10 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, November 4, 1998 Big Ten volleyball standings Team BigTen Overall W L Pct. W L Pct. Penn State 120 1.000 220 1.00 Wisconsin 102 .83 203 .870 Migan State 3 .750 174 .810 Ilinois 9 3 .750 166 .727 Minnesota 5 7 .417 158 .652 Indiana 5 7 .417 12 9 .571 Purdue 5 7 .417 11 10 .524 Michigan 4 8 .333 12 10.545 Ohio State 4 8 .333 1110.524 Northwestem 3 9 .250 1311.542 Iowa 0 12.000 6 15.286 Through games of Oct. 31 V dmA Am," "+,,* %" I* c! +b x, vxrtvA fivr 6X4 Aroun theS IIALu 11JL UJ11 10 uI V u J UI BV1OS m i be BSMIg tno Volleyball looks to upset State, earn back bragging rights By Michael Shafrir her perform ance Saturday nightg Daily Spors Writer Giovanazzi said. "We're looking7 7 With s patepride on the line, the to split their playing time the rest l Ylli~ 11.Ul YV3LJ'l~l tiUii t1~i~ii W tl~l %IiJV1. to East Lansing tonight to take on the Michigan State in the season's second match of the "State Pride" series. After dropping the first match of the series in three games, the Wolverines seek redemption this time around. "We had an emotional letdown after the last match," Michigan coach Greg Giovanazzi said.. "Down the stretch we need to focus harder than we did last match." The two matches against the Spartans are the only matches this season that the Wolverines play during the week instead of on the weekend. Giovanazzi said that his team has responded well to a short practice week. "The first time it was abnor- mal, but the second time it's easy" Giovanazzi said. "We've been tapering in practice as it is, so we just move a normal Thursday prac- tice to Tuesday, and go from there." Sophomore setter Alija Pittenger will return to the starting role against the Spartans, after see- ing action in the win against Northwestern. There has been a rotation all season with Pittenger and fresh- man Shannon Melka at the posi- tion. "Playing Pittenger is based on Many Big Ten rivalries play series similar to the State Pride series that the Spartans and the Wolverines play. For that reason, Giovanazzi isn't worried about the emphasis placed on these matches by the special series. "There is obviously a good rivalry and this only adds to it," Giovanazzi said. "It makes it a lot of fun." The 16th-ranked Spartans (10- 3 Big Ten, 16-4 overall) are led by senior outside hitter Jenna Wrobel. Giovanazzi said that although Wrobel is Michigan State's prima- ry threat, the Wolverines are more worried about other players. "Wrobel is their horse," Giovanazzi said. "She will get her kills no matter what. We need to focus on containing the other play- ers and attacking their younger players." Michigan (4-8, 12-10) is only one game out of fifth place in the conference, and is looking for an NCAA tournament birth. Giovanazzi said he feels that the Big Ten will land six teams in the tournament, and with the Wolverines standing at eighth place in the conference, there is a sense of urgency among the seniors. Though there is a need to win games, Giovanazzi isn't putting the team through any special LONUON_ sbb Oakland $195 Tokyo $976 Rio $856 Fars ar e REDo not ncade esm. Reswktions apply one sachng. CIEE: Council on International Educational Exchange 1218 South University Ave. Ann Arbor n 34].998.0204 (oundiAnnArbor@ dee.org preparations. "We've been watching a lot of film and charting the tendencies of the Michigan State players," Giovanazzi said. "If anything, we're getting ready for a big team, so we've been putting our taller players on the other side and hit- ting against them." Giovanazzi said he feels that the team has begun playing more consistent volleyball. He charac- terized the Indiana match, a 3-0 loss last Friday, night as an "aber- ration." With a state flag on the line, the Wolverines need to play some of their best volleyball of the sea- son if they don't want to ride back to Ann Arbor empty-handed. nough of all this Bowl Championship Stupidity. To even pretend that there is some statistical method of determining the best team in the country is a ludi- crous concept. Are we really supposed to believe that- because some computer-obsessed number-cruncher can calculate the combined records of Michigan's opponents' opponents' opponents' opponents, that Scott Frost's team was better than Charles Woodson's? Puh-lease. Are we really supposed to believe that Ohio State is a bet- ter team than UCLA - or Tennessee, or Kansas State, or whoever - because 3.71 is a smaller figure than 5.70? Give me a break. There is exactly one thing I want to happen with this # brand-new, infallible Bowl Credibility System. I want it to fail. If there's one thing I'd love to see, it would be the absolute, unequivocal, indisputable, flat-on-its-face failure of the overhyped BCS. I'd like nothing bet- ter than to see Kansas State, Tennessee, Ohio Ste and UCLA finish their respective regular seasons undefeated. What could the statistical experts possi- JIM bly say then? ROSE Let's face it. No poll will ever be Rose able to tell us which team is the best. Beef No equation will ever determine the dif- ference between Joe Germaine and Cade McNown's leadership abilities. No amount of analysis will ever defuse the ticking time bomb that the college l system. There is no Best-team Certification Scenario. Not everyone agrees. Some people think the BCS is tht answer. Penn State coach Joe Paterno - who has both won and been robbed of national titles thanks to the traditional bowl system - is not one of them. "I don't even know how that thing works" Patemo said. "I'm a computer moron. And the power ratings, and other< teams ... I have no idea. And I don't really care right nowI have absolutely no interest in it. Plain and simple, there isone single, solitary way of deter- mining which team really deserves to be No. 1. Everyone: knows what it is. It's a playoff system. And having said all that, I'll also say this: I hope it neer happens. I hope we never see a playoff system. College football il still unique, because the season actually determines the cham- pion. The best team is determined not from the postseascT, but from the actual season.:w Maybe, with the bowl system, there isn't always a clear-cut winner on Jan. 2. Maybe it means there's no way to tell whether Michigan or Nebraska or Ohio State or UCLA is the better team. But as frustrating as that can be, I still think it's better than the alternative. I still think it's better to keep cal- lege football the way it was and has been. If there were a playoff system, would September's Notre Dame-Michigan mean as much? Would November's Flddr Florida State be as much fun? Would it be as much fun when, after 50 years of disap- pointtment - after 50 years of coming oh-so-close - your team finally did make it all the way through the season with- outa single sullying loss? I don't think it would. I don't think it would be the same if everything depended on a few games in December or January. We've already got the NFL for that. -Jim Rose can be reached at wrosea umichedu. UNITED A U T 0 AND FLEET REPAIR STUDENT SPECIALS *Oil Changes *Tune Ups oWinterizations -Complete Auto Repair Foreign and Domestics Serviced 2321 Jackson Ave. Ann Arbor 48103 (734) 665-7130 TOW--ING 'M' plagued with pregame problems Continued from Page 9 the week but still suited up andstarted in yesterday's game. "You wouldn't know that she had a - broken nose, because the girl didn't want to wear the mask tonight,; Guevara said. "She had it on in prac- tice yesterday and she was 7-for-14 today. So we are going to keep her in that mask, and then when it comes game time, we will let her take it off.: Thomas wasn't the only one who was shaken up before the game. Miller got into a car accident prior to the game, which may have rattled her play. Sophomore Mandy Stowe entered the game with a bad back and scored one field goal. The only senior on the team, Ann WARREN ZINN/Daily Lemire, wasn't even suited up for the Suffering from back problems, sophomore Mandy Stowe (24) game. She was suspended for three scored six points and contributed 18 minutes in Michigan's games for breaking a team rule. 8447 obliteration of the Swiss National Team. 2321 Jackson Ave. Ann Arbor, MI 48103 AA A Contractors WE DO NOT IMPOUND (734) 761-4343 . __m IN MANY COMPAN IE S IT TAKES YEARS To PROVE YOU CAN LEAD... 2 _ d , 4 WE'LL GIVE YOU10 WEEKS. Ten weeks may not seem like much time to prove you're capable of being a leader. 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