14A - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, April 18, 1996

Women netters need strong start

By Jiten Ghelani
Daily Sports Writer
No team wants to fall behind early,
putting its back against the wall.
The Michigan women's tennis team
has a tendency to start off slowly, a bad
habit thatmay have cost it some key
matches. The Wolverines are already
banged up. Adding their recent doubles
woes puts them in a tough position in
almost every match.
In Big Ten tennis matches, doubles
competition comes first. With the new
scoring format, it takes two out of three
victories to claim the sole doubles point.
Each of the six singles matches is then
worth one point.
Every time Michigan loses the
doubles point, it places extra pressure
on the singles players. Winning four
out of six singles matches is a difficult
task, especially for a team that doesn't
thrive on its tremendous depth.
Wolverines coach Bitsy Ritt has de-
cided to make some lineup changes to
jump-start Michigan. The Wolverines
(5-3 Big Ten, 6-9 overall) are heading
into a crucial weekend of conference

play. They will be on the road this
weekend, facing Iowa on Saturday and
Minnesota on Sunday.
Ritt switched Tara Graff with Sibyl
Smith, mixing up the doubles combina-
tions. Until now, Graff had been play-
ing No. 3 doubles with Jodi Brewer.
This weekend Graff will play with
Tumeka Harris at the second spot, and
Smith will team with Brewer at No. 3.
The top doubles team of Sarah
Cyganiak and Sora Moon is virtually
untouchable. The tandem is riding an
eight-match win streak and is perfect in
conference play. The duo (8-0, 15-4) is
ranked No. 26 and has been the lone
bright spot at doubles for Michigan.
The singles lineup remains the same.
The singles players have been playing
better in the last four matches. This past
Sunday against Indiana, the singles al-
most bailed out the team after the
doubles loss, but Michigan fell short in
disappointing third set-losses.
Ritt also made another change, adding
Alison Eisnertotheroster. Eisner, asopho-
more, transferred from Colorado. She is
the daughter of Michigan men's tennis

coach Brian Eisner. This is the second
late-season addition to the team. Jodi
Brewer joined the team at the end of
March afterJenn Boylan and Angie Popek
were lost to season-ending injuries.
The Wolverines first get to test their
recent changes against a weak Iowa
team. The Hawkeyes(O-8,5-12)haven't
won a match since March 22, when they
defeated Princeton.
Minnesota (5-3, 12-6) will be more of
a challenge for Michigan. Both teams are
fighting for the No. 4 seed heading into
the Big Ten championships next week.
"It's important that we win these
matches," Ritt said. "It will give us
confidence going into the tournament.
"It's an advantage to be seeded higher
to play on Friday instead of Thursday."
The No. 37 Gophers boast a strong
doubles team, which could give the Wol-
verines trouble. At No. 1, Minnesota's
Dana Peterson and Jennifer Hayes are 18-
6 and ranked No. 55. Jane Hrdinova and
Tarah Elkins are 14-7 at No. 3.
The match ofthe day couldbeatthe top
singles spot. Michigan's Cyganiak will
be up against Peterson.

NOPPORN 1ICHANANTIIA/Daily

Michigan's Jodi Brewer has been struggling lately.

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Iowa match could be a yawner for 'M

By Richard Shin
Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan men's tennis team's
match against the Hawkeyes on Satur-
day will be about as exciting as a walk
through an Iowa cornfield.
For the Wolverines, the harvest has
already come in.


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Michigan has reaped the benefits of
going undefeated in the month of April,
defeating regional rival Notre Dame,7-
0, on Tuesday and clinching the top
seed in the Big Ten championships to
be held in late April.
The Wolverines have won seven
matches in a row and eight out of nine
matches in the Big Ten this season. At
least statistically, the match against the
Hawkeves means little.
However. Michigan coach Brian
Eisner is not looking too far ahead.
"Iowa is in last place so, by the stand-
ings, it looks like this is an easy match."
Eisner said. "But they've had two play-
ers injured all year. It could turn out to
be a stronger match than what you would
think."
But on paper, there is not much to
think about Iowa - 0-8 in the Big Ten
- losing most recently to Penn State,
7-0. The H awkeyes have only one player
on their roster with a winning record--
second singles player Damir Seferovic,
who has a 9-7 record. Iowa is 5-13
overall.
Michigan's players will have a chance

to improve some of their own records.
The Wolverines' No. 6 singles player
William Farah has gone 12-1 to reach
the 20-win plateau and has a chance to
add another win to an already impres-
sive freshman campaign.
Michigan No. I singles player Peter
Pusztai has already won a career-high
34 matches and has earned the No. 22
ranking nationally. Third singles player
Arvid Swan has won 10 consecutive
matches after starting the season 14-14
and has been equally dominating in
doubles, winning eight in a row.
The match against the Hawkeyes may
provide the Wolverines with valuable
time oudoors, however. Michigan has
played very few matches outdoors this
season and could head into the Big Ten
championships with only a few days
practice outside - something Eisner
hopes to avoid.
"We're hoping that the weather turns
(better) here so we can start getting
outside and really start practicing out-
side," Eisner said. "The whole concern
is (because) the Big Ten tournament is
played outside."

Michigan.
men laxers
to defend
league titles
By Pranay Reddy
Daily Sports Writer
The recipe for a championship is of-
ten an extensive one, encompassing
many different ingredients.
No one knows this better than the
Michigan men's lacrosse club, which
heads to Madison this weekend to de-
fend its Big Ten championship. In face
the Wolverines will attempt to win their
seventh straight title and their eighth in
the past nine years.ae
Given their past-~dominance, one
would think this weekend would be yet
another cakewalk for Michigan. Rather,
this year's road to the championship
looks more difficult than ever.
"Everyone (has been) gunning for us
after we won the first few (champio
ships)," Michigan coach Bo
DiGiovanni said. "They are all out to
get us."
Some of the upstarts looking to chal-
lenge Michigan this year include Wis-
consin and Illinois, which both were
defeated last year by the Wolverines.
The Illini pose aparticularly interest-
ing matchup for Michigan, considering
the way the rivalry between the two has
grown over recent years.
Last season, the Wolverines earnede
12-10 comeback victory over IlImois i
the semifinals of the Big Ten champi-
onships. The Illini avenged the defeat
this year with a victory in the Big Ten
east regionals, 15-14.
"The Illinois-Michigan rivalry has
become a serious one," DiGiovanni said.
"(The rivalry) hs really intensified
because of (the east regionals)."
However, the win left a bitter taste i
the mouths of the Illini, due to tlW
controversy that followed. Question-
able calls by the referees- which they
admitted were poor after the game -
led DiGiovanni to appeal the game to
the NCAA. To no avail.
Therefore, the Illini still feel they
have some work left to do.
"We always have something to prove
against Michigan," Illinois coach Brian
Mosher. "We want to win the Big Tens."
The Illini won't be the only tea
looking to exact revenge this weeken .
Wisconsin will be looking to return the
favor from last year if the Badgers meet
Michigan in the finals. The fact that the
championships are being held in Madi-
son will only help Wisconsin.
"(Being at home) means a lot,"
DiGiovanni said. "For that reason,W i s-
consin is probably the favorite to win
it."
All this might be a moot point, ho*
ever, if the Wolverines look past their
first-round opponent, Northern Illinois.
"There is always a possibility (of an
upset)," DiGiovanni said. "Wejusthave
to guard against it."
Michigan will use the Northern Il-
linois game to iron out weaknesses
that showed up in its recent victory
over Northwood. Of particular con-
cern to the Wolverines was their fail-
ure to convert extra-man scorichne.Mhiasordnly o
chances. Michigan scored only o
goal out of 10 opportunities -a weak
10 percent.
"I put in some different man-up plays
that we haven't used before."

DiGiovanni said. "I hope they work out
for us."
Wolverine attackers Tom Henke and
Brian Molitor will both be essential to
Michigan's offensive efforts. The two
lead the Wolverines in scoring with
and 45 attack points each.
Michigan's younger offensive play-
ers will also play an important role this
weekend. Attackers Fred Yun, Tom Lall
and Eric Olson, as well as midfielder
Spencer Alstodt, will be crucial to the
Wolverines' success, just as they have
been all season.
"That group has to step up for us,"
DiGiovanni said. "They provide the
depth we need to win."

...

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