14 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, September 23, 1994 Women netters open fall season in Carolina Hoops 0 By MICHAEL JOSHUA For The Daily Anyone for tennis this weekend? Those of you diehard football fans probably are not. But those teams at the North Carolina State Wolfpack Classic better be ready. The Michigan women's tennis team, which finished last season ranked 25th in the nation, is coming and it is bringing an abundance of firepower. With seven returnees from last year's squad, the team is aiming its sights on the title. Guided by the 1993-94 Big Ten and Midwest Region Coach of the Year, Bitsy Ritt, the Wolverines hope to improve on their second- place finish in the conference. The team went 9-1 in league play and finished with an overall record of 17-7. The Wolverines' first test be- gins at the Classic. The eight-team tournament includes national pow- ers Duke and Wake Forest, who finished sixth and 14th, respectively, last year. Leading the Wolverines are se- niors Liz Cyganiak, Jaimie Fielding and Simone Lacher, the team's can- tains. "This class has been such a solid group that has contributed to our program on and off the court," Ritt said. They haven't been the only ones, however. Juniors Angie Popek and Tara Graff combined to win 25 of 32 singles matches last year. "She (Popek) improved quite a bit last year and I think she is going to just keep getting better," Ritt said. "Tara has an impressive all-court game and has played well for us." After a rookie year in which each was selected to the All-Big Ten team, Bojana Jankovic and Sarah Cyganiak return for their sophomore years. "Both Sarah and Bojana stepped in and performed very well," Ritt said. "The important thing for them now is where they go from here." Sarah was also selected the Big Ten and Midwest Region Rookie of the Year, and is the current U.S. Amateur champion. The lone freshman on this year's team is Sora Moon, winner of the prep individual state championship in Ohio. She also helped her Centerville High School squad win four straight team championships. "Sora is an experienced junior player who is very consistent and doesn't beat herself," Ritt said. "Everyone on our roster has to -contribute and if we get that, who knows what we can accomplish. Last year was fun. This year we are chal- lenging ourselves to be better and take our program to an even higher level ." In the tournament's singles bracket, Sarah Cyganiak is playing in the No. 1 position, followed by Popek, Jankovic, Liz Cyganiak, Fielding, Graff, Lacher and Moon, in that or- der. The No. 1 seeds play the twos, the threes play the fours, and so forth. Unlike most tournaments, everyone plays every round. In the doubles slot, Popek and Jankovic are teaming up at No. 1, the Cyganiak sisters at No. 2, Fielding and Lacher at No. 3, and Graff and Moon round it out at No. 4. "We want to do the best we can at every position," Fielding said. "We are very strong at every level." First things first. The Wolfpack Classic is today and lasts till Sunday in Raleigh, N.C. package weak, too expensive A n annual event takes place this Sunday at Crisler Arena. Students will flock from all over campus to Crisler for the opportunity to lay down big money for basketball season tickets. What you will be getting, though, is neither the whole season package nor the whole story from the Michigan ticket department. The ticket office has once again split the season into two packages, enabling up to 6200 students to get tickets. This year's ANTOINE PITTS tickets cost $80 Pitts Stop for the 11 games - up from the $88 for 14 games of a RE ST AU RA NI 9;OPPORTS SAW EVE K1 CRY SATURDAY JONATHAN LURIE/Daily It will cost you more to see Jimmy King & Co. this season. Crnd scountry lokto defend title inMontana nd ab ggsa d toast )rotaun eat!. 1220 S. University 666-7777 By DAN MCKENZIE Daily Sports Writer There is one big drawback to be- ing the best in your field. You're everyone else's enemy. Heading into the Mountain Clas- sic West, the No.5 Michigan women's cross country team knows this all too well. It will be the top-ranked team and the defending champions at the meet, which also features sixth-ranked Brigham Young and No. I1 Oregon. The meet, which will be hosted by the University of Montana, features an unusual course. Not only is it six kilometers, as opposed to the usual five, but the runners will be forced to jump over logs at various points along the course. Add in the high altitude and the course's rolling hills, and you have the makings of a very difficult race. "The high altitude does make it harder to breathe," senior Karen Harvey said, "but I don't think the conditions of this course give any of the teams an advantage." "The barriers aren't super high," coach Mike McGuire added. "The problem that they present is that when you're running in and out of a rhythm, they can break that rhythm." One unexpected problem that the Wolverines have to face is trying to overcome the loss of junior All- American Courtney Babcock, who is out with a knee injury. "We're not as strong a team with- out her," McGuire said, "but I think we've got some very capable people going to this meet. "Karen (Harvey) has been run- ning very well in practice. I also ex- pect Deanna Arnill and Eileen Fleck to contribute significantly, even though they're only freshmen." Joining Harvey, Arnill and Fleck on the trip to Montana will be juniors Molly Lori and Heather Grigg and sophomores Emily Shively and Tanya Manson. "Molly, Karen and Heather alt'ran this race last year," McGuire said, "so they're familiar with the course." Besides BYU and Oregon, the Wolverines will face 17 other teams from around the nation, including Big Ten foe Minnesota. "The further we get along in the season, the more important it is that we beat teams from outside of our region," McGuire said. 'Our strategy for this meet is hold back a little bit near the beginning.' - Karen Harvey Michigan runner The reason for this has to do with the formula the NCAA uses to de- termine which teams will compete in the national tournament. In this formula, 16 of the 22 bids are auto- matic. Which teams qualify for the remaining six will be determined by how each did against teams outside of their region. "Both Oregon and BYU are out- side of our region," McGuire said, "so obviously, if we can beat them, that's a feather in our cap." "Our strategy for this meet is hold back a little bit near the beginning," Harvey said. "That way we can get our momentum going because the middle of the course is really hard." year ago. In years past approximately 4,000 students purchased tickets, leaving only 1,000 or so students with split packages. This year, however, it isn't a matter of what you get in that package but a matter of what you don't get. Not included in either package this year are Big Ten games against Indiana, Illinois and Purdue and a non-conference contest with Jackson State. The ticket office blames the conference for scheduling these games on dates when the University is officially on break. However, the ticket office took its own initiative in making the Illinois and Purdue games unavailable on the student package. Those games fall on dates just before classes resume. For instance, the Purdue game is slated for Jan. 3 -just before winter term begins. Illinois, scheduled for Feb. 26, comes to Ann Arbor the last day of spring break. The ticket office claims students will not be in town on the day before classes begin, thus those games should not be given to students. "The decision was made to not include those games in the student ticket package," assistant ticket manager Jan Pearen said. "We didn't feel there would be students at those games." The real issue here is finances. By taking away those tickets from students and offering them to the general public, the athletic department grosses substantially more money than if it sold seats to students. The department stands to make nearly $30,000 more per game when it sells what used to be student tickets to the general public. The ticket package also includes exhibition games against perennial powerhouses High Five America and the Polish National Team. Taking a cue from the NFL, Michigan will charge full price for those preseason contests. Students will have an opportunity to buy those four games that are not included in the package. There is a catch, though. You can purchase those tickets only in a four-game package for $65. So, you could potentially walk out of Crisler Arena Sunday after spending $145 for 15 games when 14 games cost you $88 the year before. The ticket office is essentially scalping your student tickets - normally $7 per game back to you for a whopping $16.25 per game. This includes the contests against Indiana, Illinois, Purdue and Jackson State. This is not a discouragement from buying tickets this weekend. It is just a warning: hold on to your wallets as you enter Crisler. The athletic department is after them. y ~ Da "iol 5 Sportsf s 0 SEASON TICKETS: $80 -Student ticket will not include games vs. Jackson State (Dec. 22), Purdue (Jan. 3), Indiana (Feb. 19) and Illinois (Feb. 26) due to University break periods. A $65, four game, blue section package will be offered in addition to the student season tickeL. - Make checks payable to Michigan Ticket Department. * Credit cards will not be accepted for season ticket paymnt. 3,100 TICKETS AVAILABLE - If more than 3,100 applications are received on the first day of the sale, split season tickets will be issued according to the chart below. * Only those individuals applying together will be guaranteed the same split season ticket package. - Recipients of full season tickets will be determined by the number of consecutive years of purchase. - If all tickets are not sold on the first day of the sale, basketball tickets will continue to he sold at the Athletic Ticket Office from 8:00am I