Football vs. Ohio State Saturday, 12 p.m. (ABC) Michigan Stadium S TS Basketball vs. Croatia Zrinjevac Club Tonight, 7 p.m. Crisler Arena M' men's .volleyball defeats Buckeyes By MELINDA ROCO FOR THE DAILY The Michigan men's volleyball *team had a change of plans Saturday when they met Ohio State in Perrysburg, Ohio. The Wolverines had planned on running athree-niddle offense against the Buckeyes, but coach Pam Griffin said she decided to stick with the original two-middle lineup. "The team didn't feel completely comfortable with the new offense," ,Griffin said. "The match against Michigan State last weekend also took a lot out of them. We just didn't want to forgo a victory against Ohio State by trying something new." The decision worked to Michigan's advantage as the Wolver- ines defeated the Buckeyes,15-11, 4- 15, 16-14, 15-11. 'We started out strong, and we won because it was a full team effort.' -Stan Lee Michigan junior Ohio State, who finished first at the preseason Big Ten Invitational in Columbus, also had its own change of ' ltans. The Buckeyes were without two starting hitters and tried three' different lineups during the match. "We had expected to see a differ- ent OSU team," junior Stan Lee said. "They weren't able to pull themselves together. We started out strong, and we won because it was a full team effort." Lee and middle hitters Andy Spitser and Brad Yeager closed in for We double blocks to dominate the fIrst game of the match. The Wolver- ines fell in the second game after a streak of missed serves and a lack of communication, but junior Chad Engel took control in the final two games with his serving and passing prowess to help Michigan clinch the win. Griffin said she was pleased with e emotional stamina of the team. "We saw a big improvement in our mental game," Griffin said. "Both clubs are power-hitting teams, and it was a long match of continual sideouts. Though we weren't physi- cally playing at our highest level, we were able to keep our heads in the game and come up with the win." "Last year, whenever we struck out in one game, we struck out for the est of the match," Lee said. "Now, even if we fall behind or lose badly, we come out to play the next game with more intensity than before." The Wolverines have a three week hiatus before they play at the Tri- State Invitational on Dec. 5. Griffin said the team will continue to work with the three-middle offense. "We have a lot of time to develop e new offense," Griffin said. "Our fense and passing are really com- ing together, and if the passes are there, then we have the potential to bring up our level of attacks." Moeller jubilant after win Coach entertains as Ohio State hype begins to build By ANDY DE KORTE DAILY FOOTBALL WRITER What a difference a week makes. A week that included a58-7 blow- out of Minnesota, no major injuries during the game and Ohio State com- ing to town transformed Michigan football coach Gary Moeller into an entertainer at his weekly press con- ference. He normally recounts the previous game thoroughly with little excitement. Yesterday, he smiled as much as his co-captain Buster Stanley, a de- fensive lineman known for display- ing his teeth like he is in a Colgate commercial, and spoke with anima- tion usually associated with coaches like Florida State's Bobby Bowden and Minnesota's Jim Wacker. For example, Moeller is oftenasked to rank Michigan's rivals - Notre Dame, Michigan State and Ohio State -in order of importance. While he repeated his standard answer, "We have to win against Michigan State because we have to live with them and recruit i. close proximity with them," his clever re- tort to an Ohio State reporter belied his belief that Ohio State is a bigger rivalry. After Moeller said his line and was told "that's not what (former Michigan coach) Bo (Schembechler) says. Moeller replied, "Yeah, I know but he said the same thing when he, was here." Moeller sounded like Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz when he asked about Michigan being an early one-point favorite in Saturday's game against Ohio State. "I just can't believe it," Moeller said. "I don't know how you make money doing that. I don't how you gamble, so maybe I'm ignorant that way. "There must be a trick to it. I mean they're No. 5 and we dropped out of the Top 25. If you asked anybody _ outside of a few people in Las Vegas --they would all say we're the under- dog." Despite being more engaging than usual, he did not give up all his cli- ches. "I'm worried about our ability to rush, and our ability to stop the rush," Moellersaid. "I think those two things will be the key to the game." Although Moeller did not want to talk about postseason implications his players admitted the importance of going to a good bowl game. "There's no question we're using (the Hall of Fame Bowl) as motiva- tion," senior center Marc Milia said. "We want to play in a New Year's Day Bowl game, but beating Ohio State is more important. We knew if we lost to Minnesota we'd be playing in a secondhand bowl." Milia agreed with his coach re- garding being the favorite this week- end. "I'dratherbe the underdog," Milia said. "Then you have nothing to lose." Tyrone Wheatley had the most plausible explanation for the Wolver- ines being the favorite in Saturday's game. "It happens all the time," Wheatley said. "We're Michigan." INJURY UPDATE: Two days after the game, Wheatley's return from in- jury did not appear to be too soon. "Physically, I feel fine," Wheatley. said yesterday. "They tried to dis- mantle me (in reference to a flagrant. face-masking incident) but I'm OK." Wheatley's face had a scratch on his right cheek near his nose and the inside of his mouth had cuts asaresult of the facemask penalty by Minne- sota cornerback Juan Hunter. Steve Morrison is again question- able for Saturday's game. As Moeller pointed out, because this the last con- test of the season and the final home game for seniors, some people may be playing who might sit out another week if there were more games. In addition to Morrison, defen- sive linemen Trent Zenkewicz and Ninef Aghakhan and linebacker Trevor Pryce all fit into this cat- egory. TV TnM: Saturday's classic will be broadcast by ABC starting at noon. EVAN PETRIE/Daily Clarence Thompson intercepts a pass in Michigan's 58-7 win over Minnesota.. Cagers tip off season vs. Croatia By TIM RARDIN DAILY BASKETBALL WRITER Having battled one another for the last two weeks in practice, the members of the Michigan basketball team will finally get their first taste of non-practice competition as they host the Croatia Zrinjevac Club at 7:30 p.m. tonight at Crisler Arena. The Croatian team is replacing the Slovenia Select team on the Wolverine ex- hibition schedule. The Slovenia team re- portedly couldn't get out of the country. With the regular-season opener Nov.26 against Georgia Tech lurking in the near future, Michigan coach Steve Fisher will continue his search for the elusive fifth starter to join returnees Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard, Jimmy King and Ray Jackson. At this stage, the race features sopho- mores Dugan Fife and Leon Derricks and freshman Bobby Crawford. "I'd like to have five guys who earned spots and kept them," Fisher said. "I would say that the fifth spot will probably be on a rotating basis because we've not had any- one jump forward and claim it." "Coach Fisher is going to pick who he thinks is the fifth-best player on the team," Crawford said. "Regardless of the position, whoever is the best player is going to be put out there." Those who do end up on the floor for Michigan will be facing a team with players averaging more than 24 years of age. Among that group, head coach Vladimir Vanjak brings with him four players who are at least 6 feet 9 and 220 pounds. That should be a good test for the Wolverines, who feature only 6-9, 250-pound Juwan Howard and 6-9, 215-pound Leon Derricks in the size department. As a result, the Wolverines are likely to be experimenting with a more up-tempo style of play to accent their lack of size and abundance of quickness. "I have not historically been a coach that advocates 40 minutes of up-and-down full court pressure," Fisher said. "I think we'll adjust to some degree. You'll probably see us run a little more." Coach Vanjak, who is also an assistant for the Croatian National team, boasts an impressive resumd himself. Last year, he coached three-time European club cham- pion SlobodnaDalmacija. CurrentZrinjevac members Josip Lovric and Damir Tvrdic were also members of that team. After its game with Michigan, the Zrinjevac team, named for its general spon- sor Zrinjevac, a horticultural company from Zagreb, will play Michigan State, Indiana, Bowling Green, Purdue, Dayton and Ohio State in the next week. MICHELLE GUY/Gaily Jalen Rose and the Wolverines open their preseason tonight. Women's swimming beats Golden Gophers, 172-125, to remain undefeated By MELANIE SCH UMAN DAILY SPORTS WRITER If you visited Canham Natatorium last Saturday, you never would have guessed that those were a bunch of tired and sore women diving into the pool. If you missed the events last weekend, rest assured, you'll hear about these hard workers for months to come. The exhausted Michigan women's swimming and diving teams emerged victorious in their first home meet this season. Continuing its domination of Big Ten rivals, Michigan (3-0 overall) defeated Minnesota (1-1), 172-125, andwillbe swimming again this week- end still undefeated. "We've had two weeks of really hard training and everyone was really tired," co-captain Stephanie Munson said. "That'show you get better for the end of the season. If you know you can get through it now in the tough part of the season, it makes it easier in February and March." Michigan swimmers won 11 of their 19 races and sophomore Carrie Zarse won both of the diving matchups. Although the overall score was inclusive of both swimming and div- ing teams, this is not always the case. "As a whole, we did really well," Zarse said. "We start off slow in the fall. It's definitely mostly training right now. We don't work on specif- ics (in diving). We just work on learn- ing new things." Freshman Anne Kampfe contin- ued her winning ways as the former high school All-American won all three races she swam. "We have more depth as a team than (Minnesota) does in a lot of events," Kampfe said. "They came in excited to swim, and although they have really good diving (No. 2 in the Big Ten), we're just a step ahead of them." Of her performance, Kampfenoted that although she was pleased to be swimming this fast at this point in the season, both of her times were slower than she would have liked. During this rigorous training period for the Wolverines, Kampfe does not feel the coaches have put pressure on her due to her past success. "I don't feel anyone at Michigan puts pressure on me here at Michi- gan," she said. "Ifanyone did, it would be me. The coaches always just say, 'Go out and do the best you can."' Swimming coach Jim Richardson was away this past weekend recruit- ing for next year, because this is the only week for early signing. Already, two perspectives have signed for next fall. Munson said that Richardson would be pleased with the results. "It's not much of a problem (to swim without him)," she said. "The juniors and seniors have swum these races for three or four years. It's kind of like second nature to swim them." U U r Are you ready... e' to select a new set of classes? to fill out your Election Worksheet? to CRISP? I Want a refresher... on filling out Election Worksheets? on reading the Time Schedule? on the art of CRISPing? L~ Bring in ten (or more) cans of 337 East LibertyS food to participating Kaplan Ann Arbor,MI 4 Centers and save on the world's best test preparation. 220 MAC. 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