8 - The Michigan Daily SPORTSMonday - Monday, October 3, 1994 Women spike Boilermakers after losing to lini By RODERICK BEARD Daily Sports Writer When ababy learns to walk, its first steps are critical. If the child stumbles, it has to stand up and try again, if it is ever to walk. The Michigan women's volleyball team may have taken those first few steps in the long journey to success in the Big Ten this weekend. The Wolverines (1-3 Big Ten, 5-9 overall) struggled at times and showed promise atothers, as they splitapairof home matches. Michigan dropped the first match Friday against Illinois, 15- 7, 15-9, 15-13. However, the Wolverines bounced back Saturday to end their three-match losing streak with a victory over Pur- due, 15-9, 15-7, 11-15, 15-6. "We need a consistent effort out there," Michigan coach Greg Giovanazzi said. "We're talented but we can't sustain that level of play." An oversized, quick Fighting Illini squad jumped out to an early lead in every game against Michigan. In the first game, Illinois (2-1, 10-5) capital- ized on several Wolverine errors and started out 10-4, allowing Michigan only three more points before closing it out. Game two featured more errors and longerrallies, as theillini got out to another 10-4 lead and coasted to a 15- 9 victory. "Our confidence level took a beat- ing in game one," sophomore Colleen Miniuk said. "It hurts when you're working hard and things don't go your way." Giovanazzi said that the Wolver- ines were immature as athletes, be- cause they could not forget about past points. "You can see the effect of losing long rallies," he said. "We're still bat- tling the demons of past points." The third game was the most excit- ing, as Illinois took advantage of the nervous Wolverines once more and darted out to a 10-2 lead, and to an apparently easy victory. Then, Michi- gan strung together a series of kills by outside hitters Miniuk and Kristin Ruschiensky to bring the score to 11-6. Two Illini hitting errors, a Miniuk ace and a mishandled block tied the score IT'S MIDNIGHT MADNESS AT TOWER! g ~Hear ther New Release in its' entirety only at Tower Records tonight, October 3, at 11:00 p.m.! kThen pick up 0 THE CRANBERRIES "NO NEED TO ARGUE" NO NEED TO ARGUE on sale at midnight and THE NEW ALBUM FEATURING "ZOMBIE" AND ODE TO MY FAMILY enter.for a chance to the cranberries win a limited edition k bo e, rCranberries T-shirt! Details at Tower. PE E OPEN 9AM TO MIDNIGHT EVERYDAY! " MAIL ORDER: 1-800-648-4844 (9AM-9PM E.S.T.) SALE ENDS1 at 12. The Wol verines added another point to take a 13-12lead, but couldn't hold it, as Illinois pulled out game three, averting a miraculous Michigan comeback. "We're fortunate to win here," Illi- nois coach Mike Hebert said. "It's not easy to win on the road in theBig Ten." Outside hitters Erin Borske, Amy Brickley and Julie Edwards led the Illini attack. Borske, a freshman, tied with Edwards for the lead in kills with 15; Edwards contributed 14 kills and a match-high 16 digs. Saturday's match with Purdue (0- 4, 2-11) promised to give either team its first conference win of the season. The Boilermakers were coming off a loss to Michigan State Friday, and the Wolverines were looking for someone to step up on the court. Michigan played well in the third game of the Illinois match, and Giovanazzi decided to reward the play- ers in that game with starting positions, putting senior Aimee Smith and fresh- man Linnea Mendoza into the lineup. That chemi stry proved effective, as the Wolverines started out well in the first two games against the Boilermak- ers, hustling for loose balls and playing with the intensity and focus that would've helped against the Illini. Michigan took advantage of sev- eral Purdue errors to easily win the first two games. Then, the Boilermakers jumped out to a lead and took the third game. The match seemed in limbo at 4- 4 in game four, until middle blocker Sarah Jackson entered the match. Jackson made her presence known with a kill and block. Later in the game, she contributed another kill and block. By the time the smoke cleared, the Wolverines were ahead 10-4 and well on their way to victory. "Sarah came in with a spark," Giovanazzi said. "To have a sub come in with that kind of impact is good." The change in the starting lineup added Smith's experience and consis- tency and was a key to victory. "All of heraskills are solid and it gives up stability,"Giovanazzi said. "It gives us someone to depend on out there," Miniuk added. Playing well against Illinois and beating Purdue are definite first steps to finishing well in the conference, but the Wolverines have more steps to take before they can walk with the elite of the Big Ten. They won't have too much time to learn. They face three nationally- ranked teams in the next eight days: Ohio State, Penn State and Notre Dame. 0 0 KHIS EN SCHAEFEH/Daily Michigan's Suzy O'Donnell sends one over the net this weekend. VOLLEYBALL NOTEBOOK: House not full for Promotion By RODERICK BEARD Daily Sports Writer 0 Friday night's match featured contests and giveaways, as Michigan pre- sented its "Rock the House III" promotion. The evening featured free T-shirts for the first 1,000 fans, football ticket, compact disd giveaways, a $1,000 Dash for Cash and two round-trip tickets on Southwest Airlines. "Rock the House" packed Cliff Keen Arena with 5,000 total fans combined the first two years, but only 1,612 showed up this year. "It was an awesome crowd," Michigan coach Greg Giovanazzi said. "It was the highlight of the match." UNLUCKY COLOR: The Wolverines donned yellow jerseys for the first time everin the Illinois match. Obviously, they didn't work, becausetheFighting Illini won the first two games handily. Michigan changed into white uniforms before the third game, and came back from a 10-2 deficit to lead 13-12, before losing, 13-15. "It was a superstition to fire them up," Giovanazzi said. "We'll definitely be in white (against Purdue)." The whitejerseys must have been the key, because the Wolverines wore them Saturday night and beat the Boilermakers in four games. MINIUK MENACE: Sophomore outside hitter Colleen Miniuk, who transferred from Stanford, totaled a team-high 25 kills and added 26 digs and two service aces for the Wolverines this weekend. She leads the team with a 3.60 kill average. "(She) will be a pain (to defend) for the next three years, just like (junior Shannon) Brownlee," Illinois coach Mike Hebert said. FEELING THE 'RUsH': Battling injuries for the past six months, sophomore outside hitter Kristin Ruschiensky made a successful return this weekend with her first career start against Purdue. She responded with 16 kills, 20 digs and a team-high five service aces in two matches. She set career highs with 14 kills, 16 digs and five service aces in the Purdue match. INTRAMURAL SPORTS 4 9 PROGRAM 0l FUN! UPCOMING ACTIVITIES GOLF Entry Deadline: Thurs 10/6 4:30pm IMSB Main Office (Two person Entry Fee: $10.00 per team (excluding Course Fee) Scramble) Tee Times: 9:00am - 3:00pm Tournament Date: Sunday 10/9 at U of M Golf Course FLAG Entries Taken: Mon 10/10 - Thurs 10/13 11am-4:30pm FOOTBALL Entry Fee: $35.00 per team (Pre-Season) Manager's Meeting (Mandatory): Thurs 10113 6pm IMSB Tournament Dates: Fri 10/14 & Sun 10/16 at Mitchell Flds TRACK & Entry Deadline: Mon 10/17 4:30pm IMSB Main Office FIELD MEET Entry Fee: $5 for individuals/$35 per team Manager's Meeting (Mandatory): Mon 10/17 7pm IMSB Meet Location: U of M Varsity Track beginning at 4:45pm FLAG Instant Scheduling: Mon 10/17 11am - 5:30pm IMSB FOOTBALL Entry Fee: $59.00 per team (Regular Manager's Meeting (Mandatory): Mon 10/17 6pm/9pm Season) Play Begins: Wednesday 10/19 at Mitchell Field (Fuller Rd) The entry deadline for the CROSS COUNTRY RUN is Monday November 7 while WRESTLING entries are due Thursday November 10. 21 p ~_x ~4 mLm Ik 3 i ! ., ; ; Y w, .'' l $x: S ' .. omm WEENSFAIMEM 0 6 0 ~S£O R TWNCRU~t JOEL -..dffim AMIL v _4 E I _____I