The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - Monday, October 31, 1994 - 3
.Women's volleyball losing
streak reaches nine games
By RODERICK BEARD
Daily Sports Writer
If it is true that finders are keepers
and losers are weepers, the Michigan
women's volleyball team may be both
,nders and losers. The Wolverines
ay have found something that they
have desperately needed in the midst
of a long losing streak.
No, Michigan did not win either of
its road matches this weekend. But
the Wolverines did find leadership in
the form of senior outside hitter Aimee
Smith.
Michigan (1-11 Big Ten, 5-18
overall) stretched its losing skid to
ine matches with a disappointing
15-5, 4-15, 15-13, 8-15, 15-9 loss to
Purdue Friday and a 15-13, 15-4, 13-
15, 15-4 defeat at Illinois Saturday.
"This is the highest level of vol-
leyball in quite awhile," Michigan
coach Greg Giovanazzi said.
The Boilermakers (3-8, 5-15)
avenged their loss to the Wolverines
earlier this season with a thrilling
ive-game win. Purdue found an an-
swer to each of Michigan's come-
backs. After the Boilermakers won
the first game, the Wolverines battled
back to win game two, allowing only
four points. In the third game, Michi-
gan continued its momentum, racing
to a 13-4 advantage, but its offense
stalled. The Wolverines could not
manage another point in the game,
and Purdue stormed back with 11
,oints and a victory in game three.
Michigan had an 8-1 lead in the
fourth game, and again allowed the
Boilermakers to battle back. The
Wolverines did not fold as they did in
the previous game and forced a decid-
ing fifth game. Purdue jumped out to
an early lead and never let Michigan
back into the match.
"This is a match we should have
won, that's for sure," Giovanazzi said.
"We had our best hitting match in
weeks and dominated in games two,
three and four. We just have a huge
problem in finishing games."
Smith led the Wolverine attack
with 17 kills and 25 digs. Redshirt
freshman Darlene Recker added 16
kills and a .333 hitting efficiency,
contributing to Michigan's improved
.220 team percentage for the match.
Smith and Recker saw a lot of action
at outside hitter, due to the injuries to
Colleen Miniuk and Kristin
Ruschiensky.
Smith, one of two seniors on the
team, posted good offensive numbers
and provided leadership that the team
was lacking. The team captain is play-
ing, despite a knee injury that has kept
her out of many matches this season.
She said she will finish her senior
season and have surgery on the knee, but
will play through the injury until then.
"(Aimee) is unbelievably valu-
able," Giovanazzi said. "She plays
the whole game well."
Saturday's match at Illinois was
an improvement for the Wolverines.
The Illini swept Michigan in three
games in September, but this match
was much closer. The Wolverines
scored 13 points in the first game and
won game three 15-13, but finally
succumbed in a long fourth game.
Michigan could not stop the Illi-
nois threesome of Erin Borske, Julie
Edwards and Amy Brickley. Borske
boomed 25 kills and a .429 percent-
age; Edwards and Brickley each con-
tributed 17 kills.
BRETT FORREST
Forrest Fires
IM b roombali? You
really must be joking
ome strange virus plagues the Intramural Sports Department. All sense
is lost. Vision is obscured. These people really must be deranged.
Broomball over hockey?
According to the IM Sports Program, yes, certainly, broomball over hockey.
IM hockey, traditionally played during three separate seasons throughout the
academic year, is being forced out of Yost Ice Arena. Yost, as you may have
heard, is the home of the Michigan hockey team. A varsity broomball squad has
yet to apply for permanent residence to the old field house.
However, the powers that be down at the IM offices deem broomball to be of
a higher consciousness than hockey. What flair. What panache.
"Perhaps we can do something different for a change," one IMer says.
"Yeah, why not? How 'bout we throw away hockey for ... for ... for what,"
says the another.
"Oh, I dunno. Broooooommmballllllll," the former howls.
They laugh in unison.
OK, so it really didn't happen that way. Probably not.
There are actually some concrete reasons for the decision.
Yost will be renovating its hockey facilities following the conclusion of
Michigan's hockey season, widening the ice surface to Olympic size. At the
latest, depending on how the varsity fairs, the rink will close the first week in
April. At the earliest, the second week in March.
The three hockey seasons usually take place as follows: one in the fall, one
during January and February, and one in March and the beginning of April. With
the advent of broomball last year, the third hockey season was axed.
Due to the Yost construction, IM Associate Director Robert Fox said there
was time enough only for one season, whether it be broomball or hockey.
The Michigan hockey team, it must be noted, is quite good. In fact, the
Wolverines have been one of the top teams in the nation for the past four seasons.
It's a safe bet that Michigan will be playing past the second week in March.
So in the 11 weeks (one subtracted for spring vacation) between the start of
the winter semester and the estimated end of the hockey season, only one IM
season could be fit in? Something smells bad, doesn't it?
I walked down to Yost this weekend after hearing the broomball news. I
wanted to find some sign that broomball belonged in the rink, as I was sure it did.
As I walked through the entryway, pictures and trophies of hockey seasons
past stared back at me. No broomball there. But this was just the vestibule.
I ventured to the side of the playing surface only to see a hockey team
conducting practice. No luck.
I took a seat in the stands and my foot rested on a plastic cup on the floor. It
said "Michigan Hockey" on it. They might make broomball cups too, I thought.
I searched for about two hours, really I did. But I couldn't find anything.
Maybe I didn't know where to search. Everywhere I looked: hockey, hockey,
hockey. It made me feel sad that broomball had no shrine on campus.
But then I remembered that the IM people were giving hockey the boot from
its own shrine. And I thought, man, no shrine.
Fox doesn't have a problem with this. Hockey, he says, attracts about 30Oto 35
teams, while broomball's ranks swelled to 88 squads last year. And, he offers, if
you cannot find ice time at Yost, "there are plenty of places to play ice hockey."
That is, if plenty connotes the number one in your mind. And, if you have a
small bankroll burning a whole through your elbow pad.
"It's too expensive to play hockey in the city," says Victor Hannak, currently
an IM hockey player. "Plus, I have no ride to the rink."
The logic that pushes hockey aside for broomball is dangerous. Solely
because more athletes want to play broomball, it displaces hockey.
"The people who play hockey work really hard at it," says IM hockey player
KarCrawford. "They don't really get a chance to do it anywhere else."
Why display a novelty in place of an actual sport many IM players have
participated in for their entire lives?
"Broomball creates equality for everyone who plays," Fox says. What is this,
hockey for the skating impaired?
I guess we can expect to see Nerf soccer in Michigan Stadium next fall.
EVAN PETRIE/Daily
The Michigan volleyball team may have found leadership this weekend, but
it lost two more games. The team fell to Big Ten foes Purdue and Illinois.
lue stickers complete season sweep of Spartans
By JENNIFER DUBERSTEIN
Daily Sports Writer
In its last regular season game, the
Michigan field hockey team defeated
Big Ten rival Michigan State, 3-2, in
East Lansing. The contest was the
second of two meetings with the Spar-
tans, both of which the Wolverines
were victorious.
The Wolverines (4-6 Big Ten, 9-
1 overall) scored first, less than ten
minutes into the game. Junior Sherene
Smith scored off the corner with the
assists by juniors Gia Biagi and Jen
Lupinski.
"(The penalty corner) was on. We
had some great opportunities on the
penalty corner," Michigan captain
Nancy Irvine said. "It was really
.-thrnti a WP rnmP ln to nr-
ing on a lot of them."
At 18:02, the Spartans' Stephanie
Hart tied the game at one with a shot
from inside the circle. Then at 17:58,
just four seconds later, Biagi retaliated
with a goal from outside the line. State
coach Michele Madison immediately
substituted goalie Tricia Gann for
Therese Lostroscio after Biagi's goal.
State came back to tie the game for
the second and final time. Jill Lusher
netted one for the Spartans with 2:50
left in the first half.
In the second half, Sophomore
Michelle Smulders tallied the game-
winning goal for the Wolverines to
conclude the scoring.
"We are really confident when we
play State," senior Nancy Irvine said.
"It shows on the field... We had a lot
of poise and confidence."
"Character was the factor in the
game," Biagi said. "It wasn't a pretty.
game and we needed to step up on
them. The key was who was going to
get to the ball first."
"(Michigan State) plays very ag-
gressive and is a physical team,"
sophomore Bree Derr said. "At times
they were beating us to the ball, but in
the second half we stepped up. (Michi-
gan coach Patti Smith) told us, 'who-
ever gets to the ball first will win."'
In the first game against State on
Oct. 5, Michigan shut the Spartans
out, 2-0. Smulders netted both goals
for the Wolverines.
"Before this game, I hadn't been
playing very well and I didn't want to
end the season on that note," Smulders
said. "It was all or nothing and I
needed to play well."
Statistically, the match was as
close as the score, with Michigan
having the edge. Wolverine goalie
Rachael Geisthardt had seven saves.
The combined number of saves for
Spartan goalies Lostroscio and Gann
was five. Michigan received seven
penalty corner attempts and capital-
ized on one. State only had four cor-
ner opportunities. Michigan also had
the slight advantage in the shot col-
umn with 14 total compared to the
Spartan's ten.
Yesterday's game was the final
regular season match for the Wolver-
ines. Next weekend, Michigan will
play in the Big Ten tournament at
Ohio State.
A MAYOR WHo GOES To
ANY LENGTH (OR DEPTH)
To HELP THE COMMUNITY
Mayor Ingrid Sheldon gets dunked to raise dollars for
the City of Ann Arbor's United Way campaign
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leader with global concerns.
As the world's largest corporation, we understand the responsibility that comes
with success. That's why our diverse workforce continues to explore new
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when it comes to the environment, our patented catalytic converter is
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produced. General Motors. Anticipating the needs of a global community"
Teamwork that E
touches the world. -
An equal opportunity employer.
Paid for by the Ingrid Sheldon for Mayor Committee.
Doug F Ziesemer, Treasurer,122 S. MainAnn Arbor 48104
I
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