The Michigan Daily/New Student Edition -Thursday, September 5, 1991 - Page 7 Softball taes wild ride to third .place by Ken Davidoff Daily Sports Writer The Michigan women's softball team's 1991 season was like a roller coaster, and when the ride finally stopped, the Wolverines (15=9 in the Big Ten, 36-19 overall) finished the season in third place in their conference. Despite the inconsistency of the squad's play, 'Wolverine coach Carol Hutchins was pleased with the overall performance. "We had an excellent season,"' she said. "We just had a couple of bad days that cost us early." Indeed, if not for one lost week-. end against Big Ten champion Iowa, Michigan would have had a legiti mate chance at winning the confer.- ence. However, the Wolverines scored only one run in four games that weekend and thus could no longer control their own destiny. Hutchins, concedes that her players might have been psyched out by the "Iowa phenomenon. The team showed' character, though, when it followed this dis- appointment with a doubleheader sweep against Michigan State. "That was a big win," Hutchins said. "We needed to bounce back." Another important series 'took place at Northwestern, where the Wolverines 'took three out of four despite opposition from both the Wildcats and the elements. "We played exceptionally well, especially in such ungodly weather," Hutchins commented. Senior leadership played a big' role in the team's success. Pitcher Andrea Nelson, catcher Julie Cooper, and shortstop Bonnie Tholl all contributed greatly to the cause, both statistically and otherwise. "They were an excellent class," Hutchins said. "They played con- sistently, and they kept the team focused." Unfortunately, a year in which a team has a strong senior. presence is usually. followed by a young, Netters rebound from down year by Becky Weiss Daily Sports Writer With fifteenth-ranked David Kass at No. 1 singles and rookie Dan Brakus at No. 2, Michigan men's tennis team set out to renew its rep- utation as perennial Big Ten cham- pion, a reputation which came into question after the Wolverines' dis- appointing 1989-90 season. The 1989-90 team lost five of its six singles players, including Malavai Washington, who is now on the professional circuit. The Wolverines' 11-15 finish marked coach Brian Eisner's first losing sea- son in his 21 years at Michigan. The 1990-91 season began with the opposite scenario. Most of the singles lineup consisted of return- ing players. After frosh Brakus de- buted at No. 2, the remainder of the singles players moved down a posi- tion. The Wolverines were confident that their talent and experience would guide them to an improved 1990-91 season. Anticipating an easy victory, the team began its Big Ten season by edging Wisconsin, 5-4, in its closest match of the season. Each team won three matches go- ing into the doubles competition, and split No. 2 and No.3. The match was decided by Kass and Brakus' 6-7, 6-3, 6-3 victory. "We knew we were going to win. It was just a matter of getting it together," Brakus said. "We knew they were playing the best they could." Expectations for a laugher were substantiated in the Wolverines' next Big Ten match, as they de- feated Northwestern, 5-0. Doubles matches were not played. With the Blue/Gray Champi- onships stricken from the Wolver- ines' schedule, they faced almost a month without a match. The lapse was especially long for the doubles teams, since they did not compete against Northwestern. Starting April 6, the possibly over-rested team played six Big Ten matches in two weeks. In the first week, they defeated Illinois and Purdue, but split their weekend matches, losing to Indiana and win- ning at Ohio State. The next weekend was similar as the Wolverines defeated Iowa, but lost to Minnesota, both by 5-4 scores. Eisner considers the Iowa match the best dual meet team ef- fort. He thought all players were mentally competing all out for the first time of the season. "If we had done this before, we wouldn't have lost to Indiana or Minnesota," Eisner said. Eisner used the team's last dual meet against Michigan State as a chance to experiment with the lineup in preparation for the Big Ten championships. Struggling in previ- ous matches, the No. 1 and No. 2 doubles teams were switched. John Karzen was paired with Kass and re- placed Brakus at No. 1. Eric Grand and Brakus were in the No. 2 posi- tion. Another change was Mitch Rubenstein's promotion to No. 4 singles from No. 5. His loss to Michigan State's Kevin Seckel (4-6, 6-3, 6-3) marked his first Big Ten loss of the season. Michigan won the match 8-1. Women's tennis takes fourth in regular season, tourney '. J UAJ " " , As a sophomore righthander, Kelly Forbis helped pitch the Wolverine softball squad to a third-place finish in the Big Ten. Were it not for a lost weekend against the Iowa Hawkeyes, Michigan would have been a legitimate contender for the conference championship. by Adam Miller Daily Sports Writer Before the season, the Michigan women's tennis team was predicted to finish fourth in the Big Ten standings. At the end of the regular season, the Wolverines did indeed take a No. 4 seeding into the Big Ten Tourna- ment in Madison, Wis. And at the tournament, their 1-2 showing was enough to earn them, well ... Fourth. Four was a favorite number for Michigan this year. The Wolverines opened and closed the regular season with four-match winning streaks. In February, it looked like Michigan was worthy of a top-three seeding, as it didn't lose an individual match until their fourth match of the sea- son, whitewashing Toledo, Bowling Green and Northern Illinois. West- ern Michigan drew first blood, but the Broncos still went down at the hands of the Maize and Blue, 8-1. All of these wins came at home, in the friendly Track and Tennis Building. In fact, Michigan was 10-0 at home in 1991. However, while the Wolverines were undefeated at home, they only had a single road victory, a 7-2 rout of Ohio State. Trouble started when the Wolver- ines hit the road Feb. 27 for the warmer climate of Florida. Their first loss was to South Florida, as USF convincingly beat the Maize and Blue, 6-3. The Lady Seminole Invitational in Tallahassee, Fla., closed out the southern trip, where Michigan took out South Alabama, 6-3, but lost to host Florida State, 7-2. Upon returning to the Midwest, Michigan traveled to Evanston to open the Big Ten schedule against nationally-ranked Northwestern, the eventual No. 3 team in the Big Ten. The Wildcats were not friendly hosts, edging the Wolverines in a tight match, 6-3. Recurring injuries to its No., 1 singles player, junior Christine Schmeidel, and a variable schedule made Michigan seem like two dif- ferent teams at times. In the next four matches, Michigan beat lesser teams, Miami of Ohio, 8-1, and Boston College, 5-4, but were soundly beaten by nationally-ranked Wisconsin, 9-0, and Notre Dame, 7- 2. After the Notre Dame matclY, things started to gel for coach Bitsy Ritt's squad. Sparked by the play of captain Stacy Berg at No. 2 singles and Amy Malik at No. 5 singles, the Wolverines won seven of their last eight regular season matches. Their only loss came April 12 at Big Ten champion Indiana, a 7-2 Hoosier pounding. Before the tournament, Berg was optimistic of the Wolverines' chances in Madison. "We may be seeded No. 4, but we're aiming for No. 1," she said. Such was not to be. Michigan eas- ily won its first match against Michigan State, but faltered in its last two, to Northwestern and 'Ws- consin. Wisconsin blanked Michigan in the tournament semi-finals, 6-0, and Northwestern defeated tle Wolverines in the third-place match, 5-2. However, things are looking up for next season, and a top-three con- ference finish seems to be a realistic goal. Berg is the only loss from this year's roster, and Michigan will have seven seniors on the 1992 squad. untested squad. Nevertheless, Hutchins has confidence that the 1992 version of Michigan softball will come through. New signees like pitcher Kelly Kovach, short- stop Lesa Arria, and catcher Kim Clark will be counted on to com- 'We had an excellent season. We just had a couple of bad days that cost us early' -Carol Hutchins, softball coach pensate for the loss of the seniors and aid the team in its quest for the Big Ten title. "We'll need them," Hutchins said of the incoming rookies. "They'll decide if this will be a big year or a rebuilding one." The first-year players will not have to go at it alone, though. There is a fine crop of returning student- athletes who will have another year of experience to their advan- tage. Hutchins is counting on out- fielder Stacey Heams, infielder Shelly Bawol, and first baseman Heather Lyke to provide the lead- ership needed to compete. Add to this returning pitchers Julie Clarkson and Kelly Forbis and solid contributors like out- fielder Patti Benedict and catcher Karla Kunnen, and the Wolverines seem ready for another interesting season. Say what you want about roller coasters, but if nothing else, they're a lot of fun. _ _ : TOP TEN REASONS TO BUY YOUR MICHIGAN CLOTHING AT THE MICHIGAN UNION BOOKSTORE 10. It's closer than the Salvation Army. 9. You don't need to be 21 to enter. 8. Free receipts with every purchase. 7. President Duderstadt shops here. 6. 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