* Name the last Big Ten team the Michigan football squad lost to prior to Saturday's 17-7 defeat against Michigan State? (Answer, page 2) HUI N., IN AP Top 25 Sports Calendar Cross Country Q&A Close But No Sugiura Hockey Preview Football Field Hockey Men's Soccer Men's Golf 2 2 2 3 3 4-5 6-7 8 8 8 Wolverines travel on State road to nowhere Michigan effort is *sickening to the stomach AST LANSING - Just a few short minutes after eating one of the finest lunches a press pass ever got me, I felt sick. The prime rib was cooked fine, so was the baked potato. There was nothing wrong with the carrots either. It was the Spartan offense that started my stomach a churnin'. The Green and White chewed up the Michigan defenders and marched 65 yards in just over five minutes for a touchdown. Nothing growled as loud as their hunger for a victory against the Wolverines' most hated rivals. Surely, the Wolverines would fight fire with fire and my stomach could then settle. However, when Tyrone Wheatley fumbled the ensuing kickoff, it became apparent that proper digestion would not be had on this day. Despite a defensive stand which allowed no yards, a 47-yard field goal by Bill Stoyanovich gave Michigan State a ANDY 10-0 lead at the 9:11 mark of the DE KORTE first quarter. Little did anyone Judgment know, 10 points would top of De Korte Michigan's output for the day. The Spartans prevailed 17-7 without any razzle-dazzle, just a defense that would not quit. The Wolverine defense started slow while the offense never got started. "I have to give Michigan State credit. They came out hard and fought tough," Michigan coach Gary Moeller said. "I expected the same from us, but that just wasn't the case today." Spartan coach George Perles did not criticize the Wolverines, but the customary "I respect their effort" quote never materialized from his lips either. The Wolverines obviously did not learn enough from their loss to Notre Dame to produce a comeback in this game. Both games represented big rivals for Michigan. Intensity should be strongest when the game begins. Yet in both games, Michigan found itself ' getting pushed around early. The Michigan State linemen caused problems for Michigan on both sides of the ball. Spartan quarterback See DE KORTE, Page 7 Spartans take bragging rights for first time since 1990, 17-7 By KEN SUGIURA DAILY FOOTBALL WRITER EAST LANSING - Censorship can be a dangerous thing. Consider the Michigan football team and its rival Michigan State. For the past two seasons, the Wolverines severely defeated the Spartans, leav- ing them to speak only of "they were the better team today" and "wait 'til next year." Anger and hatred would have to be bottled up inside to fester. After all, who gives any credence to the rants and raves of losers? Meanwhile, the Wolverines - having muzzled the defeated Spar- tans -- were kings of the sound bite, stating their disdain for things in the color combination of green and white along with the general concept of a land grant university. That all changed Saturday. A charged-up Spartan team, in- spired by perhaps a pregame speech from the ACLU's East Lansing chap- ter, shouted down Michigan, 17-7, securing state bragging rights and opening up the airwaves. With braggadocio and pomp ga- lore pent up since 1990 - the last time they prevailed - the Spartans (1-0 Big Ten, 4-1 overall) exploded upon heavily-favored Michigan (1-1, 3-2), seriously jeopardizing plans for the Wolverines' third straight out- right Big Ten championship and put- ting a serious damper on this Saturday's long-awaited showdown with Penn State in State College. Following the game, members of the Spartan team spewed forth an oral eruption, the likes of which had previ-. ously been reserved for boxing pro- moters with tall hair. "They might just say we were lucky or they might have some cock- eyed excuses, but we just beat them today," said State linebacker Rob Frederickson, who registered five tackles and broke up two passes. Had they extended their First Amendment rights any further, someone - probably garrulous running back Craig Thomas - would have shouted "Fire!" in the middle of the crowded Spartan Sta- dium interview room. "Michigan talked about winning the Big Ten again this year,"'Tho- mas said, pausing for effect. "I think not." Or this gem speculating about the possible nature of the cock- eyed excuses Frederickson men- tioned. "Now they have something to talk about," said the senior. "Maybe it was too wet for them outside." In a rare moment of humility, Thomas owned up to a shortcom- ing his senior class had experienced this year. While the Spartans did beat Michigan, they had strove to overcome Notre Dame but were not up to the task. They were simi- lar in that respect to the Wolver- ines, who lost to the Irish in much the same fashion that they did to the Spartans. "The defense kept the offense in a position to score and have a chance to win the game," Michigan foot- ball coach Gary Moeller said. As Notre Dame had earlier, the Spartans racked up points early and often. Then, as Michigan began to tighten defensively, the offense was unable to mount a serious come- See LOSS, Page 7 EVAN PETRIE/Daily Michigan wideout Derrick Alexander expresses his dejection following the Wolverines 17-7 loss at the hands of arch-rival Michigan State. It was the Spartans' first triumph since 1990. . 'v:011 -s- ""a - ~. i"....olyball1 rocks thehuewth wn cu y BR T O N O wmo By BRETT JOHNSON DAILY SPORTS WRITER It all came together this weekend; the Michigan volleyball team may finally be playing up to its potential. The Wolverines (3-3 Big Ten, 7-7 overall) not only "rocked the house" Saturday, they also rocked their op- ponents. Friday night, after a sluggish first game, Michigan ripped North- western (0-5, 7-7), 12-15, 15-5, 15- 11, 15-11. The team followed the victory over the Wildcats by sweep- ing Wisconsin (2-4, 9-7), 15-5, 15-9, 15-13 on Saturday. "I'm just really pleased with the fact that this team is maturing by the week," Michigan coach Greg Giovanazzi said. "They've taken the pressure off of themselves by playing good, solid volleyball." The main focus of the weekend centered around Saturday's "Rock the House II," the athletic department's promotional event for the team. The 1,381 fans who showed up were not disappointed with the Wolverines' play. Thanks to its improved setting and siding-out, Michigan took con- trol early and never looked back. "We've been focusing on a quicker start for the past week by preparing all day long, just thinking about the match," first-year setter Erin McGovern said. "I think that helps a lot." The team's middle blockers also controlled Wisconsin's top two hit- ters, JoA :ia Grotenhuis and Brigitte Lourey. "Mora Kanim, our assistant coach, does all of our scouting of opponents and sets up our defensive strategy against them," Giovanazzi said. "She did a great job of letting our middle blockers know who we were going to be committing on and keying on. "I thought our middles had a great weekend out there blocking. The last two weeks have been fantastic." The crowd at "Rock the House" was definitely a factor in getting the team going. "It's not supposed to, but ... it does," Shannon Brownlee said. "It's great to have all of these people behind you," McGovern said. Friday night's game may have been an indication of a team turn- around. The offense and defense were much improved over previous weeks, especially after the beginning ofgame one. McGovern's 51 assists allowed outside-hitter Collias to dominate play. "Erin did a great job of putting the ball up in a good spot," Collias said. "I think as the night went on, we just kept connecting more and more. You just go with what works." McGovern thought the improved setting was due to greater concentra- tion. "I think I was focusing more on hitting the ball and keeping it on our side of the net more than anything," McGovern said. Giovanazzi felt the team domi- nated the tempo of the game by play- ing solidly offensively and defen- sively. "Other than the slow start to game one, I felt like we were in control of the whole match," Giovanazzi said. "JoAnna had a great match and car- ried us offensively. The reason she had so much success was because I thought Shannon (Brownlee) and Suzie (O'Donnell) were really doing a good job of making plays in the middle. And, obviously, you can't leave out how Erin (McGovern) set the ball. "All-in-all, it was a really good offensive effort, and I thought we played well on defense." Collias also praised the play in the center as the reason Michigan dis- played a balanced offensive attack and opened up the outside for her. "The middle did a great job, too," Collias said. "They were putting the ball down and mixing it up a lot. That helps. You need to keep the other team off balance and we did a good job of that." In addition to her outside-hitting, Collias continues to close in on career digs leader Lisa Vahi. With her 29 digs this weekend, Collias is only 61 short of breaking the record. Her play at the tough left side, outside-hitting position has been a key to the Wolver- ines' success. "JoAnna has put a lot of weight on See VOLLEYBALL, Page 2 PETER MATTHEWS/Daily Michigan captured both its matches this weekend with wins over Northwester and Wisconsin. The largest home crowd of the season saw the Wolverines top the Badgers Wite takes annual hockey scrimmage By ANTOINE PITS DAILY HOCKEY WRITER Through two periods of the an- nual Blue-White game Friday night, it looked like just another intra-squad scrimmage. Then came the third pe- riod. Two lackluster stanzas of hockey Shielding the goal from enemy attack By MICHAEL ROSENBERG DAILY HOCKEY WRITER When the Michigan hockey team is in heated battle, it needs certain things to ensure success. The Wolverines need scoring from the big guns. They need checking from the enforcers. But most of all, the Wolverines need their Shields. Goalie is the most important position on any hockey team, and nowhere is this more evident than at Michigan, where senior goaltender Senior goalie Steve Shields provides the last line of defense for Michigan hockey Shields held eventual national champion Maine to three goals in regulation before a freak goal in overtime gave the victory to the Black Bears. Maine came into the contest averaging nearly six-and-a- half goals per game. Shields is only five victories away from tying the NCAA record for career wins by a goalie. With his fourth straight 20-win season a virtual certainty, Shields will shatter the current mark of 88. Much of the credit for Shields's a mamme