14 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, October 14, 1994 Volleyball prepares for conference foes Women host Golden Gophers, Hawkeyes after loss to No. 11 Notre Dame By DAVID ROTHBART sophomore Shareen Luze. She killed prospects at setter, and sophomore Saturday night, Michigan takes Daily Sports Writer eight balls on 11 chances, hitting for outside hitter Katrien DeDecker, who on Iowa, a surprise contender in the 2L -Irac l ' R r ! - 4r_ 1n . A spark. The Michigan women's volley- ball team needs one so badly, it may start scraping steel and flint together. The Wolverines are down, fol- lowing a disheartening three-game sweep by No. 11 Notre Dame Tues- day night. The team hopes to bounce back this weekend in matches against Minnesota and Iowa. Michigan (1-5 Big Ten, 5-12over- all) came out focused against the Irish. The first game was close, but the Fighting Irish's experience and steadi- nrss helped them to a 15-8 victory. Passing errors hurt the Wolverines in thee second game as Notre Dame romped 15-1. "They blew our butts out of the water," coach Greg Giovanazzi said. Giovanazzi was pleased with the play of his team in the third game, however, The Wolverines stormed out to a 12-7 lead behind the play of a phenomenai .636 average in the match. Notre Dame brought topspin spe- cialist Nicole Coates in to serve and the Irish rallied to win, 15-13. Giovanazzi said his team has had pre- vious chances to win third games, but has been unable to convert. "We've played well in spurts, but we need to play more consistently," Giovanazzi said. "At a couple of moments (against Notre Dame), we played as well as we've played all season. We need to keep ourselves up at that level." Michigan's next challenge is to- night against a tough Minnesota squad that is coming off wins over Iowa and Indiana. The Golden Gophers (3-3, 11-7) were picked in a pre-season coaches' poll to finish third in the conference. They are led by freshman Becky Bauer, one of the nation's top five was last years Btig Tenr reshman or the Year. Giovanazzi said there is no way to shut down DeDecker. "She's a force in this conference," he said. "You can't handle her. You just assume she'll get her kills." Michigan's strategy will be to give DeDecker room and concentrate on containing the rest of Minnesota's "We've played well in spurts, but we need to play more consistently," Greg Giovanazzi volleyball coach team. The Golden Gophers lead the se- ries 22-2, and Michigan has not de- feated them at home since 1991. Big Ten. The Hawkeyes (3-3 Big Ten, 13-5 overall) were picked to finish at the bottom of the conference, but have shown flashes of brilliance this sea- son. They won 12 straight matches in September, including a 3-0 sweep of Illinois in Champaign. Next Wednesday, the Wolverines take on Michigan State. Giovanazzi is optimistic about the upcoming slate. "We'd love to come out 3-0 or 2- 1," he said. "Our rookies have been playing like veterans." Giovanazzi admitted that his team lacks confidence, but compensates with desire. "They're hungry," he said. "They want to win these matches. Once they got on a hot streak, they'll stay hot." All they need is a spark to get them going. It could happen tonight against Minnesota. Or the Wolverines might have to start scrounging around for a lighter. 0.: 0 E:VAN PETHIE/Daily The Michigan women's volleyball team is looking to rebound after its loss to . Notre Dame. The Wolverines take on Minnesota and Iowa this weekend. The 6 1AMES B Rachel FBrett Michael Chad DACHMAN ORREST OSENBERG AFRAN Steve FISHER Penn State at Michigan Ohio State at Michigan State Purdue at Wisconsin Northwestern at Minnesota Iowa at Illinois Auburn at Florida Nebraska at Kansas State Arizona at Washington State Oklahoma at Colorado Alabama at Tennessee Penn State Michigan State Wisconsin Minnesota Illinois Florida Nebraska Washington State Oklahoma Tennessee 73 36-13-1 Michigan Michigan State Wisconsin Minnesota Illinois Florida Nebraska Arizona Colorado Alabama 3-5 33-16-1 Michigan Ohio State Wisconsin Minnesota Illinois Florida Kansas State Arizona Colorado Tennessee 5- 35-14-1 Michigan Michigan State Wisconsin Minnesota Illinois Florida Kansas State Washington State Colorado Alabama Michigan Tie Wisconsin Northwestern Illinois Florida Nebraska Arizona Colorado Tennessee Join us in the front row! Sunday Oct. 16 1dp.m.Raiders vs. Dolphins 4p.m. Eagles vs. Cowboys 49ers vs. Falcons Chargers vs. Saints Last Week Overall 7-3 39-10-1 Each week, we will have a different guest selector. This week's guest is Michigan men's basketball coach Steve Fisher. FIELD HOCKEY Continued from page 13 playing our game," Koreishi said. "But we're going to have to score a lot more (this time)." Michigan also hopes to refute any doubts that its victory over Penn State was a fluke. The Wolverines' victory was the first in five attempts against the Lions. "We're looking to prove we knew what we were doing (last time)," sophomore midfielder Michelle Smulders said. The weekend of Sep. 21-23, the Wolverines hoped to start their Big Ten season off on the right foot, going against conference foes Northwest- ern and Iowa on the road. Michigan lost both games, scor- ing only one goal in the process, and came back worn and weary, losing to Ohio State five days later. The Wol- verines are hoping for a different out- come this time around. "It's important to remember the lessons we learned, but we have to move on and learn from our mis- takes," Smulders said. IF YOUDONT CARE D'O DOiE :_ 4