in experience because the Cubans
start at a much younger age. A good example is Luis. She joined the team
when she was 13 and is now a ten-year veteran.
"When they're 19 years old, they have three or four years of international
experience, which rivals some of our veterans," Liskevych said.
The Cubans are a team with "a lot of firepower. They're a great hitting
team, a great blocking team - a team that's been in prominence world-wide
for the last thirteen years," Liskevych added.
The Americans were able to win last month by playing a steady match
and frustrating the opposition after Cuba appeared on their way to winning
*the third game and taking control of the match. The United States also
served tremendously, "perhaps the best serving match since I've been coach
here," Liskevych said.
In order to beat Cuba tonight, Liskevych says, "We need to serve at that
level, we need to block well, and we can't be timid. We have to come out
aggressively."
Middle blocker and team captain Kim Oden will have to be strong at the
net, and veteran hitters Kemner, Liz Masakayan, and Tammy Liley must
take advantage of all their scoring opportunities.
The Comic Opera GuIld
presents
BERLIN
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Mfr i
Y
.....
Men's soccer wins, 2-0
Songbook..
A Briaqf
Parisian
Romp!
Offenbach's
Stage Direction by Ted Heusel Musical Direction by Matthew Savery
SeptA. 19-22
Mendelssohn Theatre
Tickets on sale at the Michigan Theater box office:
Monday-Saturday, lla.m.-6p.m. Call 668-8397
by Walter Butzu
Daily Sports Contributor
Western Ontario coach Ron
Clayton admitted after yesterday's
soccer game that, "Michigan played
well and hard. They obviously
wanted it more than we did." The
Wolverine 2-0 victory increased their
winning streak to three.
With about ten minutes left in
the first half, senior captain Todd
Neff managed to squeeze the ball
past the Western Ontario goalie to
give the Wolverines a 1-0 lead.
Both teams played well in the
second half, but on a perfect corner
kick from Neff, Tim Puckett headed
the ball into the Western Ontario
goal with only eight minutes left to
play.
Michigan coach Don Schwartz
had nothing but good things to say
about his team. "Todd Neff had a
stellar match, but the unsung hero
would be (sophomore) Scott Seabolt
who played excellent defense,
frustrating the Western Ontario
forwards."
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