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spikers bounce Georgia,

grab second in weekend tourney

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By Kevin Kasiborski
Daily Sports Writer
Let this weekend be a lesson for
future visitors to Cliff Keen Arena.
You don't want to play the Michigan
women's volleyball team when it's
mad. Just ask Georgia.
The Wolverines were not happy
about losing their first three matches
in Hawaii, even though all three
opponents were ranked in the top 25.
And they weren't thrilled about los-
ing their home opener in three
straight sets to No. 9 Florida on
Friday, either.
The Wolverines vented four losses
worth of frustration on Georgia at
the Volleyball Challenge on
Saturday, sweeping them 15-3, 15-1,
15-6, in a dominating performance.
"I think there has been a lot of
frustration," junior setter Linnea
Mendoza said. "We have come to
point 12 a couple times and then
made a few mistakes, and the game
is over."
Earlier in the evening, Florida (7-
1) needed only an hour to drop
Illinois, 15-3, 15-4, 15-5. That win,
coupled with the 15-13, 15-6, 15-9
defeat of Michigan, crowned the

Gators champions.
In the first game of the non-brack-
eted tournament Friday, the Illini (2-
2) beat Georgia, 12-15, 15-11, 15-8,
15-7.Michigan tied Illinois for sec-
ond, and Georgia finished fourth.
Georgia (2-3) was the first non-
ranked team Michigan (1-4) had
faced this season. The Lady
Bu Ildogs scored first in the opening
game, but then the Wolverines rat-
tled off eight unanswered points.
Mendoza took over the Michigan
serve with the score 9-3, and pro-
ceeded to end game one in short
order. A block by sophomores
Jeanine Szczesniak and Linsey Ebert
accounted for one point, Mendoza
served two aces, and on game point,
a spike by Ebert gave the Wolverines
game one, 15-3.
The second game started in similar
fashion to the first. Aces by Szczesniak
and senior Sarah Jackson, and a kill by
sophomore Karen Chase helped estab-
lish an 8-1 Michigan lead. But the
Georgia defense tightened, and the
teams traded 23 side outs in a row.
Finally, with senior Shareen Luze
serving, Georgia hit out of bounds
following a long rally to give the
Wolverines a 9-1 lead.

"It seemed like there was a very
short period of time when they were
finding the holes in our defense,"
Michigan coach Greg Giovanazzi
said. "Then, all of sudden, we start-
ed to touch a couple of balls. We
started that ninth point with a dig,
and that was kind of the story for us
all night point-scoring wise."
A kill by Chase and another by
Jackson helped get the Wolverines to
game point. Georgia's Lita Sisso hit
into the net, giving the Wolverines
the second game, 15-1.
The third game gave Giovanazzi a
chance to play some of his substi-
tutes.
"Georgia is a team that last year
beat us 3-0 over at their place, and is
a team that started the season ranked
in the top 25," Giovanazzi said. "It
was good not only to have (the
starters) play well, but to get Anne
Poglits in, and to get Kristen
(Ruschiensky) in, and to see Maggie
(Copper) in for a little bit."
In game three, Michigan jumped
out to an 11-2 lead. The two teams
traded a few points, and with the
score at 14-6 and match point,
Szczesniak served the Wolverines
ninth ace of the night giving them

the game 15-6, and the match, 3-0.
"We serve a lot of balls in prac-
tice, and we have been playing some
unbelievably good ball-handling
teams," Giovanazzi said. "I think
you are going to see this be the case,
especially when you have Linnea
and Jeanine in there."
Chase and Ebert led Michigan's
attack with eight kills each.
Mendoza had 26 assists and six digs
to go with her four aces.
Against the Gators on Friday,
Michigan held them at match point
twice in game one before losing, 15-
13.
The Gators easily won the second
game, 15-6, but the Wolverines did-
n't fold and jumped out to a 7-0 lead
in game three. But the Gators came
back to tie the game at 7-7, and went
on to win 15-9.
Luze led Michigan with 15 kills,
and Jackson added 10.
After the Georgia match, Chase said
the experience gained in Hawaii is
already starting to pay off.
"It definitely helped," she said. "We
are used to playing these hard teams,
and playing them consistently. And
that's what we did tonight, we played
them pretty consistently."


; Michigan volleyball team notched its first victory of the season, defeating
orgia, 15.3, 15-1, 15-6, on Saturday.

Stickers 3'

split
weekend

ouched

games

By Pranay Reddy
Daily Sports Writer
The construction surrounding Ocker
field makes quite an interesting back-
rop for Michigan field hockey games
his year. The cranes and bulldozers go
and in hand with the efforts of
higan's first-year coach Marcia
kratz. She will be responsible for
improving on last year's groundbreak-
ng season.
R With all the tools in place, Pankratz
gan work on Michigan's 1996 cam-
ign this past weekend. The
olverines lost to Temple on Saturday,
1:O, and beat Boston College yesterday,
The Wolverines began their season
trong against the Owls, dominating
for the majority of the game, yet
a ling, 1-0. The coaching debuts for
Pankratz and assistants Tracey Fuchs
and Peggy Storrar were overshadowed
by the stellar performance from Owls
junior goalkeeper Deb Brown.
"Michigan played a real good
game," Temple coach Lauren Fuchs
said, "but Deb was terrific. (The
Wolverines) could have easily been
ahead 5-1 at half-time, but she kept us
fie game."
The Wolverines rebounded from
Saturday's setback and defeated the
Eagles, 3-2. Michigan exacted revenge
on Boston College for spoiling its sea-
son opener last year, 2-1.
Michigan's offense was sluggish at
the onset of the game, while the Eagles
were consistently in Michigan's end of
the field, outshooting the Wolverines in
the half, 9-5. The Wolverines did not
*v their first goal until the beginning
) he second half, when attacker Amy
Philbrook punched in a rebound from a
penalty corner.
"After yesterday, (not scoring) was
frustrating for us," Pankratz said. "But
after we got the first (goal), I know the
players on the field believed they could
score "
As the game progressed, there
seemed to be no flaws in Michigan's
#nsive game plan. Yet, with 13 min-
utes left in the game, Boston College's
Andrea Durko tied the game.
A little over a minute later, the
Eagles jumped ahead when Ann Marie
Ambros' shot slipped past Michigan
goalie Amy Helber.

y

ato

By Danelle Rumore
Daily Sports Editor
ere are three different women, each with a different story, coupled with
memories and dreams.
Three different women, three different roads traveled, yet somehow fated to
come and stand together.
The first woman was only 11 years old when she realized her fate. She sat in
front of the television set, her blond hair bobbing on her shoulders, her eyes wide
open. She realized during the summer of 1976 that someday, she would be like
the people on TV
The next woman remembers the same summer in '76, only she was just nine
years old. This little one liked what she saw and resigned herself to making it
onto the television, too.
In fact, the pre-teen was so confident, she negotiated her first business
deal before she hit double-digits. She asked her mother if she would buy her
a car if she accomplished her goal. Her mother, half-joking and half-serious,
said yes. Twelve years later, the woman was the proud owner of a brand-new
Grand Am.
The third woman doesn't remember the beginning. She was born with the
dream and realized that it could be a reality when she entered high school.
The three women are now grown-up, but still beam with childhood innocence
and pride when they talk about how their dream became a reality, touched by
fate.
The three women just played for the U.S. field hockey team in the 1996
Olympics. Marcia Pankratz, Tracey Fuchs and alternate Peggy Storrar wore the
red, white and blue for the United States in Atlanta.
And now they wear the maize and blue as first-year coaches of the Michigan
field hockey team.
They hail from different backgrounds, states and colleges. But it's their
differences that make them so similar. Their stories brought them together
into the field hockey world and to Atlanta - and for Pankratz and Fuchs,
to Seoul in 1988 - and finally landed them in Ann Arbor as one in the
same.

U..
Pankratz's office in Weidenbach Hall reeks of new beginnings. There are no
momentos left over from former coach Patti Smith's tenure. Just white, bare
walls that stand alone without pictures and awards. Pankratz's desk is clear,
except for a telephone in the corner. The office across the hall, used by assistant
coaches Fuchs and Storrar, looks about the same.
The only decoration on the wall next to Pankratz's desk are the words to the
Michigan fight song, "Hail to the Victors."
"The girls put that up for us," Pankratz says. "(This job is) just a different
chapter (in our lives), I guess. You bring all of those experiences from what we

MARK FRIEDMAN/Daily
Top: Michigan field hockey coach Marcia Pankantz (right) looks on as the Wolverines edge out Boston College, 3-2, yester-
dav Pankrz. a mAmhr of the 199S U.S. Olvmnlc field hockey team. is in her first season with the Wolverines, replacing


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