10 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, October 30, 1998

Crawford
commits
FromSt4Repots
Jamal Crawford, a 6-foot-5 guard
from Seattle, made himself the fourth
member of Michigan's 1999 men's
basketball recruiting classWednesday
when he verbally committed to play
for the Wolverines next season.
Crawford joins guards Kevin
-aines, a blue chip recruit, and
Gavin Groninger, giving Michigan
what looks like a solid backcourt into
the 21st Century. Forward Leland
Anderson rounds out the commit-
ments.
Crawford is currently a fifth-year
senior at Rainier Beach High School,
just outside of Seattle. Last season,,
he committed to play at Fresno State,
but could not make the academic cut.
The Wolverines are still in the
running for several re-ruits --
Michigan coach Brain Ellerbe has
said he envisions a class with five or
six players - including LaVell
Blanchard, a 6-7 forward from Ann
Arbor-Pioneer.

Blue field hockey looks to repeat
last year's success this weekend

By Dan Dingerson
Daily SportsWaiter
It's dii vu for the Michigan field
hockey team this week.
With a sweep of this weekend's
games against Northwestern and Iowa,
Michigan will clinch at least a share of
the Big Ten title.
If Penn State wins this weekend it
will share the title with the Wolverines,
exactly like last year. The split would
leave the Wolverines as the second seed
going into the Big Ten tournament,
exactly like last year. Ohio State would
probably be the Wolverines' first
matchup in the tournament, exactly like
last year.
Before Michigan can begin to cele-
brate another Big Ten co-championship,
the Wolverines need to win two more
games. Those contests will be against
the two teams that have consistently
been in last place throughout the year,
but they won't be the easy wins that the
Wolverines would like to have.
Friday's game has the Wolverines
hosting Northwestern. The Wildcats are
last in the Big Ten and have managed

just one win in Big Ten play.
Although the game seems to be a
pushover, Michigan must remember
that it was lucky to escape the last
matchup with the Wildcats with a 3-2
comeback win. That victory was sealed
by two second-half goals by captain
Amy Philbrook.
The Wildcats are playing for nothing
but pride at this point in the season, and
could pose a tough challenge for a team
that may be thinking about next week's
Big Ten tournament.
Michigan does have the comfort of
knowing that it has beaten
Northwestern in three straight meetings.
Another win will bring the Wolverines
one step closer to evening the all-time
series which Northwestern leads 28-5.
The Wildcats could be tough, but the
biggest challenge the Wolverines face
this weekend will likely be Sunday,
when the Hawkeyes come into Ann
Arbor.
When the two teams first met this
season, Iowa was struggling. The
Hawkeyes could not beat anybody, and
the Wolverines were no exception.

Iowa is a different team now. The
No. 18 Hawkeyes have won three
straight Big Ten games to move into the
national rankings. Those wins have
included games against No. 7 Penn
State and No. 15 Ohio State.
lowa's recent resurgence leaves it
with a chance to finish as high as third
in the conference. For a team that start-
ed conference play 0-5, that is quite a
feat.
Michigan has had control of Iowa
recently, though. The Wolverines have
won three straight against the
Hawkeyes, Michigan's only three wins
ever against Iowa.
The Wolverines would like to start
the kind of streak that Iowa had - 31
straight victories in a span that included
12 conference titles and nine final
fours.
Michigan will settle for four straight
victories and two straight conference
titles - for now, at least.
Michigan is looking for a fourth
straight weekend sweep of the
Hawkeyes and Wildcats.
It's djai vu all over again baby.

Unsey Ebet a
the Michigan vol-
leyball team are
looking to take
ghoulish revenge
on Indiana
tonight at Keen
Arena.
DAVID ROCHKIND/DaIy
M'looks for revenge0


By David Mosse
Daily Sports Writer
Revenge will be on the minds of the
Michigan volleyball team when the
Wolverines prepare to take on Indiana
at 7 p.m. tonight at Cliff Keen Arena. In
the first meeting between the two
teams, a month ago in Bloomington,
the Hoosiers swept Michigan.
In addition to avenging the earlier
defeat, the Wolverines, atjust 3-7 in the
Big Ten, are badly in need of a win.
Payback will not be easy, though, as the
Hoosiers are one of the elite teams in
the conference. Michigan will have to
play its best volleyball.
The good news is that the Wolverines
know they can play with Indiana.
Although the Hoosiers did sweep
Michigan, the score was misleading.
The Wolverines were tied or ahead in
the latter stages of all three games. They
simply failed in the crucial points.
"We had a chance to win each game,
but we gave up streaks of points at the
end," outside hitter Jane Stevens said,
In preparation for this time around,
the team carefully examined the earlier
match. Michigan's downfall was clearly

its net play. The Wolverines managed
just two blocks and their hitting per-
centage was a paltry .182.
"We didn't have any blocks in that
match and it really hurt us," Stevens
said. "We have to be better at the net."
The Wolverines are coming off a cru-
cial victory over Iowa. After losing
three straight matches, dropping the
first game and trailing 4-0 in game tx
Michigan's season was on the brink o
disaster.
Behind a season-high 25 kills from
Karen Chase, the Wolverines rallied to
win 3-1 and rescue their season.
Michigan may not be afforded the
luxury of a slow start against the
Hoosiers, who are vastly superior to the
Hawkeyes. Iowa is winless in the Big
Ten while Indiana is among the leaders
in the conference,
As always, Michigan coach Gr*
Giovanazzi has preached serving and
receiving as keys. Jane Stevens has
served especially well of late, recording
four aces against Iowa. But the deter-
mining factor will likely be the
improvement of Michigan's net play
from the previous meeting.


a
t'
, f
kk
'.
-{
f;
.
,Yy
> y i
1
k, 1

the blues, the jazz, the world
the deepest, the darkest, the most soulful
music for the heart, the mind,
v the body and the soul

the best selection,
the best prices, the best staff