. - - CYa at the playoffs Michigan hockey playoff tickets are on sale now at the Michigan Athletic Ticket Office. The Wolverines will play first-round playoff games at Yost Ice Arena March 10 and March 11. If necessary, Michigan could play a third game on March 12. Call the Ticket Office at 764-0247 for more information. Page 9 Tuesday Fb.ruhmv 29. 19954 -_____ -u uarT 3vy , O R Wolverine netters .dominate in Hawaii Michigan softball wins first six games By Marc Ughtdale Daily Sports Writer A trip to Hawaii over spring break -rovided the Michigan men's tennis team with an opportunity to play out- doors. The Wolverines obliterated their competition in the two dual meets. In the first match, the team shut 'out Chaminade, 7-0. However, the second match against BYU-Hawaii, an NAIA school, proved to be a ,greater challenge for the Wolver- ines. Michigan prevailed against the primarily foreign squad by a score of 5-2. "They're really outstanding. They are one of the top two or three NAIA schools in the nation," Michigan coach Brian Eisner said. Some of the highlights included the return of Arvid Swan to the lineup. Swan rebounded from a shoulder in- jury by dismantling BYU's No. 3 singles player, Logan Wooley, by the score of 6-1, 6-0. "He was tremendous. He won all four of his matches," Eisner said. Swan pointed to the valuable ex- perience gained from playing out- door tennis and dealing with condi- tions such as the wind and sun. "You have to be a lot more consis- tent outside because you are not able to hit as many winners," Swan said. "You have to be more patient out- side." Grady Burnett, the No. 5 singles player, defeated Suhel Malhotra, 7-6, 6-3. "We got everything accomplished that we really wanted to," Burnett said. "We won both of the matches we played and we got a lot of training in outdoors." Other Michigan triumphs included Peter Pusztai's win over BYU's David Cambronero, 7-6,7-5 at No. 1 singles and victories at 2nd and 3rd doubles. Overall, both matches helped the Wolverines to prepare for the outdoor season, including the upcoming Blue- Gray Classic, which features a num- ber of ranked teams. "It's nice to get some hitting in because all these other teams we play, for instance in the Blue-Gray tourna- ment, play outdoors the majority of the year," Burnett said. " By having us play outdoors for a week, it evens things out a little bit more." By Melanie Schuman Daily Sports Writer By defeating seven of its first nine opponents of the 1995 campaign, the Michigan softball team matched its winning ways of yesteryear - 1982 to be exact. The Wolverines used power hitting and some last-minute heroics to defeat three of the nation's top 20 teams. In fact, Michigan's season-open- ing six-game winning streak is the second-best start in the school's 18 years of varsity softball. The No. 18 Wolverines em- barked on an eight-game road trip to start the season, including six games at the Arizona State Classic in Tempe. Perhaps the team's most impres- sive win came in the first game of the Classic when Michigan upset eighth- ranked Washington, 4-1. Although the Huskies allowed four hits while collecting eight of their own, they could not manage to post more than one run in the bottom of the sixth inning. Leftfielder Lesa Arvia started the scoring for the Wolverines when she crossed home on a passed ball. Up 2-0, Michigan added insurance runs on a Tracy Carr RBI double and a Husky infield error in the top of the sixth. The Wolverines defeated Massa- chusetts, 10-5 anddowned Arizona State, 6-2 and 4-2, in a doubleheader that had been rescheduled because of a rainout. Sophomore Kelly Holmes re- corded her 17th career win when the Wolverines defeated New Mexico State Feb. 18, 4-3. Senior Kelly Kovach, who entered the game to relieve the starting righthander, provided the offensive punch Michigan needed. Down 3-0 in the top of the sev- enth inning, Kovach sparked the Wolverines with her seventh career triple. Sophomore Jessica Lang's sacrifice fly capped off the late rally and Michigan shut out the Aggies in the bottom of the seventh for the win. Freshman Sara Griffin made her collegiate debut in Michigan's first game Feb. 17 against Oregon. Grif- fin allowed three runs on five hits as she went the distance for the Wol- verines. Michigan was tied 1-1 with the Ducks after taking the early lead in the bottom of the first. In the fifth inning, Lang smacked a two-run homer which turned out to be the game-winning hit. The win over the Ducks gave Michigan an 11-7 record in season openers. The last time the Wolverines won their first opening contest was 1992, when they defeated New Mexico, 6-3. Notre Dame ended Michigan's winning streak Feb. 24 by handing the Wolverines a 4-3 loss in nine innings. In the top of the ninth, Eliza- beth Perkins of the Fighting Irish singled in arun off of Griffin and then scored an insurance run on a passed ball. Later that day, San Diego State overcame a 3-0 Michigan lead with three runs of its own in the fifth in- ning. The Aztecs went on to defeat the Wolverines, 5-3. Holmes took the loss for Michigan. The Wolverines ended their stay in Tempe with a 5-0 win over Hawaii. Kovach notched her third win of the year and helped her own cause with a home run in the bottom of the sixth inning. The Wolverines' only losses to graduation are standout shortstop Mary Campana, last year's team cap- tain, and utility infielder Nikki Hoover. Hoover played her lone sea- son with the Wolverines last year after a four-year career in goal for the Michigan field hockey team. DOUGLAS KANTER/Daily The Michigan softball team opened Its season winning seven of nine games. Women gymnasts set records on the road Fifth-ranked Wolverines defeat UCLA, Florida; fall to top-ranked Utah, No. 2 Georgia By Michael Joshua Daily Sports Writer Even in defeat, the Michigan women's gymnastics team made great Strides in its quest for a national cham- pionship. On Feb. 20, the fifth-ranked Wol- erines went to Salt Lake City to face ]No. 1 and defending national cham- pion Utah and No. 10 UCLA. Michi- gan (5-0 Big Ten, 12-2 overall) posted *4 season-best score of 194.675 - good enough to best the Bruins (194.3) but not enough to topple the Utes (:196.375). Four days later against Florida and Most Georgia, the Wolverines shat- tered theirscore in Utah with a school- rpcord 196.45. Michigan defeated the No. 6 Gators (192.925) but fell to the !econd-ranked Bulldogs (197.3). "I am very pleased with the out- come," coach Bev Plocki said, who saw her team's 18-meet regular sea- son win streak snapped. "We beat UCLA, which is a team to be reck- oned with, and held up under the pressure of competing before 13,000 people." The gathering of 13,363 people at Utah's Huntsman Center was the eight-largest crowd in NCAA gym- nastics history. In the meet against the Bulldogs and the Gators, the Wolverines man- aged to outdo their record-setting showing in Utah. Michigan's score was 1.1 points better than the 195.35 school record set last year. Although 1.1 points doesn't sound like much, in gymnastics it is gigantic. "It was a big confidence-booster for us," Michigan gymnast Heather Kabnick said. "It let us know that we can compete with anyone." Michigan also set school records in the vault (49.6) and uneven bars (49.075). The Bulldogs' score was the team's highest this season, surpass- ing their previous mark of 196.35. It was the highest score by any team this season, besting third-ranked Alabama's score of 196.7. Both Georgia and Michigan el- evated their level of performance for the pre-nationals atmosphere. "(Our performance) let the other teams know that we are out there, that were are an up-and-coming team and ready to compete for nationals," Kabnick said. "Now we have something to re- member and have a positive experi- ence from it. We have something to look forward to now." There is another reason why the meet against Georgia seemed like a prelude to the nationals. From April 21-23, the Georgia Coliseum will be the host for the NCAA National Championships. The Wolverines are hoping to use the experience of having been at the Coliseum to their advantage. This was the best gymnastics we have ever put on the floor.' - 8ev Plocki Michigan gymnastics coach "It definitely was a great experi- ence," co-captain Kelly Carfora said. "We know what the equipment will be like and what it is like to be there. There should be nothing to hold us back." In what might have been the most important week in Michigan gymnas- tics history, the Wolverines proved they can compete with the nation's elite. "In my six years here, we have had some good performances," Plocki said, "but this was the best gymnas- tics we have ever put on the floor." Associated Press Top 25 Here are the top 25 teams in The Associated Press' men's college basketball poll. First-place votes are in parentheses. Team Record Points Previous 1. UCLA (61) 21-2 1;642 2 12. North Carolina (3) 213 1,546 3 3 Kansas (1) 21-4 1,469 1 4. Connecticut (1) 22-2 1,465 4 5. Kentucky 20-4 1,386 6 6. Maryland 22-5 1,298 7 7. Arkansas 23-5 1,226 8 8 Massachusetts 21-4 1,180 5 9. Wake Forest 19-5 1,124 10 10. Michigan State C204 1,003 12 11. Villanova 21-6 960 9 12: Arizona 21-6 954 13 13. Virginia 19-7 840 11 14. Mississippi St. 19-5 797 16 15. Arizona St. 20-7 589 15 16. Oklahoma 21-6 581 25 17. Purdue 20-6 511 21 18. Oklahoma St. 19-8 406 18 19. Missouri 18-6 404 14 20. Stanford 17-6 386 19 21. Alabama 19-7 346 20 22. Syracuse 18-7 327 17 23. Georgetown 17-7 246 24. Iowa St. 19-7 175 23 25. Xavier 23-3 140 Cycling seventh in Kentucky, Ohio meets U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U Free Microwave Oven: for New Tenants We will provide a brand new microwave oven FREE to the first 50 leases signed. * By Ravi Gopal Daily Sports Writer Although the team results don't show it, the Michigan cycling team had a very successful spring break, compet- ing in its first two meets of the year. At both Lexington, Ky. Feb. 18- 19 and Xavier, Ohio last weekend, the Wolverines finished seventh out of a field of 12 teams. Fielding just over a half-dozen competitors, Michi- gan rode like it had a full squad, with its A-team members leading the way. "We did a lot better than we ex- pected," cycling club president Matt Curin said. Curin, Dennis Hahn, James Wagner and Dan Leroy keyed the Wolverine effort. All placed in the top 10 of every race held, with Wagner garnering a team-best top five finish at Xavier. But they weren't the only ones riding. The Wolverines got help from the beginning riders, the C-team. An- drew Young, Matt Lambert and Kevin Collins surprised the field at Xavier, as Collins took the crown and Lambert took eighth. Young, riding at a blister- ing pace Saturday, crashed and went down. However, he came back to finish third in Sunday's criterium. So for Michigan, at least one ob- stacle has been cleared this season - the jitters that come with the first meet. "(The C-team members) were quite nervous, since they hadn't been on the road for very long," Wagner said. "We were giving them encour- agement while racing." University Tower 536 S. Forest Ave. 761-2680 Stop by to view our models. Apartments shown daily 10-8 Sat/Sun 12-5 U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U Mention how you heard this offer to qualify. * Some restrictions may apply. U I Northwestern College of Chiropractic is now accepting applications for its next three entering dasses. (April 1995, September 1995, January 1996) General requirements at time of entry include: At least 2-3 years of undergraduate college in a health science or basic science degree program. (Inquire for a complete list of specific I 1V1 11 11 111z" I I I It J"lz t It 1 1 m