The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - Monday, September 16, 1996 - 3B .Stickers on both sides of shutouts By James Goldstein Daily Sports Writer When you give the opposing goaltender a day off, you know it's going to be a long day. The Michigan field hockey team granted Jamie Hill, Old Dominion's goalie, that favor in the Lady Monarchs' 7-0 annihilation of the Wolverines on taturday in Norfolk, Va. Not only was Michigan shut out, but the Wolverines did not have one shot on goal. Old Dominion outshot Michigan, 29-0, and dominated in penalty corners, 11-0. Danielle Chellew led the way for the Lady Monarchs. Chellew netted a hat trick with all the goals scored within a six-minute span of the second half. Five different Old Dominion players scored. The Wolverines made a quick recovery, though. Yesterday, also at the Foreman Field, Michigan turned the tables against William and Mary with a shutout win of its own, 2-0. The Wolverines (2-2 overall) rebounded from Saturday's zero-shot output with 15 shots on goal against the Tribe. They led in penalty corners, 6-4 - a category on which Michigan coach Marcia Pancratz focuses. Before the season began, the first- year coach said that getting and converting on penal- ty corners is one of the biggest keys to the Wolverines' games. But neither team could convert anything. Michigan and William and Mary dueled it out to a scoreless first half. And the game remained dead- locked at zero until the 11 th minute of the second half. That's when Wolverine attacker Michelle Smulders netted Michigan's first goal at 8:49. Freshman midfielder Erika Widder added an insurance goal just three minutes later. Widder's goal was the first goal of her collegiate career. And that was all Michigan's goaltender, Ann Helber, needed. Helber finished the game with 10 saves. She was also the lone bright spot in Saturday's loss. Even though she let in seven goals on 29 shots against Old Dominion, Helber still stopped 16 Lady Monarch attempts. The Tribe's goaltender, Jen Rinella, countered with nine saves. Michigan returns home this weekend to begin a five-game homestand. The Wolverines face Ball Sate this Saturday at 10 a.m. at Ocker Field. Michigan begins its conference slate Sept. 27 against Ohio State, followed by Penn State Sept. 29 and Michigan State on Oct. 2. Women lInksters take 5th at own Invite By 1J. Berke For the Daily The Michigan women's golf team opened its 1996-97 season at the soggy, cold University of Michigan Golf Course with a fifth-place finish at this weekend's olverine Invitational. 'I was expecting a better finish, due to the fact that we were playing at home and our play in the qualifying round, but I'm not overly disappointed," Michigan coach Kathy Teichert said. "However, it did seem that we went through the motions on the back nine during the final round." The Invitational, which saw Saturday's round washed out by rain showers, was won by 20th-ranked Indiana, which fin- ted with a two round total of 626. Ohio Tate, which is ranked 24th in the nation, came in just behind the Hoosiers with a 627. Kentucky, ranked 31 st, finished third with a total of 635. After leading the first round by three shots with a 312, the Buckeyes were caught Sunday by an inspired Hoosier team, which shot a 312 to overtake Ohio State by one shot. Indiana was led by Jenny Gray, who On the individual title with a two round total of three-over par 149 (74-75). Mary Vajgrt also played very well with the Hoosiers, taking fifth place with an 11- over-par 157 (81-76). The No. 36 Wolverines finished with a 659, one shot behind fourth-place Purdue and five shots ahead of conference rivals Michigan State and Northwestern. Michigan was led by Wendy Westfall, who finished in a seventh-place tie with a out, was a good indicator of where we are and what we need to work on in the future,' Teichert said. Unfortunately for the Wolverines, the best finish by a local player came from Kentucky's Katy Loy, an Ann Arbor native who transferred from Michigan this summer. Loy proved that you can come home again, taking third place with 14-over-par 160. "I can't be too disappointed with a top 10 fin- ish, but I could have definitely done better. I had a couple of mental mistakes and let a couple of holes get to me," Westfall said. I was expecting a betterfin ih.. but I'm not overly disappointed " - Kathy Teichert Michigan women's golf coach a six-over par 152 (75-77), fin- ishing behind Gray and Ohio State's Amy Langhals, who shot a five over 151. The Buckeyes were also helped out by Jessica Luciuk, who took fourth place with a nine-over par 155. Vajgrt Stacy Orschell of Men's golf places 3rd at Falcon-Cross By Y.J. Beika FRr the Daily The Michigan men's golf team finished third in the Falcon-Cross. Creek Invitational tournament in Colorado Springs, Colo., this week- end. Michigan used a final round score of 293 to jump from a sixth-place tie to its final position of third for a three round total of 894 (296-295-293). The Wolverines were paced by David Jasper, who finished second with a three-day total of 216 (71-71-w 74), or even par. Brent Idalski tied for 16th place and Kyle Dobbs tied for 23rd. Nebraska took the all-around title with an 975.(292-286-297). However, Ball State's Jaime Broce took the individual title with a four - under par 212 (69-71-72) to become the first Mid-American conference player to win the Falcon Invitational The Cardinals also did well as a team, finishing in second, six shots behind the Cornhuskers.. Sharon Park was next in line for Michigan with a 161(79-82), which put her in a tie for 11th place. Nicole Green ended up tied for 30th with a 168 (87-81). Molly Vandenbark (90-83) and Sarah Lindholm (87-86) finished in a tie for 47th, and Ashley Williams (87-87) took 51st place. "This tournament, for the first time SP1TS 1nayColumn BARRY SOLLEN BERGER Sollenberger in Paradise N~at' yr orhandicap? I'm looigfr lessons S omeone once said that there is nothing tougher to do in all of sports than to hit a round ball with a round bat. That person, of course, was talking about baseball.That person, of course, must have never played golf. Because there is no sport tougher to be good at than golf. Now, I must qualify what I mean by good. I don't consider a bogey golfer a good golfer. Pretty much anybody can pick up a set of clubs and - with lessons and practice over a couple of years - shoot 90 pretty regularly. The next step is the real challenge. It is much tougher to go from 90 to 80 than it is to go from 100 to 90. To me and to most amateurs, there is something special about someone who can consistently break 80. A golfer who can shoot 78 every time out can legitimately say: "I'm a break-80 player." It's a dream of many avid golfers, including me. A couple of Fridays ago, I made my way to the University of Michigan Golf Course to watch some break-80 players - the Michigan men's golf team members - at the team's annual tryout. I joined coach Jim Carras, and the two of us carted around the course watching 27 nervous golfers fire away in the hopes of making the team. You see, nervousness is as much a part of the game as divots. And the tension only increases as the stakes become higher. No matter how nervous you are on a lazy Sunday afternoon trying to make that five-foot putt, actual competition will make your knees shake that much more. At the tryout, the first golfer I saw swing away was a freshman, and no doubt a good player (Carras has to receive recom- mendations for anyone who wants to try out). The first hole is an easy par-five. But for this freshman, the only thing that mat- tered about the hole was the number - one. And he must have felt like the Masters hung in the balance. So the freshman takes his driver back and ... duff! ... hits more nature than ball. "There are a lot of nerves on the first tee," Carras said, mak- ing the understatement of the day. The divot from the shot landed about as far down the fairway as the ball. The poor guy must have wanted to uo bury himself in the nearest sand tra. and vet. anybody who was watching (and there was a group), had to have felt sorry for him. Every serious player knows how tough golf is. "In baseball, you either get a hit or you don't," Carras said. "You've got other guys who can bail you out. In golf, you are your own enemy out there. It's you against you, and that's the hardest thing for all of us." But the battle of you against you makes golf special. And if there is one wayto win it, it's by improving your mental game. Jack Nicklaus has won 19 major championships, many with his head. Sure, the Golden Bear has physical ability, but his mental game is unmatched. In contrast, Greg Norman has won just two majors, because he has a tendency to choke on the final holes. You see, in golf, a strong mental game is the difference between win- ning and losing. It is the difference between a 78 and an 82. You can hit 18 poor tee shots and still shoot a good score if your mental game is strong. You can grind.You can battle. You can be tough around the green. And if you can do all that, the next thing you know, you'll be in the clubhouse, reliving your round over a few drinks - even if you didn't hit a solid shot all day. And how? Because you battled hard on every shot, and didn't get down when things went badly. You will owe it all to your mental game. Unfortunately, it works the other way, too. Imagine this: You are playing the difficult Michigan course and have just saved par on the 17th hole to stay at eight-over for your round. Now if you can just par the 18th hole, a 455-yard par-four with a lake fronting the green, you will break 80 for the first time in God-knows-when. You pull out the driver and boom a shot 240-or-so yards down the middle, leav- ing you 215 yards from the pin - with a breeze in your face. But you're confident, so you select the two-iron for your approach. Calmly, you address the ball and take the club back as smoothly as your nerves will allow. Everything feels good until the club reaches the height of your back swing. And then suddenly, panic hits. You realize that if you hit this shot onto the green, you are going to make par and shoot 79. But if you flub it, the previous 17 holes that you played so well will be wasted. On your downswing, you catch the ball heavy. Splash. You end up making seven, for an 82. You are dejected. You are mad. You are hurt. And you can't wait to get back out there again. Such is the game of golf- the toughest in the world. - When he's not trying to break 80, Barry Sollenberger can be reached over e-mail atjsol@umich.edu. DESIGN YOUR OWN HATS ON THE WEB. www.stitchtime.com Also, check out our line of Major and Minor League Pro Teams finished next, with Purdue taking sixth with a 159. Michigan heads back out on the links this weekend at the Lady Northern Intercollegiate tournament in East Lansing. The tournament serves as a Big Ten preview, as every team in the confer- ence will be there. Linea far from the Mendoza line,' ready to set new school assist record By Kevin Kasiborsi Dily Sports Writer Maybe it will be Shareen Luze. Or it could be Sarah Jackson. Karen Chase could be the one. Sometime in the near future, one of the Wolverines will elevate into the air, slam the ball down for a kill and make Linnea Mendoza the career assist record holder at ichigan. The junior setter is already in the record book for most assists in a season, 1,478 last year, and most assists in a match, 73, which she has done three times. With her 76 assists in the Wolverines' three matches over Notebook the weekend, outside chance to break the record when Michigan visits the Illini on Sept. 28. She would have to aver- age 64 assists in the next four matches. The reason why any Wolverine could break the record for kills is because Mendoza doesn't have a favorite target. Her even distribution of the ball keeps her teammates happy, and opposing defenses off-balance. "Linnea played a great match - she was all over," Michigan coach Greg Giovanazzi said after the Wolverines beat Gonzaga Friday. "She ran a good offense for us, doing an outstanding job of distributing an even attack among our hitters." ALL-TOURNAMENT TALENT: For the second weekend in a row, Mendoza and teammate Luze were selected to the all-tournament team. Last weekend, they were on the Volleyball Challenge all- tournament team for their play against Florida and Georgia. The rest of the Spikeoff Spokane team was Gonzaga, and Barbara Kovacs, Virag Domkos and Joy Kingsley-Ineh (tournament Most Valuable Player) from George Mason. LET'S PLAY Two: Sophomore Anne Poglits, who is also a member of the Michigan women's basket- ball team, is in her first season playing college vol- leyball. "Anne continues to show she has a strong attack and blocking game," Giovanazzi said. "She is doing a good job for us." Poglits played in all three matches over the week- end. She had two kills and two digs in the Wolverines' loss to George Mason. LET'S PLAY THREE: All three of Michigan's matches this weekend ended after three sets. In nine matches so far this year, the Wolverines only played three sets seven times. They lost to UCLA in four sets Sept. 1, and beat Toledo in four last Tuesday. Michigan has yet to play a five set match this sea- son. Mendoza is now 254 short of Tarnisha Thompson's record of 2,619. Thompson is currently an assistant coach at ;4inois. Although it is unlikely, Mendoza has an Jennifer Kubista and Christy Kubista from SPIKEOFF Coninued from Page 1B the end, however, George Mason proved to be too much, scoring six straight points. "This match was a learning expe- riernce for us," Giovanazzi said. O h~eir serving kept us off balance whole time." The 14 aces by George Mason was a season high for a Michigan oppo- nent. George Mason's Joy Kingsley- Ibee, the MVP of the tournament, and Virag Domokos combined for 26 total kills to add to Michigan's woes. Jackson topped the Wolverines offensively with seven kills and seven digs, defensively. The loss halted Michigan's win- ning streak at three games. But the Wolverines didn't have much time to lament, or rest, since their next game was against Wyoming noon. that after- The Cowgirls were leading 7-2 in the first game, before the Wolverines rallied and won, en route to a 15-11, 15-8, 15-5 sweep. Michigan used a balanced scoring attack, once again spearheaded by Mendoza's 40 assists. Chase had a Michigan season-best .519 hitting percentage with 17 kills, and per- sonal career highs in kills (15) and digs (13), as well. Luze added 15 kills and 13 digs. For their strong performance throughout the tournament, Mendoza and Luze were selected to the l-tournament team. The Wolverines have a week to reflect on their successful 2-1 per- formance at this weekend's tourna- ment before facing Notre Dame in a non-conference match Friday at Cliff Keen Arena. II m