The Michigan Daily - Thursday, March 2, 1995 - 11
SPIKERS
Continued from page 9
strong middles and their ball-con-
trol style. The Hoosiers, on the other
hand, have solid fundamentals and
can surprise an opponent if they are
overlooked.
Saturday, Michigan won't take
either team lightly. Having gotten
off a rash of injuries the Wolverines
are now able to return to their usual
lineup. Michigan will have more
firepower to take on its opponents.
The Wolverines will move Ernesto
Rodriguez back to outside hitter and
captain Stan Lee back-to the setter
position.
Since Lee is in the Medical
School, he is still on vacation and
will not practice with the team this
week. He will play Saturday, how-
*ever. Coach Jennifer Slosar isn't at
all worried about Lee not practic-
ing.
"Whenever we need Stan to step
up, he always comes through,"
Slosar said. "Now that he is being
moved back to the setter position,
we need the other players to pass
just as well."
With this shift back to the old
*lineup, Rodriguez will still have to
pass well. Having suffered from a
sore right shoulder for the last
month, the Wolverines had to play
with Rodriguez as the setter and Lee
at the swing position. Even though
Lee filled in admirably, the team
missed Rodriguez's explosive kills
from the wing. Now that he will
play at his natural position,
Rodriguez will need to step up in his
passing game.
"Ernesto is working quite a bit on
his passing game," Slosar said. "Ev-
eryone knows that he is one person
that will meet any challenge given to
him."
Michigan will most likely play all
its members Saturday. Coach Slosar
is very pleased with how the B-team
is playing so this weekend presents
.the Wolverines with a great opportu-
nity for the second stringers to get
more experience.
Yet, Michigan still wants to focus
on beating its opponents without hav-
ing to work real hard in each match.
"It is strange that with our team,
we play at the level which is just
enough to beat a team instead of
playing at our highest level," Urban
said. "We need to get off to more of
a strong start."
Franklin nabs freshman honors
By Ravi Gopal
Daily Basketball Writer
The Michigan women's basket-
ball team continued its journey to-
ward respectability yesterday.
Freshman point guard Akisha
Franklin was named SportsChannel
Chicago's Big Ten Freshman of the
Year.
In starting 14 of the Wolverines'
16 conference games, Franklin aver-
aged 9.2 points, 3.5 assists, 3 rebounds
and 2.6 steals.
She was Michigan's only capable
floor leader the entire season, helping
the Wolverines win eight games. The
win total was the highest for Michi-
gan since the 1990-91 campaign, when
the Wolverines went 11-17.
Entering the season, though,
Franklin never dreamt she would
receive such an honor, let alone lead
her team to its best mark in four
years.
"(The fact that I would win) never
crossed my mind," she said, "At first,
I didn't even like (playing at the
point)."
To open the 94-'95 campaign,
Franklin played the role of the timid
freshman to a 't'. She was third on the
team's depth chart, taking a backseat
to guards Molly Murray and Mekisha
Ross. Through Michigan's non-con-
ference slate, Franklin saw only lim-
ited action.
"She started the season slow,"
Wolverine coach Trish Roberts said.
"I didn't feel she was intense
enough."
But, fortunately for Michigan,
Franklin improved quickly. With last
year's starting point guard Jennifer
At first, I didn t
even like (playing
at the point)
- Akisha Franklin
Michigan freshman guard
Kiefer out for the season with a torn
anterior cruciate ligament,
Michigan's lack of experience at the
point was glaringly evident.
Murray, playing out of her natu-
ral forward position, experienced
all sorts of troubles handling the
ball. Her turnovers compounded
an already existing problem of a
lackluster offense. Ross went down
with an ankle injury early on in the
conference season. Murray and
Ross's problems opened up the way
for Franklin.
She was literally able to break
through against Iowa, coming off the
bench to help her team beat the
Hawkeyes' suffocating full-court
man-to-man press. Although Michi-
gan lost, 53-36, Franklin was the
Wolverines' only guard who could
manage the pressure.
"She played well against Iowa;
coming off the bench, and after that,
one thing led to another and she's
been playing great ever since,"junior
Jennifer Brzezinski said.
Although Franklin started nearly,
every game afterwards, her most'
valuable time this season may have
been on the bench. Franklin's lack
of playing time to begin the season
allowed her to see how the colle-
giate game is played, so she could
better understand what to do when
on the court.
"She's watched a lot of ball
games," Roberts said. "She learned a
lot.'
Franklin seems to have been
schooled by teammates Kiefer and
Amy Johnson. Both were named to
the SportsChannel Chicago All-Big,
Ten Freshman Team a year ago.
MARK FRIEDMAN/Daily
Akisha Franklin turned around her season zt Iowa Dec. 30. The Elmhurst,
IL native averaged nearly 10 points a game in her rookie campaign.
Indoor track garners
honors; Sullivan,
Fuqua garner awards
From Staff Reports
Despite seeing their teams fall
short of repeating as Big Ten
Champions, individual members
of the Michigan men's and
women's indoor track team were
rewarded for their efforts this sea-
son.
On the men's side, sophomore
Kevin Sullivan was awarded Ath-
lete of the Year honors and fresh-
man sprinter Dwayne Fuqua gar-
nered the Big Ten Freshman of the
Year award.
Sullivan won Big Ten titles in
the mile and 3000-meter run, while
Fuqua finished fourth in the 600
meters.
Junior Todd Burnham was se-
lected to the All-Big Ten At-Large
after finishing second in the 600-
meter run at the Big Ten meet.
Burnham's time in the event eclipsed
the building record.
Two members of the women's
team were also named to the Big Ten
At-Large team.
Senior Karen Harvey finished sec-
ond in both the 800-meter and mile
runs.
Junior Monika Black was selected
after finishing second in the high
jump.
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