1
PRO Dallas 4,
HOCKEY WASHINGTON 3
DETROIT , CHICAGO 3,
San Jose 3 Vancouver 0
NY. Islanders 5. Phoenix at
MONTREAL 2 EDMONTON, inc.
St. Louis 3,
PHILADELPHIA 2
Ottawa 5,
TAMPA BAY 2
PRO
BASKETBALL
NEW Y ORf 93.
Dalias 74
Ne; ter - k127,
TORONTO 104
UTAH 98.
Phoenix 89
Thursday
October 33, 1997
M'
spikers trounce
'Cats,-
bounce back from slump
Blue uses strong attack to stop small Northwestern squad
By Josh Kleinbaum
Daily Sports Writer
The term "must-win game" is used often in sports,
probably too often. But it wouldn't have been an exag-
geration to call last night's match against Northwestern a
must-win situation for the Michigan volleyball team.
And the Wolverines (8-3 Big Ten, 15-7 overall)
responded, spanking the Wildcats, 15-9, 15-5, 15-3.
Just three days earlier, the Wolverines suffered a heart-
breaking loss to Ohio State.
After starting the season with the best conference
record in history of the program, the Wolverines had lost
two of their last four games before facing Northwestern,
and they were not playing anywhere near the top of their
game.
To make matters worse, they were facing a hungry
Northwestern team that has shown improvement lately.
Despite winning only two conference games,
Northwestern took No. 1 Penn State to five games just
last week, marking the first time all year the Nittany
Lions faced a decisive game.
"If we had come out flat after the Ohio State loss, it
could have started a tailspin" Michigan coach Greg
Giovanazzi said. "This was a very significant win."
Led by an even .400 attack-percentage, the
Wolverines' front line dominated a smaller Northwestern
(2-9, 11-1l) squad.
2To hit .400in a match is pretty incredible,"
Giovanazzi said. "if you hit that well, you'll almost
always win."
Outside hitters Karen Chase and Sarah Behnke paced
the offense, combining for 21 kills. Chase added an ace
and five blocks, with an attack percentage of .381.
Middle blocker Sarah Jackson had another 11 kills and
' five blocks.
Jackson's attack percentage of .438 was second only to
setter Linnea Mendoza. Although Mendoza's job is to
pace the offense with her setting - she also had 41
JOHN KRAFT/Dalyassists - she added a helpful offensive punch with her
help the Wolverines coast past perfect 4-for-4 kills.
"Wc controlled the net, and we hit and blocked so
Men's cross country
favored at Big Tens
well," Giovanazzi said. "if we continue that kind of pl
we'll be in real good shape."
Middle blocker Linsey Ebert was a big part of the
Wolverines' efforts to control the net. Although she only
recorded three blocks, her size intimidated the smaller
Wildcats.
"Ebert was a huge force blocking," Giovanazzi said.
"They were falling all over her."
Jeanine Sczcesniak pulled off an incredible feat, giv-
ing the Wildcats more trouble on the court than they
would have had pronouncing her last name. The outside
hitter turned in a balanced performance, combining thr
service aces with eight defensive digs and a .417 attacY
percentage.
Going into the match, the Wolverines did not focus on
their sideout game but rather worked on serving and
blocking, so they could exploit a Northwestern team with
only one player over six-feet tall on the roster. The strat-
egy resulted in nine total blocks, eight more than their
purple-clad counterparts.
The Wildcats relied on outside hitter Melissa Doan.
The Kalamazoo native did her part, recording an
astounding .625 attack percentage, but no one else hit
better than .300.
Northwestern's overall attack percentage of .194 was
dismal. Couple that with 20 errors, and the Wildcats did-
n't have a chance.,
ButNorthwestern's biggest problem was its service
game.
Michigan netted nine sideouts without even having to
touch the ball, thanks to service errors by the Wildcats.
Northwestern did not record a single ace.
For the Wolverines, the match marked the start of their
second swing through the Big Ten schedule. Michiga
swept the Wildcats in Ann Arbor on Oct. 1.1The previo W
experience aided Giovanazzi and his staff - they only
had two days to prepare for Northwestern this time.
"One of our strengths as a staff is our ability to pre-
pare," Giovanazzi said. "We didn't have much time to
prepare for this match, so it helped that we had already
seen them."
man outside hitter Sarah Behnke used 10 kills and a .350 attack percentage to
rthwestern,15-,15-5,15-3.
By Chad Kujala
Daily Sports Writer
Momentum.
That is something the Michigan
men's cross country team possesses
heading into Saturday's Big Ten
championships.
The. Wolverines are riding an
undefeated season into Columbus as
they face their conference foes. Not
only has Michigan won every event
it has entered, its average winning
score is a mere 34 points.
Frustration.
That is something Michigan has
felt the past three seasons - an
effect of finishing as Big Ten runner-
up. As a result, the Wolverines have
come back this year with the mental
attitude and desire to improve.
The two together make the third-
ranked Wolverines the favorite head-
ing into this weekend.
Senior Kevin Sullivan is the only
member on the team to have experi-
enced a team Big Ten championship.
As a freshman in 1993, Sullivan and
his teammates finished first.
Sullivan, along with junior John
Mortimer, are another reason why
the Wolverines are favored this
week.
"I don't think there will be anyone
at Big Tens who can touch them,"
Michigan coach Ron Warhurst said.
Although Mortimer has never
been on a Big Ten championship
team, he knows how to deal with
being the favorite. "I think that if we
run with the same intensity and
focus we've had all year, we will be
successful," Mortimer said.
Another factor to the Wolverines'
success all season has been their
depth. Sophomores Steve Lawrence
and Jay Cantin, junior Todd Snyder
and senior Don McLaughlin have
consistently placed in the top 15 fin-
ishers in races. High finishes by this
foursome is what keeps their team
See BIG TENS, Page IA
LOUIS BROWN/tDaity
The Michigan men's cross country team is running into Columbus for the 1997 Big
Ten championships this weekend. u
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