'l1R .AF., . .. w ,. Out in the cold The Michigan baseball and softball teams did not play their scheduled games yesterday due to inclement weather. Baseball was to face Toledo at Fisher Stadium. The No. 5 softball team was to play a doubleheader against the Rockets at Alumni Field and will make up both games today. Baseball will play Madonna today at 3 p.m. at Fisher Stadium. Page 11 Thursday x . M' men' F *r .volieybali 1T)ily Sports Writer i / SIt's pretty much a cruise to the - ush and the national championships - 'rthe Michigan men's volleyball team. Itt that doesn't mean that the cruise *on't have any bumps along the way. SThe Wolverines (6-3 Big Ten, 11-4 ~ ~~I overall) close out their regular season his weekend against Michigan State "morrow and Notre Dame Saturday. With its seeding for the national chain pionships determined already, Michi gan will be playing out its slate and trying to stay sharp for its biggest com- petition of the season. The tournament tatkes place in Madison., April 13-16. But welcoming the third-ranked 4parsto Cnf N Are ex- Sauray% actythe Wolverines firtchoiceasan < ' P easy opponent to finish an up-and- down campaign ou it Michigan has seensome of its fierc- est competition come from its rivals fromEast Lansing. Michigan State has 13- taken three out of the five matches -# between theo teams this year, with - - the most recent being a threie-set Spar- tan win in the finals of the Big Ten Championships two weeks ago. The dramatic final set went to Michigan State by a count of 24-22. So although closing out the season JA with a couple of cream puffs would be See OLLEBALL Pag 12 MichIgan freshman Jerod Ward sIammed rumors about his transfer. Chapioship toLYA weksag.e 2 Golfers head to Marshall Blue takes on strong field at West Virginian tourney Ward denies Vitale report Forward rejects transfer rumors at basketball bust "t By Scott Burton Daily Basketball Writer As Michigan men's basketball coach Steve Fisher bid farewell to two of his star players at last night's Michi- gan Basketball Bust ceremony, he wel- comed the return of a player who never left. Freshman forward Jerod Ward flatly denied Dick Vitale's report in yesterday's USA Today that he was transferring to Mississippi. Ward said that he had never talked to Vitale about such a transfer and had no clue what sources Vitale based his report upon. "I'll be back, no question about it," Ward said. Ward, a Mississippi native, was widely considered one of the top high school players in the nation two sea- sons ago. Many assumed he would play his college ball at Mississippi, and hence was a surprise recruit for Michi- gan in 1994. However, he struggled through a 1994-95 campaign in which he sat out half the Big Ten season with a knee injury. He finished with a 6.6 scoring average, and played in 19 of the Wol- verines 32 games. Nonetheless, Ward said that he is happy at Michigan and was looking forward to his sophomore season in a Wolverine uniform. "A have never given transferring much consideration," Ward said. "I have never really questioned my deci- sion to come to Michigan." Fisher made no allusion to Ward's possible transfer during last night's ceremonies. He did say that he expected Ward to make vast im- provement in his game and make an impact on a young Michigan team next season. "Jerod came in with more pres- sure than anybody and things didn't happen as fast as we hoped it would," Fisher said. "But you're going to see Jerod come in next year and make a quantum leap to what he Miduig.an bastbait award wimmr Bill Buntin Most Valuable Player Ray Jackson and Jimmy King Thad Garner Leadership Award Ray Jackson Wayman Britt Defensive Player Jimmy King Steve Grote Hustler Award Dugan Fife Rudy Tomjanovich Most Impoved Player Award Makhtar Ndiaye and Maceo Baston Loy Vaught Rebounding Award Maceo Baston Freshman of the Year Maurice Taylor brings to Michigan" Noticeably absent from last night's ceremony was reserve guard Bobby Crawford. Fisher acknowl- edged every Wolverine on scholar- ship with a brief speech last night except Crawford. Fisher did not volunteer any information as to Crawford's whereabouts.' Seniors Ray Jackson and Jimmy King were the primary recipients of Fisher's attention last night. The final remnants of the Fab Five were treated to a video commemoration of their four-year career, and shared the Bill Buntin Most Valuable Player Award for 1995. "It's hard for me to think that this book is coming to a close," Fisher said. "But the chapter the Fab Five wrote will live forever in Michigan lore." Jackson, the Wolverines leader in points and assists this season, also won the Thad Garner Leadership Award. "It gives me no bigger pleasure than to watch someone develop as a person and player," Fisher said. "And no one did that better than Ray." For the third-straight year, King was presented with the Wayman Britt Defensive Player Award. Britt, who helped Michigan win the Big Ten title in 1974, was the honored guest of the ceremony and personally presented King with the award. "I'm always going to be a Michi- gan man," King said. "I came here a little boy and I'm leaving here a man. That's all I can ask for." Junior guard Dugan Fife was also a repeat award winner. He gar- nered the Steve Grote Hustler Award for the second-consecutive season. Other Wolverines honored included freshman forward Maceo Baston and sophomore center Makhtar Ndiaye with the Rudy Tomjanovich Most Im- proved Award, Baston with the Loy Vaught Rebounding Award and for- ward Maurice Taylor with the Fresh- man of the Year Award. m j y James Goldstein Daily sports writer While the professionals are tuning up for the world-famous Masters in Augusta, Ga., the Michigan men's golf team is gearing up for tomorrow's Marshall Invitational in Huntington, W.Va. What's the connection? Aside from the obvious differ- ence of professional versus colle- giate athletics, both associations are working on the most important yet most frustrating facet of golf - put- ting. "For myself, (the part of my game that needs work) is putting," senior captain Bill Lyle said. "Talking to the other players, it seems that every- body talks about putting (as a weak point). Overall, (what we need work on) is around the greens because Marshall is a short course with really fast greens. The putter is going to be That funny looking golf club seems to be the nemesis to even the best golfers in the world. Take Tom Watson for example. Watson, who is one of the top PGA players, has been kicking himself for constantly missing short putts in the top tour- naments. If it weren't for his iishitting the ball on the green in crucial situations, he could have plenty more tournament victories in his career. The same can be said about the Wolverines. In the first two tourna- tlents of the spring season, Michigan hasn't finished anywhere near where it wants. One of the biggest reasons for *the Wolverines' poor play has been their putting. Heading into this weekend's three-round, par-71. tournament, Michigan is looking to eliminate many strokes from its game. Con- sidering the tough competition the Wolverines have faced this spring, they will need to improve more than just their putting. "I think we are a better team this gear," Michigan coach Jim Carras sraid. "But the all-around level of play at the collegiate ranks has im- Koved so much that to win, we need our top three players - Chris Anderson made his debut of the sea- son, tallying a career-low 75 in the second round. The Wolverines might as well have stayed in Dallas last weekend with the other tournament competitors. Michi- gan could have taken the same flight with the other schools to West Virginia because practically all of the teams from the Dr. Pepper Intercollegiate are participating in tomorrow's tourna- ment. "That will be an extremely impor- tant competitive field with the likes of Ohio State, Wisconsin and Kent State and many other of the top teams in our region," Carras said. The Buckeyes captured the team competition of last weekend's tourna- ment. Other top schools from this weekend's 18 team field include Marshall, Miami (OH), Illinois, To- ledo and Michigan State. All of the schools who participated will have to re-adjust their game to the shorter golf course at the Guyan Golf and Country Club. Shortfinesse shots will be more frequent than long, pow- erful ones. "The course is not long at all," Lyle said. "It's a lot of wedges, nine and eight irons." 1994-95 Titan Hockey All-AmerIcans First Team East First Team West Blair Allison Maine Goalie Charles Thuss Miami Goalie Chris Imes Maine Defense Kelly Perrault Bowling Green Defense Brian Mueller Clarkson Defense Brian Rafalski Wisconsin Defense Greg Bullock UMass-Lowell Forward Brian Bonin Minnesota Forward Mike Grier Boston Forward Brian Holzinger Bowling Green Forward Martin St. Louis Vermont Forward Brendan Morrison Michigan Forward ENHANCE YOUR INTERVIEWING SKILLS AND CAREER OUTLOOK with the new professionally oriented vocabulary book CEO's, Governors and Members of Congress call: - "an invaluable tool" - "provocative and innovative" "remarkable" Take a fascinating test comparing your spoken vocabulary skills with students at three highly regarded universities. 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