12 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, March 17, 1995 'M' faces Lake State, again. By Barry Sollenberger Daily Hockey Writer Back in mid-January, the Lake Su- perior State hockey team seemed to have little chance of reaching the NCAA tournament and repeating as National Champions. The Lakers dropped a two-game set at home to Michigan Jan. 13-14 and fell to 7-9-4 on the year. Indeed, Lake State appeared CCHA cellar-bound rather than NCAA title-bound. But that was then - and this is March. Since losing to the Wolverines Jan. 14, Lake State is 13-2-2. This late- season surge earned the Lakers (20-11- 6 overall) a date with No. 1 Michigan (29-6-1) in the semifinals of the CCHA Tournament tomorrow at Joe Louis Arena. Game time is set for 1 p.m. Theothersemifinal pits No.5 Bowl- ing Green (25-10-2) against No. 7 Michigan State (24-10-3). The semifi- nal winners meet at 2 p.m. Sunday for the CCHA title. Lake State's second-half run is not unusual. February and March normally mean one thing for the Lakers - lots and lots of victories. Three years ago, Lake State won its last 10games-andtheNationalCham- pionship. The 1992-93 Lakers finished 9-1-1, losing to Maine in the NCAA title game. And then there was last year. Lake State ended the season with a 12-1 run and captured its third NCAA Championship in seven years. An over- time victory over the Wolverines in the quarterfinals of the NCAAs was part of that finish. While the Lakers are the defending National Champions, Michigan is the reigning CCHA champion. Last year, the Wolverines defeated Lake State in the CCHA title game before succumb- ing to them in the NCAA playoffs. . The CCHA Tournament title was a first for Michigan after losing to Lake State the previous two seasons in the league playoffs. "We had been frustrated for two years in a row and finally got that mon- key off our backs," Wolverine coach RedBerenson said. "Now wehaveother monkeys on our back." Michigan still carries the frustration of 29 straight seasons without anNCAA* title. Vietnam wasjust agleam in LBJ's eyes when the Wolverines last won the NCAA Championship - 1964. The Lakers reached tomorrow's contest by knocking off Miami (Ohio) Wednesday in a play-in game. Despite its strong finish, Lake State may need to win the CCHA title to even reach the NCAA playoffs. The Lakers' early season struggles put them in a big hole. "(Lake State) has the most momen- tum of anybody," Berenson said. "But they're probably a team that needs to win (the CCHA title) to have a shot of getting into the NCAAs." MARK FRIEDMAI John Madden and the Wolverines take on Lake Superior State in the CCHA semifinals tomorrow. The Lakers have won three national titles in the past seven years but are in danger of missing the NCAAs this season. SWIMMERS Continued from page 11. "You don't want to see any DQ's at the finals. You want to see the best team win." The first record of the day to drop was the two-year old Michigan and Big Ten Individual Medley record. Gustin bested the time by .23 seconds in the morning session and then improved upon it further in the evening - bring- ing it down to 1:59.19 and earning a fourth-place finish. The Wolverines also set a Big Ten and team record in the 200 free relay while Melisa Stone broke a team record in the 50-yard freestyle. This year's early success brightens the Wolverines' title hopes, but Richardson is not looking that far ahead. "We're taking (the events) one at a time," he said. "The team has great focus, and we're trying to have fun." MICHIGAN SPORTS ROUNDUP: Hitters head south to battle Seminoles. OFFCIAL CUBAN ENTRY 1994 ACADEMY AWARDS ANDCHOCOL SAVOR THE FLAVOR 7 Academy Award Nominations John Travolta Uma Thurman Samuel L Jackson PU:LP FICTION 1:30 4:30 8:00 11:00 By John Leroi Daily Baseball Writer Coming off its best weekend series of the season, the Michigan baseball team heads to Tallahassee, Fla., for a three-game set with Florida State. With- out question, the No. 2 Seminoles are the toughest competition the Wolver- ines will face this season. But Michigan (6-8) is not unfamil- iar with the Seminoles. The Wolverines were whipped by Florida State, 17-6, March 5 at the Hormel Foods Baseball Classic in Minneapolis. Michigan managed only 10 hits in that game and committed four errors that led to 11 Florida State runs. Second baseman Andy Wade knocked in three of Michigan's six runs with a bases loaded triple in the eighth. The Wolverines are coming off a 27-5 drubbing of Georgia Tech, last year's national runner-up. After afairly tepid start, Michigan's hitters caught fire. The Wolverine outfielders batted 12 for 17 at the plate with two home runs and 14 runs batted in. Brian Simmons leads the Wolver- ines in several offensive categories in- cluding batting average (.365), home runs (six) and RBIs (24). "Our hopes are that we can pick up where we left off (against Georgia Tech)," Michigan coach Bill Freehan said. "Our offense has got to score five runs or more each time out." The Seminoles' pitching staff has been the key to their success this sea- son. Freehan believes that Michigan will have to score runs and win the battle on the mound if it is to emerge victorious. "Pitching has been (Florida State's) strong suitall year," Freehan said. "They consistently play low-scoring, five-run games." RighthanderMattFerullo (1-2), who took the loss against the Seminoles in Minneapolis, will take the hill tonight for Michigan. Righthander Mark Temple (1-2) will pitch tomorrow, and freshman hurler Tyler Steketee (2-1) will hurl for the Wolverines on Sunday. For the Michigan softball team, February and March mean weekend trips to warmer locales in order to es- cape the harshness of an Ann Arbor winter. But with a week of 70-degree weather, the Wolverines may wish they could have stayed at home. Michigan (9-3) travels to Florida State to compete in The Lady Seminole Invitational. The round-robin tourney starts today, as 24 teams will be vying for aSunday afternoon spot inthe cham- pionship game. The No. 9 Seminoles (24-5) are the host school and have been able to play all year long. That could give them an edge over the Wolverines. Yet the team to beat will be the No. 8 Wolverines, who enter the weekend as the top-ranked squad in the tourna- ment. Michigan will face Southwest Missouri, Samford, Miami (Ohio), Northern Illinois and Florida State in round-robin play. Leading the way for the Wolverines will be pitcher/shortstop Sara Griffin (3-2), who has 27 strikeouts in five appearances. Senior first baseman Michelle Silver leads Michigan with a .385 batting average, 15 hits and 10 runs. - By Tim Smith Daily Softball Writer 'WOMEN'S TENNIS The Michigan women's tennis team is looking for the consistency that led it to a Big Ten regular season title a year ago. After winning their first fourmatches of the 1995 campaign, the Wolverines (6-4 overall, 3-1 Big Ten) have since dropped four of their last six contests.. More significantly, Michigan hasn't won a non-conference meet against an opponent from this country. The Wol- verines hope their luck changes as they travel to Williamsburg, Va. to take on No. 15 Vanderbilt and No. 13 William and Mary. "Our non-conference schedule is very tough," Michigan coach Bitsy Ritt said. The fact that the Wolverines haven't played a match on their home court in over a month may also be a factor in Michigan's erratic play. "Because we're playing on the road a lot, we get tired more easily," Ritt said. "We really just need to psych ourselves up more and get more enthu- siastic for these games." A sweep this weekend would erase any ideas of inconsistent play.Playing against teams the caliber of Vanderbilt and William and Mary could do won- ders for the Wolverines. "(Winning this weekend) would not only raise our confidence," Ritt said, "but it would move us up in the polls and prove to our players that we play with the top teams in the nation." - By Alan Goldenbach Daily Sports Writer LACR-SSE Although the Michigan State men's lacrosse team showed up for Wednes- day night's game against the Wolver- ines, the Spartans acted more like spec- tators than players. Michigan (2-2) embarrassed Michi- gan State (0-1) for the third straight year, overpowering the Spartans 26-2 at Oosterbaan Fieldhouse. The Wolverines held Michigan State scoreless until late in the first quarter when a poor line change allowed the Spartans to score. But Michigan State's glory was short-lived, as Michigan re- sponded with 21 unanswered goals. Most of the scoring came from graduate midfielder Paul Tauber and senior attacker Tony DiGiovanni. Tauber knocked in five goals and had two assists, while DiGiovanni chipped in four goals and two assists. The Spartans put little defensive pressure on the Wolverines. Michigan State left Michigan wide open in the slot and allowed it to go on a 51-shot shooting spree. Yet, the biggest difference in the game was not Michigan's dominating offense, but the strength of its defense. Led by graduate defenseman Marc DeCristofaro, the Wolverines held Michigan State to just 13 shots. "(The defense) played 100 times better than they have in the last two games," senior midfielder Paul Dreyer said. The- Michigan goaltenders helped shut down what little offense Michigan State could muster. Wolverine netminder Anil Arora allowed only one goal. Freshman Tom Herrgott and sophomore Matt Armstrong relieved Arora, and faced a combined seven shots. - By Amber Uyesato 4:30 7:00 9:00 */* 0 1:30 Sat and Sun only - 11:00 Friday & Saturday Only I . mommmi I I I I f i -"""1 The following students will be among those recognized during the Honors Convocation program on Sunday, March 19. These individuals have demonstrated the highest level of undergradu- ate academic success by achieving seven or more consecutive terms of all A's and earning the designation Angell Scholar. The University of Michigan congratulates these students on their superior scholastic achievement and wishes them continued success. SEVEN TERM ANGELL SCHOLARS Gretchen Ann Champion Douglas Stephen Daniels Eric William Endsley Amy Stephanie Faranski Darcy Rachel Fryer Andrea Lynn Pelham-Reichel* Kai-Chun Sung Brian Jeffrey Trost Brian Gene Vikstrom* Angela C. Waltz Welby Wen-Kai Wu College of Literature, Science, and College of Literature, Science, and College of Engineering College of Engineering College of Literature, Science, and School of Nursing College of Literature, Science, and College of Literature, Science, and the Arts the Arts the Arts the Arts the Arts College of Engineering College of Arts and Sciences, U-M Flint Inteflex Program, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts EIGHT TERM ANGELL SCHOLARS Ryan Lee Baker Liam Patrick Caffrey* Brian Chen* James Edward Hartnett* Karl David Iagnemma* College of Engineering, U-M Dearborn College of Engineering College of Engineering College of Engineering College of Engineering r i