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Page 4 - The Michigan Daily - Sports Monday - October 28, 1990
Spikers
Indiana and
by Matthew Dodge
Daily Sports Writer
lose
despite changes
Ohio State drop 'M' to 0-11 in Big Ten
BLOOMINGTON - At the end
of game two in their match at
Indiana Saturday night, four Michi-
gan volleyball players rushed over to
coach Peggy Bradley-Doppes. The
expressions on their faces said "We
want to win, we just need to learn
how."
All they had. to do was watch
Ohio State and Indiana.
Michigan took in the sights of
the Midwest as it toured Columbus
and Bloomington this weekend, but
it received an even better view of
high-power volleyball.
Friday evening, the Wolverines
(4-19 overall, 0-11 Big Ten) lost to
the Buckeyes (16-5, 8-2) in a quick
match, 15-7, 15-4, 15-11. The next
evening, the Hoosiers (14-7, 6-5)
held off the visitors 15-11, 15-12,
15-5.
Against Ohio State, Bradley-
Doppes mixed up the Michigan
lineup. Tarnisha Thompson, whose
name had been chiseled in stone as
starting setter all season, sat out the
entire match. Autumn Collins and
Erica Badran-Grycan were given
extensive playing time in her place.
"We're having trouble establish-
" ing a middle setter," Bradley-Doppes
said. "Chris White and Julia (Sturm)
are our (best hitters right now.
Although I want Tarnisha out there,
we have to get them a good set."
"It just seems like right now they
are inconsistent and there's a lot of
subbing," Ohio State offensive hitter
Holly O'Leary said. "They don't
really know who's going to play
well what night, and who they can
count on."
But Michigan's biggest problem
f was containing Ohio State's
Dynamic Duo - offensive hitters
O'Leary and Dawn McDougall.
When Michigan hit the ball, the
label 'Baden', could almost be read
off the volleyball. But when O'Leary
BIG TENS
Continued from page 1
better. It was real windy and it
wasn't to my advantage to run a
slow race."
These severe winds caused a
slower pace, preventing Barquist and
other runners from making strong.
moves to the front of the pack. In-
stead, they had to cnserve their en-
ergy just to run against the wind.
Another problem for Michigan
was its performance towards the end
"of the race. Barnett had trouble with
cramps and dropped a few places. "It
just happened. There was nothing I
could do," Barnett said.
The Wolverines had been plan-
ning for this meet since last season.
The team redshirted its top three
runners - Barquist, Carna, and Bar-
nett - last year to allow some
younger runners to gain more expe-
rience for this season.
"This is what we all redshirted
for. This is what everybody trained
for," Carna said of the Big Ten's.
"We really didn't have any goals for
the NCAA. It's all centered on the
Big Ten's."
After coming so close to taking
home a Big Ten Championship, the
team was disappointed.
"It was a tough one to lose," Bar-
quist said. "We were training for it
from mid-summer. It just wasn't
quite enough."
Earlier in the season, the Wolver-
ines ran on the same course in the
Minnesota Invitational. In that meet,
This is precisely what she did the
next night in Bloomington, where
McCahill - who Bradley-Doppes
said "played out of her head" - went
the entire match as the coach
changed the lineup again.
Thompson also returned to duty
against Indiana and played a solid
match. She collected 33 of
Michigan's 37 assists, and picked up
a match-high 12 digs. Thompson,
who twice emitted a primal scream
upon successfully setting for a
Michigan hitter, had much to
celebrate on Saturday.
"It was a superb performance,"
Bradley-Doppes said.
"Michigan came to play," Indiana
coach Tom Shoji said. "I don't think
we were ready to play as hard as we
needed to play to beat them. We
thought an 0-9 team wasn't
supposed to play like that, and they
played well."
Despite the accolades, the Wol-
verines did lose in straight games to
a Hoosier team which played only a
mediocre match.
"There wasn't any magic in what
they were doing," Bradley-Doppes
said. "They tried to capitalize on our
freshmen. They just wanted to pick
on our inexperience in the Big Ten
and see how they'd do.
. "It was just an average perfor-
mance by them. For us to win, we
need six people to play well, they
only need one or two."
Those two people were setter Joy
Jordan and offensive hitter Diane
Hoereth. Jordan garnered 53 assists,
and led the Hoosiers in digs with 10;
Hoereth hit a stunning .588 with 21
kills.
Numbers such as these will teach
a volleyball lesson to the inexper-
ienced Michigan team. But as the
players looked to their coach for
guidance in Bloomington, one could
see that a lot of teaching is left to be
done.
JOSE JUAREZ/[
Wolverine outside hitter Fiona Davidson gets her shot blocked in
Saturday's match against Indiana. The Hoosiers went on to defeat
Michigan in three straight games.
Mayproblems nyat.
root of 0-11 season
by Albert Lin
Daily Sports Writer
BLOOMINGTON - Entering the second half of the Big Ten
volleyball season, and after witnessing another lost weekend by the
Michigan women's team, the question remains: "Why can't this team
win?"
OK, so the squad's record includes four wins, but each came outsidc
the conference. Nothing real, you might say.
But it shouldn't be that way. At the very least, Michigan should have
one win.
So what is wrong with the team? First, there is the transition phase
the program is in. With a new coaching staff and ten first-year players, a
lack of team cohesiveness brought about by the players' unfamiliarity
with each other could be expected.
But not at this juncture of the season.
By now, with only eight games remaining and over 20 games and two
months of practice together already gone by, some positive results (reap
wins) should have been seen.
"(Losing) is getting old," coach Peggy Bradley-Doppes said. "We're
playing better, but it's still streaky. Right now, our excuse could be that
we're young and we have a lot of injuries. We're playing at least three,
sometimes four freshman on the floor at all times."
These were Bradley-Doppes' thoughts after the team's first encounter
with Indiana on September 28. Michigan had been competitive, but the
final result was a familiar one. Unforced errors were seen as the culprit
that night, "but those are rookie mistakes. When these kids decide they
really want it - when they want to be aggressive and intense - we're
gonna be OK," Bradley-Doppes said.
A bold prediction but one that has come true. The Wolverines are OK,
but OK doesn't win matches. Improvement has been noticeable over the
last 30 days, but the bottom line is that one month later, there is still a
goose egg next to the W in Big Ten triumphs.
Michigan has had several close matches recently, but alas, "We get to
a certain point and we don't believe we can beat them, and we need to
believe in ourselves in order to follow through and finish it out," said
another of those new Wolverines, Andrea Lucadum. "We just get to a
point we always get to (scoring ten points in a game), and then we give
up.
So now confidence is the problem. "We practice, we do exactly wha#
we should do in practice, we work hard, but what it gets down to is not
trusting that we can win," sophomore transfer Chris White said.
Can anything be done to rectify that situation? A tough, grind-it-out
win to let the squad know that they can win would help.
But as hard as you work, if you aren't as good as everybody else, you
can't expect to win too much. The players seem to think that they are
even with other teams, but not the coach.
"We don't match up talent-wise, honestly we do not...We will match
up talent-wise with a little bit more time and two or three recruiting
classes, but right now I'd be lying if I said we did," Bradley-Doppe
admitted. "For us to win, we have to have six people on. For them t
win, they need one or two people on, and that's just the way it is," she
said after Saturday's loss to Indiana.
And straight from the top, Jim Stone, coach of defending Big Ten
champion Ohio State, agrees. Although he expects Michigan's situation
to improve in time, he still feels that "relative to the rest of the Big Ten,
they don't have as much talent as an Illinois, a Wisconsin."
Said Indiana coach Tom Shoji: "I don't want to play them in a couple
of years."
So for now, Michigan players and fans will have to put up with the
losses. The team is keeping a positive attitude through this debacle caller
a season, but the losses are wearing thin.
Coach Bradley-Doppes wants to get the team "as much game
simulation experience as possible" the rest of the year. She has also
instituted a new system designed to motivate the players. Any mistake
each player makes in the match is noted, and at practice, certain
"punishments", such as running suicides, are handed out.
"It has helped a lot. It makes you stayed more in tune to the game,"
frosh Marita McCahill said.
Hopefully, this system will continue to make players hustle.
Maybe in the coming weeks and into next year, the fans will see an
improved volleyball team, and the players and coaches will be rewarde
with victories.
But we'll have to wait and see.
and McDougall knocked down a kill,
the ball practically disappeared.
"(O'Leary) hits like a man,"
Bradley-Doppes said. "She's 'so
tough, she really roundhouse hits
it."
The Wolverines succeeded in
slowing down O'Leary, who had
only seven kills and hit a low .091,
but McDougall picked up the slack,
hitting a match-high 12 kills and
.346.
"I wasn't very effective tonight,"
O'Leary said. "I was getting dug a
lot more than usual, so it was kind
of frustrating. But they played good
defense."
First-year offensive hitter Marita
McCahill was the only individual
bright spot for Michigan. After
missing practice all week with a
strained back, she entered the match
at the start of the third game. The
Wolverines immediately went on an
8-2 run. McCahill scooped up four
digs, and threw down three kills
without an error.
"If we would have known she
would play like that, we would have
played her earlier," Bradley-Doppes
said.
X-COUNTRY
Continued from page 1
Bannister just missed breaking into
the top ten as she finished in
eleventh place with a time of 17:57.
First-year runner Jennifer Arm-
strong fought off the pain of a hip
problem to finish in 18th place with
time of 18:23. Foster said, "She ran
a great race under the circumstances.
Now we have to get the injury taken
care of."
The remaining Michigan runners
were Chris Tyler, finishing 21st,
Chris Szabo, who took 30th place,
and Megan Nortz, who finished 31st.
The Michigan squad was familiar
with the course after having run in
the Minnesota Invitational earlier
this year. "Running the course
(earlier) was a big benefit," Foster
said. "We hung back for the first
mile and the team worked itself up.
Everyone (else) took off too fast, and
when everyone was dying, we were
passing people."
The Wolverines are composed of
several underclassman and Foster has
been pleased with the way the young
team has become more mature as the
year has progressed.
"Everyone was really focused,"
she said. "We had our mind set on
second and we put up a fight. Wis-
consin just had a better day."
Next up for the Wolverines is the
District IV Meet, November 10th,
at Purdue. Michigan will be looking
for a first or second place finish to
earn an automatic berth to the
NCAA Championships..
If they fail to finish in the top
two, a strong showing can also lead
to an NCAA berth, as the NCAA
Bid Committee gives at large bids to
impressive teams. Last year's squad
did exactly that. The team failed to
qualify automatically, but still ad-
vanced to nationals as one of eight
teams at large.
Foster is hoping that Michigan
can surpass Wisconsin at the District
Meet. "We will work on some
strength work this week and then
rest next week," she said.
"Wisconsin is beatable."
Rounding out the rest of the field
were Iowa (4th), Minnesota (5th),
Illinois (6th), Purdue (7th), Michi-
gan State (8th) and Ohio State (9th).
Carna
Michigan also placed second to No.
1 ranked Iowa State. These are the
only two meets the Wolverines have
not won.
There was some good news at the
meet though. Warhurst was voted
Big Ten Coach of the Year, while
Shawn MacKay was voted Big Ten
Freshman of the Year. MacKay
placed highest among all first-year
runners in the meet at 20th with a
time of 25:39.1.
Despite not winning the meet,
the season has been a success thus
far. The team is looking to continue
its winning ways in two weeks,
when it travels to Purdue for the
District Championships.
Michigan Alumni work here:
The wan Street Journal
The New York Times Because they workedhere:
The Washington Post
Ihe DetroitFree Press (The 9iitd tt juat1l
The Detroit News
NBC Sports
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The University of Michigan
SCHOOL OF MUSIC
Tues. Oct.30
Faculty Recital by Margo
Halsted, carillon
Performing works by Van Ingelgem, White, 1
Purcell ,Hart
Burton Memorial Tower, 7:15 p.m.
Wed. Oct. 31
Thur. Nov. 1
Sat. Nov. 3
Annual Halloween
Tickets No Longer
Concert
Available
Northcoast Jazz Ensemble'
Ed Sarath, director
Rackham Lecture Hall, 8 p.m.
Bandorama
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