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SCoreboard L.A. Lakers at SAN ANTONIO, Inc.
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
BOSTON 103, Atlanta 85 Colorado 4, DETROIT 1
TORONTO 110, Philadelphia 98 Florida 5, MONTREAL 3
CLEVELAND 81, Portland 70 N.Y. ISLANDERS 5. Vancouver 4
DETROIT 95, Denver 94 Phladelphia 2, N.Y. RANGERS 1
Washington 106, at NEW JERSEY 91 Edmonton 4, OTTAWA 0
Miami at CHICAGO Inc. Home team in CAPS
Thursday
November 14, 1996
16A
Spikers ready for
first nationally
televised game
36'ers exploit
M weaknesses
By Kevin Kasiborski
Daily Spxorts Writer
The Michigan volleyball team is
heading down the home stretch of its
season - literally.
Michigan (5-9 Big Ten, 10-15 over-
all) will play four of its last six
matches at Cliff Keen Arena, starting
with No. 6 Penn State tomorrow at 7
p.m. and No. 11 Ohio State on
Saturday at 5 p.m.
Saturday's match will start early to
allow~for a live broadcast on ESPN2.
It wibe the first time the Wolverines
haveppeared on national television.
"It' really
exciting to This
haves ESPN2 weekend
in Keen
in Kee Who: Michigan vs.
A r " n a , Penn State and Ohio
M i i g a n State
coach Greg When: Penn State,
G ioyanazzi Friday, 7 p.m.; Ohio
said. "My State, Saturday, 5
hope is that p.m.
we can get Where: Cliff Keen
soma; people Arera
overt here, TV: ESPN2
ever though
it's Jbing to be tight with the end of
the fgotball game."
In ddition to the unusual starting
time, Saturday's match will also fea-
ture a modified scoring system to
ensure that it fits in a two-hour time
slot.
T f tirst three games will be eight-
minute timed garnes. with the clock
stopping between the end of a play
and the next serve.
Teams can win by one point in the
first lhree games, as opposed to the
tvo points that are normally required.
If games four or five are necessary,
they will be played using rally scoring
-o 17 points, and teams must win by
two.
II rally scoring, a point is awarded
on every serve, which means teams
earn a point for a side-out.
.(Big Ten coaches) feel like they
have been mandated to use this sys-
tem that nobody likes," Giovanazzi
said. "Everybody would rather just go
out and play a three-out-of-five
match. But I think this a better format
than what they had last year.
"It's something that I am much
more familiar with than my players,
because it's what we used to use back
in the old days, when we were in these
big tournaments with lots of teams, to
stay on schedule."
Michigan may have to play this
weekend without the services of set-
ter Linnea Mendoza. Mendoza
injured her shoulder last Saturday in a
loss to Wisconsin.
Giovanazzi said her status for
tomorrow is questionable. Senior
Erin McGovern will replace Mendoza
if she is unable to play.
Whoever does the setting, the
Wolverines will need strong play
from their attackers. Senior Kristen
Ruschiensky and sophomore Jeanine
Szczesniak have been pacing the
offense lately.
They each had 13 kills last Friday
in Michigan's win over Minnesota,
and Ruschiensky tallied 22 kills in a
losing cause the next night in
Wisconsin.
This is a pivotal weekend for
Michigan. After these two matches,
the Wolverines close out their season
with four beatable opponents.
Even assuming Michigan is able to
win all four, it will still need a split
this weekend in order to finish with a
.500 conference record.
Last year Michigan finished the
season by upsetting then eighth-
ranked Penn State at Keen.
"It gives you hope," Giovanazzi
said of last year's victory. "Every year
we have pulled off some pretty
incredible upsets. I think more than
anything else, it is a motivation to
every athlete that, not to be cliche
but, no match is over until its played."
Tomorrow will be Penn State's (12-
2, 23-2) first return visit to Ann Arbor
since that loss, but any revenge from
last year's match was probably taken
care of when Penn State defeated
Michigan in State College, 15-5, 15-
1, 15-9, on Oct. 5.
With a victory over Michigan State
last week, the Lady Lions split their
season series with the Spartans, and
the two teams are now tied atop the
Big Ten standings.
During the same road trip that took
them to Penn State earlier this season,
the Wolverines were swept by Ohio
State, 15-9, 15-1, 15-6.
The Buckeyes (11-3, 22-3)khave an
18-match winning streak over
Michigan dating back to 1987.
Ohio State is led by the current Big
Ten Player of the Week, Venessa
Wouters.
The junior outside hitter ranks
fourth nationally with a 6.11 kills per
game average.
In Ohio State's first meeting with
Michigan, Wouters had 18 kills, and
the Buckeyes outhit the Wolverines,
.365 to .068.
"The reality is we're just playing
two very good teams' Giovanazzi
said. "Two teams that are going to go
to the tournament and probably find
By Danielle Rumore
Daily Sports Editor
Australia Adelaide coach Steve
Spencer was pleased with his team's per-
formance against the Michigan men's
basketball team Monday night.
And he should be happy. Although the
Wolverines won, 97-91, it took double
overtime before the Wolverines could
dispose of the 36'ers in Michigan's first
exhibition game of the season.
And in the close battle, the 36'ers
exploited a lot of the Wolverines' weak-
nesses, mainly rebounding and defense.
Despite a major size differential in the
paint, the 36'ers managed to stay with
the Wolverines on the boards. Some
might even say the Wolverines were out-
played on the boards, despite a 54-48
rebounding advantage. But Adelaide's
rebounds set up many second- and third-
chance opportunities, helping the 36'ers
keep the score close.
Spencer was not surprised by his
team's effectiveness in the paint and said
size has nothing to do with rebounding.
"If you compete, you go after the bas-
ketball, and you want it, you can get it,'
Spencer said. "It's all about who wants
the basketball more."
The second- and third-chance oppor-
tunities allowed the 36'ers to score easy
baskets on the break. And Adelaide did
not seem to have a problem beating the
Wolverines down the floor.
"We got a whale of a lot of work to do
with our rebounding," Michigan coach
Steve Fisher said. "We were awful with
our post-double. But that will come.
"This (game) was good for us. We
will take this as a great teaching tool.
This is just what we needed to see all
the little things we need to work on."
BENCH \ wARING: While the
Wolverines work on rebounding and
defense, forward Maceo Baston will
work on himself.
The junior is nursing an achilles ten-
don injury he suffered in practice last
week. He did not play against Adelaide
and may not be ready to play in the see-
ond exhibition game Monday against
Athletes in Action.
"Maceo's got an achilles injury that
we're concerned about " Fisher said. "It's ,
still tender. If he's hurting a little bit,
we're gonna hold him out next week,
too. I'd rather wait than rush him bck."
BENCH UN-WARMING: While Baston
may not have enjoyed sitting on the
bench, freshman center Peter Vignier
must have been more than happy to get
off it.
Baston's absence in the lineup allowed
Vignier to get some minutes Monday.
Vignier, who is deemed a project 0
Fisher considered redshirting, was able
to get in the rotation and fill the hole left
by Baston. He did not have any field
goals, but pulled down seven rebounds
- tied for third on the team with Jerod
Ward - and was 3-of-4 from the foul
line to finish with three points in 21 min-
utes of action.
Vignier's extended appearance on the
floor was due to Baston's injury. If
Baston had played, Vignier may have
seen fewer minutes.
"(If Baston were healthy), I proba-
bly would have gone with the veterans.
the guys who started all last year,"
Fisher said. "To be honest with you,
Peter may not have gotten as many
minutes. It was good that he got some
minutes."
COLD SPELL: Last season, Loul.
Bullock averaged 13.3 points per
game and was Michigan's only truec
perimeter scoring threat.
On Monday, Bullock had one of his
worst scoring outings as a Wolverine. He
connected on just two of 12 shots from
the field, both of which were from down-
town.
He finished with 16 points, courtesy
of the charity stripe., where he sank 10
of 12 free throw attempts.
"I would go to the bank with most of
the shots he took," Fisher said. "So we
got to make sure that he knows that,
even though he was 2-for-12 that's his
shot."
MARK FRIEDMAN/Daily
Travis Conlan and the rest of the Wolverines needed double overtime to dispose of
Australia Adelaide, 97-91, on Monday night. The Wolverines' poor defense and
rebounding allowed the 36'ers to stay close the entire game.
Women's harriers look to qualify for NCAAs
By Chris Farah
Daily Sports Writer
The hard work, determination and
effort the Michigan women's cross
country team has investedin this season
will come to a head Saturday at the
NCAA district championships in
Champaign.
If Michigan places second or better in
the field and makes it to nationals, then
the Wolverines would have maximized
their potential. Disappointing losses to
relatively unheralded teams like Eastern
Michigan, and the Wolverines' fifth-
place finish in their only home meet of
the season, would be forgotten.
If the Wolverines are unable to rise to
the challenge, however, they will be the
first Michigan squad in eight years not to
qualify for the NCAA championships.
Breaking such an illustrious tradition
is not what Michigan captain Jen
Barber wants her senior year to be
remembered for.
"It would be really bad to go out on a
bad note," Barber said. "I don't want to
finish and think I had more left, or I
didn't race as hard as I could have, or I
let my team down. I just want to give it
my all and not have any regrets."
Barber said that although the rest of
the young Michigan team may not share
her sense of urgency, she knows that
they realize the importance of maintain-
ing the high standards associated with
Michigan cross country.
"We know it's something we've done
for years, and it's something we're defi-
nitely capable of doing this year,"
Barber said. "We don't want our season
to end now, because it would be anti-cli-
mactic. I think even though (the rest of
the Wolverines) are young, they defi-
nitely understand it's important' to race
hard this weekend, because nationals is
really what it's all about."
Now may be the best time for the
Wolverines to face what could poten-
tially be the ultimate test of the sea-
son. After a strong showing at the
Big Ten championships two weeks
ago, Barber feels that the Wolverines
have gained the momentum they
need to propel themselves iito
NCAAs.
"I definitely think it will help us,"
Barber said. "Big Tens was definitely
a step in the right direction. It was def-
initely a confidence booster, but I
think we can run better, and we're
going to have to do that to make it to
nationals."
Michigan is not guaranteed a bid to
the championships. Due to a disap-
pointing mid-season performance, the
Wolverines will not be able to rely on an
at-large bid to qualify. Instead, they
must place in the top two at districts in
order to receive an automatic invitation
to the national meet.
Wisconsin is the heavy favorite to
win districts. The Wolverines need t(.
concentrate on the Badgers and some of
the other strong teams such as Notre
Dame, Ohio, Bowling Green and
Eastern Michigan. T he Wolverines
already have regular-season losses to .
the Falcons and the Eagles, so Michigan
coach Mike McGuire knows that earn-
ing a bid is not a given.
"We're pretty focused on the fact that
we have to be no worse than second,"
McGuire said. "Bowling Green only
beat us by three or four earlier in the
season, so we feel we can knock them
off. We have to have our pack well
ahead of Notre Dame's pack, (but) with
their front-runners they're going to pre-
sent a tall order for us."
Barber said that if the Wolverines are
going to compete successfully, their
pack of runners must be as aggressive
as possible - attacking the front,
instead of becoming complacent durin
the race.
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