Men's Golf
Midwestern Invitational
Tomorrow, all day
DeKalb, IL
vS
Volleyball
vs. Michigan State
Today, 7 p.m.
Cliff Keen Arena
Blue nets
big man
Taylor for
'94 tilt
By TIM RARDIN
DAILY SPORTSWRER
With the early exit of 6-foot-9
All-American Chris Webber to the
NBA, and the graduation of 7-0 Eric
Riley and 6-8 James Voskuil, the
Michigan basketball team is in des-
perate need of size and strength along
its frontline.
And the team may get it - albeit
a year from now - and much more
in 64, 225-pound power forward
Maurice Taylor, a senior at Detroit
Henry Ford who made a verbal com-
mitment to Michigan for the 1994-
95 season.
Taylor, who averaged 22 points, 12
rebounds and four blocks last year as a
16-year-old junior, is cutrently rated
the No.2 power forward, and the No.7
overall high school player by recruiting
expert Bob Gibbons.
According to his high school
coach, Bill Carter, Taylor definitely
measures up in the size and strength
department.
"He's very strong, to be as young as
he is," Carter said. "He has a tremen-
dous ability to block shots. He is 6-8 but
he plays like he's 6-10. He really plays
above that rim."
And the good news for Michigan
coach Steve Fisher is that Taylor is
much more than a space-eater. He has
versatile written all over him, and will
likely draw comparisons to Webber
should he make his verbal commitment
official Nov. 10-17, during the national
signing period.
"He is an all-around athlete. He
can do it all," Carter said. "He has
good court sense and he runs the
floor well. He can start the break for
you. He can also shoot the three-
pointer."
Anything else, coach?
"I've beenreally impressed with his
interior passing ability. He can spot
people underneath," Carter said. "He
can just step up and dominate a
ballgame."
Okay. Sound too good to be true?
Perhaps. And while the college
game is a big step from the high
school game, Taylor thinks he can
and will contribute immediately, not
only because of his ability, but be-
cause of the loss of much of
. Michigan's size after last season.
"It's a great situation for me. I
think I can come in and contribute
right away," Taylor said. "My
strength is that I'm 6-8 and I can
handle the ball real well. I think I
can play as well at the college level
as I have in high school."
Taylor, who has already passed his
ACT requirements, chose Michigan
over Minnesota, Michigan State, Ken-
tucky, California, Georgia Tech and
Arizona.
"Michigan has the best blend of
academics and athletics in the coun-
try," Taylor said. "It's not only a good
basketball school, but a good school in
general."
FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK:
Texas talent
By KEN SUGIURA '
DAILY FOOTBALL WRITER
While the eyes of Texas might be upon us, the eyes of
Gary Moeller are upon Texas.
In yesterday's teleconference, the Michigan coach dis-
cussed the talent that he has plucked from the football hotbed
of Texas. In particular, Moeller has raided the wealth of
talent from the backyard of Michigan's opponent this week-
end, Houston.
"I think there's some very fine football players in that
area. I think there's fine football players in the Sun Belt area
in numbers that we used to have in the Midwest and the
North," said Moeller, who has reeled in some of the nation's
strongest recruiting classes in his four years at the head of the
Michigan program.
There are four Houston-area players on the Michigan
roster. Three of them - wide receivers Mercury Hayes
(Houston) and Felman Malveaux (Beaumont), and line-
backer Jarrett Irons (Conroe) start for the Maize and Blue.
The fourth, tight end Pierre Cooper (Alief), splits time with
first-stringer Marc Burkholder.
They say there are two high school sports in Texas -
football and spring football-and this craze creates perhaps
the best talent in the country. Moeller explained how he has
been able to tap into the rich pipeline.
"Certain guys we look at and we create an interest in,"
Moeller said. "I think kids go a further distance to school
today, and we've been fortunate that way."
Last season's team MVP, Chris Hutchinson, was also
from Houston.
THE BITING IRISH: Though the loss to Notre Dame
tempting
occurred over a week ago, the sting has yet to subside in the
Wolverines.
"If this doesn't linger with me 20 years from now,"
Moeller said, "if that isn't still in my mind, then to me, I'm
not a football coach because I didn't learn a lesson when a
hard lesson was taught to me."
The lesson, of course, came in the form of a 27-23 loss
to the Irish that dropped the Wolverines from national-title
contention. Yesterday, Moeller admitted his team "did some
goofy things" in the defeat.
"You never want to forget a loss because I think they still
teach you the most in football," he said. "Sometimes it can
linger on too long, but that one I never want to forget
anyways."
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: For the first time since
probably the discovery of electricity, both Big Ten Players
of the Week are from Northwestern. Saturday, the Wildcats
stunned then-No. 22 Boston College, 22-21.
On the offensive side, Wildcat QB Len Williams earned
the honor by completing 17 of 21 passes for 125 yards,
including two scoring strikes to Lee Gissendaner.
NU free safety William Bennett took the defensive
laurels, registering a career-high 18 tackles and breaking up
a pass against the Eagles.
In its first two games, Michigan has had no one selected
Player of the Week.
OFF THE TUBE: For the first time in seven games,
Michigan will not appear on television. The last time the
Wolverines weren't televised was against Minnesota last
season. The Houston game marks only the fourth time in 30
games that Michigan will not be on TV.
Michigan wide receiver Mercury Hayes is one of four Wolverines from the Houston area.
-s. . .
Hitters gear for green
M' volleyball faces MSU in State Pride match
By JEREMY STRACHAN
DAILY SPORTS WRITER
One could say that pride is a state of
mind. However, for the Michigan
women's volleyball team, pride goes
with the territory and the only state on
its mind is Michigan State.
Tonight the favored Wolverines take
on the Spartans at 7 p.m. at Cliff Keen
Arena for the fourth annual State Pride
match. But there is a lot more to this
game than a rivalry.
The game marks the beginning
of the Big Ten regular season for
Michigan. The Spartans have lost
all three Pride matches and finished
at the bottom in the conference stand-
ings last year. But Michigan says it
is not underestimating the green and
white at all.
"They're definitely gonna go all out
tomorrow," senioroutside hitterJoAnna
Collias said. "We pretty much know
what to expect. But every time we play
them it's a good match."
The Wolverines have just come off
of arecent road trip and Michigan coach
Greg Giovanazzi feels he has found a
core of starters for his rotation from last
weekend's matches.
One starter, senior Michelle
Horrigan, did notplay during the recent
trip due to a deep shoulder bruise but
says she will be ready for State this
evening.
"I feel pretty good now," Horrigan
said. "(Tuesday's) practice was my first
full practice in a while and my shoulder
feels really good. I don't know if I will
start but I am definitely playing
(Wednesday)."
Although the Spartans have never
won the State Pride championship, and
are picked near the bottom of the con-
ference again this year, theirpride should
be on the rise.
Not only do the Spartans have anew
coach in Chuck Erbe, but they also have
a new home arena and a desire to beat
Michigan at all costs.
Hat trck
leads 'M'
kckers
over CMU
By RACHEL BACHMAN
DAILY SPORTS WRITER
Flanked by landing helicopters at
the nearby University Medical Center
and noisy construction on Fuller Road,
the Michigan women's soccer team
outplayed the surrounding chaos yes-
terday to defeatCentral Michigan, 5-1.
Junior midfielder Karen Jones and
senior forward Lisa Ashton stole the
show at Mitchell Field, combining for
all of the team's goals. Jones notched
the first hat trick of her Michigan
career.
"It was exciting," Jones said. "It
was even better because I've been in a
scoring slump."
Jones said she had "a few" hat
tricks in high school - but this one,
coming less than a year before the
team turns varsity, was especially
sweet.
"All of Jones' goals were beauti-
ful," seniorforwardAliciaStewartsaid.
CMU struck early, scoring the first
goal just a few minutes into the game.
Less than 60 seconds later, Jones
evened the score with her first goal.
Ashton added another before the first
half's end to put the Wolverines up
2-1.
Michigan opened the shooting
floodgates during the second half,
while its defense did not allow a single
shot on goal. In the entire game, the
CMU scoring threats were few and far
between. The team crossed midfield
barely a dozen times, often only to be
DUGULAS KANTER/ylly
Forward Lisa Ashton dictates play upfield. The senior scored twice against CMU.
quickly cleared out by a Michigan de-
fender.
Despite the domination of Jones and
Ashton on offense, both scoring stars
chalked up the victory to teamwork.
"I scored two, but the one was a
penalty kick and the other was a great
pass," Ashton said. "The defender just
trapped it and I was there. I was at the
right place at the right time."
"Goodpassing and goodball move-
ment led to open goals," Jones said.
A foul against junior midfielder
Lynda Hart set up Ashton's penalty
kick.
The Wolverines would have added
another goal midway through the first
half but it was called back. Freshman
Nicola Armster headed in junior
sweeper Michelle McQuaid's comer
kick but Michigan was assessed a
penalty for obstruction, nullifying the
goal.
Michigan had 14 corner kicks but
failed to score on any of them.
"We started off slow, but ended up
finishing well," Stewart said.
With yesterday's win, Michigan
brings its record to7--1. Its only loss
was to Lindenwood.
i
Men's soccer looks to
" break Albion's defense
By SCOTT BURTON
DAILY SPORTS WRITER
If you asked the Michigan men's
soccerplayers to compare the1992 sea-
son to 1993, they'd tell you there is no
comparison.
The Wolverines (2-1-2) have a new
coach (Steve Bums), an ambitious goal
(toqualify for the National ClubCham-
pionships) and a two-game winning
streak.
'Our defense has been
really strong In every
matchup so far this year.'
- Chris Brunner
Michigan soccer player
harder, working with a lot more direc-
tion in setting our sights on the National
Tournament in late November."
A key component in tonight's
matchup will be Albion's defense
against Michigan's transition game.
Albion has proven to be very stubborn
defensively this year and behind fresh-
man goalie Ryan Kadro, it shut out its
last opponent, Aquinas, 2-0.
"Our transition has really been im-
proving, so the transition from defense
to offense has been a key for us,"
Brunner said. "We're a good, enough
squad that we can get the opportunities
to score. The key for us is capitalizing
on the opportunities."
Even capitalizing once or twice
against Albion may be enough for the
....."
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