14


AWAJOR LEAGUE
BASEBALL
PLAYOFFS
National League
Championship Series
Atlanta 7,
SAN DIEGO 6
San Diego leads series, 3-2

NATIONAL
HOCKEY LEAGUE
BOSTON 3,
NY. Islanders 0
VANCOUVER 4,
Los Angeles 2
St. Louis 4,
N.Y. RANGERS 2
Buffalo at
Colorado, inc.

NATIONAL FOOT-
BALL LEAGUE
JACKSONVILLE 28,
Miami 21

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Tracking 'M' teams
Check out the Michigan soccer team tomorrow. The
Wolverines face Toledo at 4 p.m in a rare mid-week con-
test. The Wolverines also travel to East Lansing to face
bitter rival Michigan State at 3 p.m. Friday.

'I

Tuesday
October 13, 1998

9


lBlue prepares for top-ranked Lions
Wolverines look for consistency, improved serving and receiving

By David Momn
For the Daily
The Michigan volleyball team faces a crucial test
this week, without even taking the floor for a game.
The team has four days of practice before its
nxt game, and the Wolverines will need every
inute.
.The task facing the team is to somehow get ready
toface the top-ranked team in the nation.
Friday, Michigan'will travel to Happy Valley to
face Penn State.
The Wolverines, ranked 29th in the most recent
poll, know that beating Penn State will be a tall
order.
Motivating the team should not be a major con-
cern for Michigan coach Greg Giovanazzi.
"It will be our most difficult test of the season,"
iovanazzi said.
But it will take more than motivation to knock
off the Lions. The Wolverines have struggled with
consistency this season.
At times they have displayed flashes of bril-
liance that show that they are capable of knocking

off the Nittany Lions. But at other times, they have
slumped, raising doubts that they could take a
game from a great Penn State team.
The Wolverines, 2-4 in the Big Ten, will need to
play their best volleyball of the season Friday.
They head into the Penn State showdown in a
positive mood. In their last match, the Wolverines
defeated No. 22 Minnesota in three games.
"It was a crucial game for us," Giovanazzi said.
"They were a team we needed to beat, to overtake
them."
And the Minnesota match wasn't the only one
the Wolverines played last week with enormous
hype surrounding it.
The Wolverines faced rival Michigan State in an
equally crucial game. The Spartans, ranked 24th,
just ahead of the Wolverines, were victorious.
Learning from that defeat and building on the
victory over the Gophers will be vital in facing
Penn State.
"We have to raise our level of play to beat a team
as good as Penn State," outside hitter Jane Stevens
said.

The four days off provide the Wolverines with an
opportunity to reflect on the season so far, and
their goals for the remainder of the season.
Obviously, the immediate concern is the showdown
with Penn State.
Much of practice will be spent preparing for the
Lions.
All phases of the game must be addressed, but
one area is of special concern.
"We need to work on serving and receiving,"
Giovanazzi said. "If we do those well, we have a
chance to succeed in the future."
Michigan takes a 10-6 record into the match.
Despite some of their problems, the Wolverines do
possess some impressive talent.
They have a blend of youthful exuberance and
battle-tested experience. Most of all, there is room
for improvement.
While they have struggled in Big Ten play and
are heavy underdogs against Penn State, the
Michigan team will not allow its spirit to drop.
With some necessary improvements, the '98
Wolverines are still poised for a strong season.

Michigan outside
hitter Anne
Poglits and the
rest of the
Wolverines will
have their hands
full this Friday
when they take
on No.1 Penn
State.
D"7D ROCHKIND/Daily

'M' golfers in ninth after two
rounds of Xavier Invitational

By Kevin Rosenfield
Daily Sports Writer
After a steady - if unspectacular -
opening day, the Michigan men's golf
team will look to emerge from the mid-
dle of the pack today in the final round
of the Xavier Invitational in Cincinnati,
Ohio.
Following yesterday's 36-hole effort,
the Wolverines currently find them-
selves in ninth place among the 18-
team field.
One of several strong Big Ten teams
at the event, Indiana used a four-under-
par afternoon roundto finish the day as
the tournament leader, 20 strokes ahead
of Michigan. Michigan State is in sec-
ond place.
Michael Harris and Scott Hayes led a
consistent Wolverine squad yesterday
whose members were separated by no
more than five strokes. Harris fired a
two-over-par, 70-74 - 144, that, while
tying for the team lead, left him well
behind the tournament leaders. Hayes
also finished two-over at 71-73 - 144,
and Kyle Kilcherman shot a 75-73 -
148.
"Hayes is playing real well right
now," Michigan coach Jim Carras said.
"He's got the talent, so it's all a matter
of him finding consistency."
Carras was pleasantly surprised yes-
terday with the performance of Andrew
Chapman, playing this week in his first
varsity tournament. Chapman shrugged
off an early double-bogey to finish at
seven-over-par, 76-73 -149, equalling
the scores of fellow true freshman
Andy Matthews.
"I was very pleased with Chapman's
start," Carras said. "I really think he's
going to be a serious contributor for
us."
Of Michigan's eight varsity golfers,
Chapman is one of five newcomers
who entered the season without any
collegiate experience.
"There's no doubt that we're very
young and inexperienced," Carras said.
"But if the young players continue
playing like they did today, and the vet-
erans step it up a little, there's no reason
to think we can't be highly competitive.
"The key is balance. Everybody

LOUIs BROWN/Daily
While Tal Streets and the Michigan football team weren't on the gridiron Saturday, some players may have been practicing their
moves in a different forum. Streets and some of his teammates are known to have some pretty intense video game faces as well.
Wolverines tvant
bye week, recuperate injuries

SIARASCHENCK/Daily
With one 18-hole round to play at the Xavier invitational, the Michigan men's golf
team has some catching up to do. The Wolverines are currently ninth out of 1.

Sharat Raju
aily Sports Editor
Tai Streets is a pretty relaxed individ-
ual. Although he catches national
championship-winning touchdowns
and holds onto high passes while get-
ting crushed by linebackers, he remains
pretty calm. Even in pressure situations.
"You think he's a very laid-back guy
with a very easy going demeanor,"
ichigan coach Lloyd Carr said. "But
Wide of him is a real passion to com-
pete, a passion to be the best."
Especially in video games.
That's when that inner passion sur-
faces and Streets' trash-talking begins
- about one guy in particular.
"Sam (Sword) is all talk," Streets
said. "He won't come over and play
me."
Streets, along with teammates
Aaron Shea and Jerame Tuman, get
ether, fire up the Sony Playstation
d compete on the electronic level.
But for some reason, Sword is strange-
ly absent from such games.
"Sam won't come over and play us,"
Shea said. "We play (John) Madden
(Football), Triple Play 1998. That's
great about Sam. He talks like he's the
best at Playstation."
But here is where the controversy
begins. Neither Shea nor Streets admit
*actually witnessing Sword's perfor-
mance. And Sword allegedly professes
that he's the best. So who's on the level
here?
"Sam is all talk in video games,"
Streets said. "He's never showed up to
play"
Carr, who probably doesn't know as

about running a football team, was
referring to Streets' real-life ability. But
now, with Electronic Arts' NCAA
Football, Streets - who is actually in
the game - can see how his real-life
ability translates into video games.
But seeing Michigan's No. 86 catch-
ing passes in a video game is a little
strange, Streets said.
"I don't play college football,"
Streets said. "I'm into the professional
ones, like (John) Madden Football, I
normally pick Dallas, although I'r
from Chicago. Shea (also from Illinois)
always picks the Bears."
One of the best features video
games offer is that you can turn off the
"injuries" feature and prevent some of
your best players from getting hurt. It's
too bad Michigan doesn't have that
option.
With a bye week, however, the
Wolverines have had a chance to recu-
perate some of their wounded.
"I think we had a very productive
off-week," Carr said. "If you ever want
an off-week, ours came at the right
time."
Tailback Anthony Thomas, who
missed the entire week with a sprained
foot, is questionable for the
Northwestern game this Saturday.
Center Steve Hutchinson had an
infected toe, and therefore had a toenail
removed. But he will play this weekend,
Carr said.

Linebacker Dhani Jones is out with
a knee injury and is "questionable" for
Saturday, as well.
"On the plus side, (linebacker) Eric
Rosel is almost up to full speed," Carr
said. Linebacker "Ian Gold has made
some very good recovery. Ian is not
back to full strength but he's getting
there. He's a guy that brings a lot to the
team because he plays with a lot of
emotion."
One person the Wolverines will
sorely miss is right guard Chris
Ziemann.
The junior broke his leg in the
Michigan State game and is out for the
season. Carr is now looking for some-
one to fill that spot in the trenches.
"Chris Ziemann is a big loss for us,"
Carr said. "Adam Adkins a is very, very
good football player. He is a guy who
plays with great effort, a smart guy.
He's improved dramatically and had a
very good spring."
Another possible body to fill that
spot is Maurice Williams. Williams,
who lettered as a defensive lineman, is
still a little inexperienced at the posi-
tion.
"We had played him at tackle," Carr
said. "Had Ziemann not gotten hurt, we
would have probably like to have held
him out this year. We're going to see
how that goes this week."
- Daily Sports Writer Rick Freeman
contributed to this story.

needs to do their part and make a con-
tribution, and I think we're finally start-
ing to generate some of the consistency
we've been lacking."
Due largely to its young lineup,
Michigan, as expected, has largely
struggled throughout the fall season.
The team is still looking for its first
top-five finish, while Harris, a fall sen-
sation last year, is still without an indi-
vidual top-10 finish. With only one
tournament remaining in the fall
season - the Stanford Invitational

later this month - the time to act is
now.
Carras, despite describing the com-
petition in Cincinnati as "unbeliev-
able," believes his team is capable of
making a strong move today.
"We want to improve on our first two
rounds and, hopefully, try to place
among the top five teams," Carras said.
"A change of just three or four strokes
could move us up three or four spots."
The two-day tournament concludes
today with a single 18-hole round.


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