October 5, 1998 - SportsMonday - The Michigan Daily - 38 .Stickers stay atop Big Ten with two wins r By Dan Dingw'son For the Daily To be the best, you have to beat the best. In the past 17 years, there has been no question who the best field hockey team in the Big Ten was - Iowa. In that span of time the Hawkeyes *ave won 12 conference titles and advanced to the Final Four nine times. In those 17 years Iowa had beaten Michigan on 31 occasions - consec- utively. All that changed last year when the Wolverines swept Iowa in two meet- ings on their way to a share of the reg- ular season conference crown. Friday, former Hawkeye player and current Michigan coach Marcia Pankratz led the ninth-ranked olverines into Iowa City, where !Michigan downed Iowa for the third straight time, 2-0. The win was the third straight over- all for the Wolverines. It dropped the once-formidable Hawkeyes to 0-3 in the Big Ten and marked their eighth straight conference loss. Michigan was led by sophomore Kelli Gannon, who netted both goals ,to give her the team lead with eight. e first goal came early in the game, giving the Wolverines all of the scor- ing they would need. The defense shined as it has all year, only allowing the Hawkeyes to get off nine shots. "It was another big win for us," Pankratz said, "I'm very happy with the way we came out and played, espe- cially in a tough place like Iowa." Yesterday, the Wolverines faced another traditional conference power. Northwestern like Iowa, has fallen from its place atop the Big Ten. Last year the Wolverines swept the Wildcats for the first time ever. This year, Northwestern has been losing, managing only a 4-7 record heading into the game. It was a struggle. The Wolverines had to come back from a 2-0 deficit to win 3-2. Northwestern's Wendy DeFord and Lindsay Wright struck first for the Wildcats. Gannon started the scoring mid- way through the first half to get the team on the board before the break. In the second half Michigan shut down Northwestern, and senior for- ward Amy Philbrook netted two goals. Gannon was the star of the week- end, netting five points on three goals and two assists. She had a hand in every Michigan score this weekend. The win kept the Wolverines atop the Big Ten with a 3-0 conference record. Michigan (10-2 overall) has won four in a row. "We're very happy to be coming home undefeated in the Big Ten,' said Pankratz. "Iowa and Northwestern are two very good teams and we have two very big games coming next weekend against Ohio State and Penn State. "We wanted to head into the Ohio State game perfect in the Big Ten and we accomplished that." JIM ROSE w JOSH KLEINBAUM/Daily After victories against two respected programs, Iowa and Northwestern, the Michigan field hockey team can safely be called road warriors. 4Vichigan volleyball splits pair of sweeps By Michael Shafrir For the Daily The Michigan volleyball team took to the road this past weekend with two goals. First, it wanted its first Big Ten victory of the year. Mission accom- plished. Second, it looked to beat both Northwestern and Indiana in its contin- uing effort to move to the top echelon of the conference. Well, one out of two isn't bad. The Wolverines dominated Friday night in a three-game sweep of Northwestern, 15-7, 15-12, 15-12. Michigan coach Greg Giovanazzi credited Michigan's defense and ser- vice game for the win. "Our service game was excellent tonight and really took Northwestern out of its offense, which led to our superb blocking numbers," Giovanazzi said in a written statement. Senior Jeanine Szczesniak regis- tered a team-high hitting percentage of .313. Giovanazzi said that he expected a big game from Szczesniak. "Jeanine is from Illinois and she seems to always play well when we are in this state," Giovanazzi said. Michigan dominated play around the net, led by Linsey Ebert's Il blocks. Anne Poglits and Joanna Fielder also controlled the net, each registering seven blocks. All three middle blockers set career highs in blocks. "This was the best blocking perfor- mance I have ever seen out of a Michigan team:' Giovanazzi said. The victory marked Michigan's first Big Ten win of the season. "It was a huge win for us," Giovanazzi said. "It was really impor- tant for us to get started on a winning track." After the triumph at Northwestern, the Wolverines traveled to Bloomington to take on the Hoosiers in another Big Ten matchup. The Wolverines faltered in a three game match, 9-15, 12-15, 14-16. The loss dropped the Wolverines to 1-3 in the Big Ten, 9-5 overall. "The reality is that the travel is something we have to get used to," Giovanazzi said. "The level of play emotionally was higher, but skill wise and statistically it was lower." Giovanazzi said he was disappointed with the team's blocking performance, especially after its showing at Northwestern. The Wolverines man- aged only two blocks against the Hoosiers. Michigan was either leading or tied late in each of the three games. The turning point, said Giovanazzi, was deep in the second game. "We had some breakdowns at cru- cial points with our passing game and they got really hot on their serve," Giovanazzi said. He credited Sarah Behnke and Annie Maxwell, two substitutes, for coming off the bench in the third game and providing a much needed spark for the team. Dedk~eati pereverance no tjist found on Gdiron OWA CITY - Outside, the town is buzzing. It's the usual football Saturday scene, Big Ten campus, early October. Fans line the sidewalks and tailgaters claim every corner. Scalpers case the streets. It's windy and gray and chilly - football weather, no doubt about it. More than two hours before kickoff, the sever- al-block radius surrounding Kinnick Stadium is alive with activity. Meanwhile, in a hot and stuffy room on the second floor of Carver-Hawkeye Arena, just a few blocks from the football stadium, there are a couple dozen spec- tators watching a couple dozen athletes beat up on one another. It's just a practice session, one of hundreds, but it's intense. Bodies are crashing. Tempers are flaring. And thereare more All-Americans in the room than there will be all fall at the football stadium. It's wrestling practice at Iowa. It's tucked away in the back of the basketball arena, but here, in this sweltering shoebox of a room, is where greatness is born on this campus. Iowa wrestling is like Michigan football. Only better. Much better. The Hawkeyes' wrestling success is arguably the most impressive of any athletic program in decades. The numbers are staggering: 61 All-Americans in the 1990s alone, 20 individual national champions in that same time frame. Twenty-four Big Ten team championships in a row. And here, in a small second-floor room, is where it begins. Practice today consists of one-on-one wrestling matches. They look a lot like the real thing, actually, except that they just don't ever end. Oh sure, every few minutes the whistle blows and the players have a minute or so to get a quick drink, but after that, it's back to the mats. Pushing, pulling, smacking, grappling - it's so brutal, it hurts to watch. Coaches Tom Brands (Olympic gold medalist, two-time world champ, four-time All-American, 1992 Iowa grad) and his twin brother Terry (two-time world champ, three-time All-American, 1992 Iowa grad) are running the show. They're your basic products of the Iowa program. Mike Zadnick and David Marrah, a pair of 134-pounders on this year's team, are scratching and clawing at each other like a couple of crazed cats. They're a micro- cosm of the entire practice. At first, they're simply writhing and rolling across the ground - but as the duel heats up, they stray off the mat, onto the cement floor, and into - no, make that onto - the bleachers. The tremendous crash of their bodies hitting the stands is noticed by, well, nobody. They disentangle themselves, crawl back to the mat, and start over. This, apparently, happens all the time. A yellow garbage can, about three feet tall, sits a few paces from the mat. It's about one-fourth full - of spit. Every couple minutes, an exhausted wrestler stag- gers over and spits in its general direction, the result being an area with a rather foul smell and an awfully slippery floor. Right now, sophomore Paul Jenn is adding to the mess. Just for good measure, he removes the bloodied tape he's got around his head and adds it to the collection. This, too, is part of the normal rou- tine. Dan Gable, Iowa's coach for the past 21 years and probably the most recogniz- able name in the not-so-recognized world of collegiate wrestling, is in the early stages of a "one-year leave of absence" from his position, though many have referred to him as actually "retiring." And while his sport may be difficult for some to understand and appreciate, there's no denying the fact that the program he's developed is one of the best, probably the best, of its kind. Outside, the atmosphere has heightened; kickoff approaches. But inside the wrestling room, the crowd has thinned. And it's still sweltering. And they're still practicing. It's enough to make you realize, as another twisted mass of muscles screeches dangerously close to the bleachers, that the best things are not necessarily the ones for which thousands of people are willing to stand out in the rain. It's one thing to create a reputation when 70,000 people are watching, win or lose, every single Saturday. It's another thing entirely to do it from a hot and stuffy second-floor room, with a couple dozen working and a couple dozen watching. - Jim Rose can be reached via e-mail at jwrose@umich.ed U N IT E D STUDENT SPECIALS A U T 0 *Oil Changes *Tune Ups AND*-Winterizations F L E E T Complete Auto Repair *Foreign and Domestics R EPA R Serviced WARREN ZINN/Daily The Michigan volleyball team found itself on each side of a sweep this weekend. The Wolverines beat Northwestern, but fell to Indiana, each in three games. Staff Picks all picks made against the spread. Game (HOME TEAM IN CAPS) Michigan (-10) vs. IOWA EMICHIGAN STATE (-29) vs. C. Michigan Florida (-16.5) vs. ALABAMA Florida State (-28) vs. MARYLAND LOUISIANA STATE (-8.5) vs. Georgia UCLA (-23.5) vs. Washington State NORTHWESTERN (-14.5) vs. Illinois NOTRE DAME (-18) vs. Stanford OHIO STATE (-14) vs. Penn State PURDUE (40.5) vs. Minnesota SOUTHERN CAL (-3) vs. Arizona State Tennessee (-7.5) vs. AUBURN Best Bet Last Week (best bet) Overall (best bet) 2321 Jackson Ave. Ann Arbor 48103 (734) 665-7130 { i p p O SHARAT RAJU JiM ROSE SNYDER Guest Selector JIM BRANDSTATTER Michigan Michigan State Florida Maryland Louisiana State UCLA Illinois Stanford Ohio State Purdue Arizona State Tennessee Michigan 7-5-4 (041) 24-24-1 (2-2) Michigan Michigan State Florida Florida State Georgia Washington State Northwestern Stanford Penn State Purdue Southern Cal Tennessee Florida 5-7-1 (0-1) 18-30-1 (0-4) Michigan Michigan State Florida Maryland Georgia UCLA Northwestern Notre Dame Ohio State Minnesota Arizona State Tennessee Minnesota 66-1 (0-1) 20-28-1 (2-2) Michigan Michigan State Florida Florida State Louisiana State UCLA Illinois Stanford Penn State Purdue Arizona State Tennessee Michigan 5.74 (01) 25-23-1 (1-2) * S(TO WING 2321 Jackson Ave. Ann Arbor, MI 48103 AA A Contractors WE DO NOT IMPOUND (734) 761-4343 Who and What is S ZSZ I We will have a guest selector each week for the staff picks. 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