Women's Swimming
NCAA Championshps
Today, all day
Indianapolis

S

RTS

Men's Basketball
vs. Pepperdine
Tonight, 8:08 p.m. (CBS)
Wichita, Kan.

March Madness underway
eBlue takes on veteran Pepperdine squad in opener

By RACHEL BACHMAN
DAILY BASKETBALL WRITER
Pepperdine - a school where sun-
burn is more common than a cold -
meets Michigan, a school suffering
under manic-depressive weather, to-
night in the opening round of the 1994
NCAA Tournament.
At 8:08 p.m. EST, their two basket-
ball teams will collide at the Kansas
Coliseum in Wichita like a Pacific Coast
wind and an Arctic clipper. Like their
respective climates, the teams are a
study in contrasts.
Michigan is a No. 3 seed and the
second-place team in the Big Ten, a
conference that sent seven teams to the
tournament. Pepperdine is a No. 14
seed and the West Coast Conference
*tournament champion.
The Wolverines (13-5 Big Ten, 21-
7) lost three of their last four games; the
Waves (8-6 WCC, 19-10 overall), on
the other hand, ended the regular season
with a seven-game winning streak.
"A month ago, I would've thought
we'd be having our team meetings and
putting away our uniforms now,"
Pepperdine coach Tom Asbury said.
*"Seven games ago, we got on a roll."
Both teams have had tournament
experience. Pepperdine secured a berth
in the 1991 and 1992 NCAA tourna-
ments, and advanced to the National
Invitational Tournament's second round
last year. But the Waves possess a
postseason record of just 4-11, com-
pared to Michigan's 37-15 overall tally.
The Wolverines have advanced to
the final game the past two seasons, and

garnered the national championship five
years ago. Pepperdine's greatest post-
season claim-to-fame was a 69-67
double-overtime loss in 1983 to even-
tual champion North Carolina State.
Since both teams have had recent
tournament experience, they each pin
their survival hopes on veteran players.
"This is pretty much a senior-domi-
nated team," Asbury said.
Headlining the Waves' starting
lineup, which includes four seniors,
is forward Dana Jones, 1994 WCC
Tournament Most Valuable Player.
Jones, also a senior, averages 18.5
points and 9.9 rebounds per game,
both team highs.
Jones, who Asbury says is "argu-
ably the best player who's ever played
at Pepperdine" (a group that includes
former Boston Celtic Dennis Johnson
and current Los Angeles Laker Doug
Christie) is first on the Waves' all-time
lists in rebounding, blocked shots and
steals. He's also No. 2 in scoring.
"They've got the MVP of the
league," Michigan coach Steve Fisher
said of Jones. "He's a terrific athlete
and he can score in a variety of ways."
Senior Damin Lopez, a 14.5-ppg
performer, should also concern the
Wolverines. Asbury feels the 5-foot-9
guard, generously listed at 150 pounds,
maximizes his physical attributes.
"We like to say he's the best college
basketball player, pound-for-pound,"
said Asbury, who estimates Lopez's
weight as 135. "He just doesn't have
enough pounds."
This year, Lopez earned All-WCC

accolades for the first time.
Rounding out the starting five are
junior forward LeRoi O'Brien, 6-foot-
8 senior center Derek Noether and se-
nior guard Brian Parker.
Asbury plans to put Jones on
Michigan's Jalen Rose, as his team will
start out playing man-to-man defense.
However, the coach implied Michigan's
height advantage may force his team
into a zone.
"They've got a lot of size," Asbury
said. "They're a lot bigger across the
board."
Defense, a weak spot in recent
months, is a facet Fisher will reempha-
size for Michigan's first-round matchup
as well.
"We better get better with our de-
fense unless we're going to do like the
old ABA (American Basketball Asso-
ciation) and score 150 points," Fisher
said. "There's a fine line between get-
ting the stop and giving up a basket. It's
the little things that make the differ-
ence."
Although Fisher said this first-
round game, "shouldn't be a prob-
lem," he added, "it can be a prob-
lem." Michigan's March 12 loss to
perennial conference cellar dweller
Northwestern proved that the upset is
alive and well.
While Pepperdine and Michigan
may be opposites, the Waves' coach
still has a few advantages over the
heavily-favored Wolverines.
"Fisher may have a great team,"
Asbury said, "but I definitely have a
better view from my office."

j

Michigan's
Wolverines

Leon Derricks attempts a jumper over Penn State's Matt Gaudio last week. Derricks and the rest of the
begin play in the NCAA tournament against Pepperdine tonight at the Kansas Coliseum in Wichita.


The
Victors'
Run

I

Ailing women swimmers head to NCAAs

1o many Michigan tans, the 1989 NCAA men
basketball tournament may seem like just
yesterday. However, five years have passed
since the Wolverines captured their first and
only national title. Throughout this year's
tournament, the Daily will remember events
leading up to the 1989 championship game.

MARCH 17, 1989: M
Under interim head coach Steve Fisher, the
third-seeded Wolverines defeated No. 14
Xavier, 92-87, for an opening-round victory in the Southeast
bracket in Atlanta. Rumeal Robinson led the way for Michi-
gan, hitting for 23 points.
However, the story of the day was Fisher, who came away
with a win in his first game as a college head coach.
Following the team's pregame warmup, Fisher walked off the
Omni Arena court and could not find the lockerroom.
"I was scared to death prior to walking on the floor," Fisher
said. "After the ball was thrown up, I tried to settle into
business as usual."
Five wres ers bid for
*aioa titles ,a o in N.C.
By HEATHER WINDT
FOR THE DAILY
After a disappointing dual meet season and a fourth-place finish at the Big Ten
meet, the Michigan wrestling team has a chance to redeem itself.
The Wolverines begin competition today at the NCAA Wrestling Champion-
ships in Chapel Hill, N.C., with hopes of improving their 11th-place finish at the
same meet a year ago.
The Wolverines have five wrestlers who will compete in the event, which is
held in the Dean Smith Center. Seniors Brian Harper, Sean Bormet and Steve
,,ing, along with junior Chad Biggert and sophomore Jesse Rawls, Jr. will all
compete with hopes of winning individual national titles.
Bormet is ranked second in the 158-pound class and is coming off a nearly
flawless season with a 29-1 record.
He won his second consecutive title at the Big Ten Championships two weeks
ago. His only loss this season came at the hands of top-ranked and undefeated Pat
Smith of Oklahoma State. Michigan assistant coach Kirk Trost believes Bormet
can beat Smith and win the championship this weekend.
"Sean needs to stay confident and go out there and wrestle a good match,"
Trost said. "It wouldn't be an upset if he were to beat Smith."
King is ranked fifth in the heavyweight division, and Harper is ranked No. 8
t 150 pounds. King finished fourth at Big Tens, and is just four wins shy of the
century mark.
Harper, who did achieve the 100-win mark this season, also managed a fourth-
place effort at the Big Ten championships.
"I have high expectations for King and Harper," Trost said. "They are both
looking forward to this weekend and are going to give it their best effort."
Rawls is also expected to be a force to be reckoned with this weekend. He took
See WRESTLING, Page 8

By MARC DILLER
DAILY SPORTS WRITER
March seems to be the culmina-
tion of all the collegiate winter sports.
It is the month of madness in the
NCAA and that doesn't just refer to
men's basketball.
Eight separate sports are simulta-
neously enduring their annual tourna-
ments to crown new national champi-
ons. Among the sports enjoying the
month of champions is women's
swimming and diving, which will
crown its 1994 national champion
this weekend at the NCAA National
Championships in Indianapolis.
Eleven of the 36 members on the
Michigan squad will represent the
Wolverines when the national pow-
ers collide in Indiana.
Coming off of last year's impres-
sive fifth-place finish, Michigan will
be hard- pressed to equal that mark.
Even though the team is currently
ranked fourth in the nation, the Wol-
verines have been plagued by illnesses
all season long, and enter the meet a
bit worn down.
Last year's NCAA Swimmer of
the Year and two-time national cham-
pion, junior Lara Hooiveld, can only
compete in the 100-yard breaststroke
due to her ongoing battle with the flu.
"I think she's fortunate to have
made it to the meet considering all the
problems she's had this year," Michi-
gan coach Jim Richardson said.
Junior Alecia Humphrey, two-
time Big Ten Swimmer of the Year
and last year's fourth-place finisher
in both the 100 and 200 backstroke,

has also been battling sicknesses off
and on over the course of the season.
The latest of the illnesses came
last week when she encountered a
stomach virus and was forced to miss
Wednesday's practice. However,
Humphrey should compete in all her
respective events.
Having lost a few key scorers to
graduation - Mindy Gehrs, 1993 na-
tional champion in the 400 individual
medley, and Kirsten Silvester, who was
an important part of the Wolverines'
relay teams-as well as Hooiveld in all
but one race, the team will look to
rebound with its four freshmen.
"The freshmen can more than com-
pensate for what I did last year,"
Hooiveld said.
The first-year swimmers travel-
ling with the team this weekend are
breaststroker Rachel Gustin, indi-
vidual medley members Anne Kampfe
and Jodi Navta and sprinter Melisa
Stone.
"We're going to have to do the
same thing that we've done all year,"
Kampfe said. "I think we've done a
good job stepping it up in every meet
we've gone to."
Michigan's strengths in the meet
include the 200 IM, in which it will
have four swimmers competing. The
Wolverines also have three swim-
mers in the 100 and 200 backstroke
- Humphrey, Beth Jackson and Jen-
nifer Almeida - who are all capable
of finishing in the top 15 for the event.
At Big Tens, the trio swept the 200
and had a strong 1-2-4 finish in the 100.
See SWIMMING, Page 8


The Michigan swimming and diving team heads to the NCAAs starting today.

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