The Michigan Daily - Sports Monday - November 9, 1992- Page 7 Back-to-back Water polo squeaks past Northwestern for Big Ten title J n CtMOLLY STEVENS JoAnna Collias is stifled by a pair of Penn State blockers. Michigan lost a pair of key matches this weekend. Spike rs fall to Penn state, OSU by Erin Himstedt Daily Sports Writer It's a long drive from Ann Arbor to Madison, but for the Michigan water polo team, it was well worth the trip. At the Big Ten finals this week- end at the University of Wisconsin, the Wolverines earned their second consecutive conference title. Not since Northwestern accomplished that feat in 1984-85 has a team won back-to-back championships. Michigan, the No. 1 seed coming into the tournament, soundly de- feated Iowa (22-4,) Ohio State (15- 5,) Indiana (13-5,) and Illinois (13- 10) in preliminary round-robin play. None of the early matches were a serious challenge to the team. "Those games were pretty un- eventful," Michigan coach Scott Russell said. "We were the No. 1 team coming into the tournament, and I think that really showed." "Even the game Saturday night versus Illinois was not as close as it seems; we had it in hand the whole time." The ease with which the Wolver- ines handled their first matches also allowed the players to save their strength. This may have given the team a critical advantage in its final rounds. The Wolverines played Wiscon- sin in the semifinal match. Surpris- ingly, Michigan's arch-rival, Michi- gan State, had not advanced past pool play, or qualifying rounds. The Wolverines swam past the Badgers with a score of 14-7. "Any time you play the home team, you've really got to be ready to play. We came out and really controlled the tempo of the game; getting a sizable lead in the first half really helped us," Russell said. "Wisconsin's a tough team. We just were able to get on top early and then just stick to our game plan." The final game against North- western was the drama of the week- end. It was a hard-fought battle be- tween the best two teams in the conference that saw the Wildcats come from behind in the fourth quarter to send the match into overtime. "The team. from Northwestern played a phenomenal defensive. game against us; we never got up by more than two goals," Russell said. "Northwestern scored a goal with twelve seconds left; that was a big emotional lift for them." But the Wolverines were able to hold on during overtime, scoring two more goals and capturing the ti- tle. "Every time we play Northwest- ern it's usually a hard-fought game. We really feel fortunate to win the game. When the intensity was up and the game was on the line, our offense stepped up and really came through for us. (Co-captain) Aaron Frame scored the winning goal with twelve seconds left to go." Russell attributed much of his team's success to the superior goal- tending of senior Sam Chuang. "Sammy really stepped up this weekend. He was the best goalie here. Anytime you've got strong goaltending, you've got a good de- fense to win the championship." Several other Wolverines were also recognized for their perfor- mances. Sophomore Ben Ewy was the tournament MVP. Ewy, Chuang, Drew Hansz, and David Prince were named first team all-Big Ten. Freshman Pat Hanchin was named to the second team; Frame and John Miedler were honorable mentions. Having realized their season-long goal of back-to-back conference ti- tles, Michigan now proceeds to the Midwest Regional Championships next weekend. This event is the pre- cursor to the NCAA finals. Russell hopes to win the regional contest, but is very pleased with what his team has already achieved. "No matter what happens next weekend, we'll consider this season a success." by Scott Burton It could have been a ground- ,breaking weekend for the Michi- gan's women's volleyball team. Taking on top Big Ten foes Penn State and Ohio State, the Wolverines could have taken sole possession of third place in the " conference and almost assured themselves a playoff berth. Instead, after flirting with victory in both matches, Michigan was defeated and put in an almost * must-win situation for the rest of the year. Saturday's match with Ohio State was summarized for the Wolverines by senior setter Tarnisha Thompson in one word - "disappointing." Michigan, after seeming poised for a triumph in the fourth set, saw the Buckeyes take advantage of Michigan's mental errors late in the match to steal the contest, 13- 15, 15-1, 11-15, 15-12, 15-6. "I don't think we kept up our mental toughness up against Ohio State and I think if we did we would have come out on top," junior middle blocker Fiona " Davidson said. "We were having problems passing the ball and if we can't pass the ball, we can't execute." Saturday's match saw the return of junior star Michelle Horrigan who sat out Friday's match with a leg injury. She didn't lose a step in her return, leading the Wolverines with 15 kills and 11 digs. Aimee Smith belted 12 kills of her own and matched Horrigan with 11 digs. Setter Tarnisha Thompson set another record for the Wolverines in the contest. Having already set Michigan's all-time assist record earlier in the season, she broke Michigan's season assist record. She finished the match with 43 assists.. Friday's match with No. 8 Penn State, although a straight-set loss, was a much more positive night for the Wolverines. Even without Horrigan, Michigan more than held its own with the Nittany Lions and even came close to snatching a set. The 15-11, 15-2, 15-10 loss was not indicative of how close the match was and it was an encouraging sign that the Wolverines were on the road to being a premier team. "We dodged a bullet tonight," Penn State coach Russ Rose said. "I thought Michigan played a great match. They are a team on the rise and they certainly will have to be reckoned with." " We are a team that's getting to be a great team and our improvements are coming in leaps and bounds," Michigan coach Greg Giovanazzi said. "Through (some) points we played as good a volleyball as we have all year. I am very pleased the way we came out and played with that team." Aiding Michigan's effort against Penn State was the record- breaking crowd at Cliff Keen Arena. The Michigan hockey pep band joined the 2,137 fans in cheering the Wolverines on in the game. "The crowd was great and I think that that many people come out and support us is great'" Davidson said. Without Horrigan, people like Aimee Smith, Chris White and Suzy O'Donnell were asked to pick up the slack for the Wolverines. They responded in spectacular fashion, contributing to a solid defensive effort by Michigan in the match and matching the Lions kill-for-kill. Smith led all Wolverines in kills with 13 and sported an impressive .333 hitting per- centage. Fiona Davidson added nine kills and two service aces. With the loses on the weekend, Michigan falls to 8-6 in the Big Ten, fourth place behind Ohio State in the conference. But the Wolverines remain positive and look forward to next weekend's key matchup with Minnesota that could determine which teams from the Big Ten go on to the NCAA tournament. "I think there are a lot of good things to build on from this week- end," Davidson said. "We will just have to go out and keep on doing the things we are doing right." - T- S H IRT P R IN TE RY " A2s MULTI-COLOR PRINTING CHAMPS! " STAFF ARTIST SUPPORT. " 2-DAY RUSH SERVICE AVAILABLE. * U-M P.O. #'s ACCEPTED. 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