Field Hockey vs. Pacific Tonight, 7:30 p.m. Oosterbaan Field House SPORTS Volleyball vs. Wisconsin Tomorrow, 7:30 p.m. Cliff Keen Arena The Michigan Daily Women's kickers stymie EMU, 4-2 by Ryan Herrington Daily S ports Editor Thursday, October 29, 1992 Page 5 'M' takes State Pride Spikers defeat MSU, 15-10, 15-5, 15-13 The Michigan women's soccer team got caught looking beyond its opponent yesterday when it played Eastern Michigan at Mitchell Field. However, the Wolverines managed to regroup in the second half and de- feat the Eagles, 4-2. "Overall, it was not our best game," defenseman Kim Chenet said. "We were not very mentally into the game." The Wolverines had other thoughts on their minds, namely the Big Ten Club Championships which are set for this weekend in Colum- bus. Michigan will try to defend its conference title of a year ago. "It's hard to get up for the game because we are concentrating on Big Tens," Chenet said. The play in the first half was slow as the Wolverines' offense looked somewhat lackadaisical. De- 'spite the lapses, Michigan was still able to do the most important thing in soccer - put the ball in the net. Center midfielder Jenny Stein- 'Overall, it was not our best game. We were not very mentally into the game.' - Kim Chenet Michigan defenseman hebel led the scoring for the Wolver- ines. She tallied three unassisted goals. Center forward Shannon Lo- per accounted for the other Michigan score. The victory over the Eagles gave Michigan its 15th victory of the by Rich Mitvalsky Daily Sports Writer After a heartwarming rendition of the national anthem by the Michigan women's glee club, the Michigan women's volleyball team brought out the broom for the second time against the Spartans this season, sweeping Michigan State by scores of 15-10, 15-5, 15-13. In destroying the Spartans, Michigan retained the "State Pride" banner, symbolizing the rivalry be- tween the intrastate adversaries. "Having won over there, 3-0, earlier this season, I don't think the banner played much of a role tonight," Michigan coach Greg Giovanazzi said. "This game was important to us for the rest of the season, because we head into some pretty tough games very soon." The match was marked by inno- vative Wolverine strategies. On sev- eral occasions, Wolverine servers attempted short serves, which only occasionally succeeded in falling just over the net and short of the de- fense. More significantly, however, was the rotation of sophomore Aimee Smith into Hayley Lor- enzen's vacated outside hitting pos- ition, while several new Wolverine faces saw action. "Aimee is now opposite Tarnisha (Thompson), and Chris White filled into Aimee's spot," Giovanazzi said. "Aimee is staying at the outside hitter spot, and that seems to be a better position for her." Smith broke up a tie at two apiece in the first game with consec- utive service aces, followed shortly afterward by aces from junior JoAnna Collias. The Wolverines eventually led by scores of 8-2 and 9-5 before an additional ace by Smith on game point secured the first-game victory. Senior Michelle Horrigan teamed with Collias and junior Fiona Davidson in producing multiple kills during a stretch in which the Wolverines opened up an 11-5 lead in the second game. In Michigan's second consecu- tive sweep in Big Ten competition, Wolverine junior Marita McCahill, sophomore Julie Scherer, and frosh Suzy O'Donnell all saw consider- able action off the bench in the third game. Scherer, who started the match, and O'Donnell, were particu- larly impressive. "Julie has done a great job, and we wanted to get her in there in case something happens to Tarnisha," Giovanazzi said. "She is a great set- ter and is very efficient in the back- court." "It was so good to see Suzy in there and have such a great game," Collias added. "She had a lot of fans there, and she just did a great job." "We're learning a lot as the sea- son goes on," junior Fiona Davidson said. "At the beginning, we were playing only with what we learned in the spring in practice. Now, we are learning other formations, and understanding our positions better, so we are playing better overall." Michigan's Aimee Smith sets up Michelle Horrigan (#6) in a game earlier this season. The Wolverines defeated Michigan State, 3-0, last night. year, against five loses and five ties. A lot is riding on this weekend's championships. The winner of the tournament gets an automatic bid to the national club championship, which will be held in Austin, Texas Nov. 19 and 20. Michigan used its automatic bid last season and fin- ished second in the national tourna- ment, losing in the finals. As for Michigan's chances this weekend, the team is rather opti- mistic. "We have a really good chance," Chenet said. "We're in a difficult bracket with Minnesota, Purdue and Penn State, but I like our chances." However, if Michigan is going to repeat as champions, it is going to have to perform better than it did yesterday. "We just have to sharpen our de- fense," Chenet said. "We can't allow any mistakes. We've just got to be prepared for every play." Coaches like Blue, IU at Big Ten luncheon by Ken Davidoff Daily Basketball Writer INDIANAPOLIS - The city of Indianapolis has taken on large tasks before; tolerating the Colts and serv- ing as the setting for the sitcom "One Day at a Time" come to mind. But the capital of Indiana faced per- haps its greatest challenge yesterday when it hosted the fourth annual Big Ten Basketball Tipoff Luncheon. The luncheon organizers success- fully overcame the hurdle of fitting 11 prominent basketball coaches and their respective egos under one roof to produce a substantive gathering. The men discussed a multitude of issues, and they came to a couple of general conclusions: Michigan and Indiana are the teams to beat in the Big Ten, and the conference is stronger than it has been in recent memory. "I think that Indiana will have as good or better chance than it had last year," Michigan State coach Jud Heathcote said. "I think Michigan, with that Fab Five, with a year be- hind them, could be absolutely awe- some." Most of the Big Ten clubs com- mence the season stronger than a year ago; only Ohio State seems weaker, having lost five seniors and superstar Jimmy Jackson. The ma- jority of the coaches dished out Big Ten hyperbole like it was going out of style. "It's the best overall quality of teams that we've had in the Big Ten since I've been around," Michigan coach Steve Fisher, who's been in the conference since 1982. "This is the toughest league situa- tion in the 12 years I've been here," Purdue coach Gene Keady said, one- upping Fisher. Only one member of the coach- ing fraternity dissented.. "To say that this year looks like it will be the best Big Ten year ever is kind of ridiculous to me," Indiana coach Bob Knight said. "Certainly I would think the Big Ten will be very tough; it has been for 50 years. But since I've been at Indiana this may be the tenth time I've heard that this will be the best year ever." The coaches also debated the merits of the new conference sched- ule. Due to the addition of Penn State, each squad will play eight teams in the conference twice and two only once. For example, Mich- igan will not visit Northwestern and will not host Penn State. "(The schedule change) can work to your advantage or your dis- advantage in terms of the strengths of the two teams that you only play once and where you play them," Heathcote said. Along with the coaches' rhetoric came the obligatory pre-season all- conference team. The quintet, cho- sen by the media present at the lun- cheon, consists of the league's five best players, regardless of position. Michigan's Chris Webber was a unanimous selection. He joined teammate Jalen Rose, Iowa center Acie Earl, Illinois center Deon Thomas and Indiana forward Calbert Cheaney on the club. * Men kickers shoot for title, revenge at Big Tens by Bob Abramson After losing a tiebreaker for the Big Ten Club championship a year ago, the Michigan men's soccer team is focused. The Wolverines hope to make amends for last sea- son's loss and secure the elusive title as they head to Illinois this weekend for the conference tournament. Michigan coach Aaron Smith feels that his team (7-9-3) is much more prepared for the tournament this time around. "We have a lot more depth this year," Smith said. "We have 20 to 25 kids that we can put into a tight game. We are going to need most of those guys, especially with four games in two days. Our depth should help us win the tournament." Purdue, which defeated the Wolverines in the finals last year, went on to win the national club championship. The loss still haunts the Wolverines. "We're kind of angry that they won the tournament last year," ju- nior Reza Sadjapour said. "We are also mad that they are getting an au- tomatic bid (to the national club championships) this year. They are not the team they were last year." Michigan clearly dominated Pur- due earlier this season, defeating the Boilermakers, 3-1, in their only matchup. While the team will have its mind on Purdue this weekend, Illinois might be the sleeper of the tournament. "Illinois is going to be our tough- est competition," sophomore Her- schel Wancjer said. "We tied them, 1-1, earlier in the season, but they have come on strong, beating Purdue three times in a row. We're ex- tremely confident that we can beat them, though." Michigan plays Ball State, Notre Dame, Illinois and Purdue in the tournament. The Wolverines must win all four games in order to snare the conference championship. The Big Ten champion receives an automatic bid to the national club tournament in Dallas. "I expect no less than four victo- ries from our team," Sadjapour said. "If we don't win this tournament, we'll be very disappointed." "What is going to win the tour- nament for us is intensity," Wancjer said. "We've got to maintain our in- tensity for all four games. We had a few lapses this season, especially against Illinois, where we lost a lot of 50-50 balls in the air." PWPw 3600 . - __ _/PIMP mm it, T u'1