The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - November 16, 1998 - 9B taff Picks - all picks made against the spread. * Guest selectors have been rotating throughout the season. Last week's guest selector was University President Lee Bollinger. Game (HOME TEAM IN CAPS) ICHIGAN (-3) vs. Wisconsin PENN STATE (-24) vs. Northwestern TENNESSEE (-10) vs. Arkansas Florida State (-26) vs. WAKE FOREST FLORIDA (-31) vs. South Carolina Purdue (-1.5) vs. MICHIGAN STATE INDIANA (-4) vs. Minnesota TEXAS A&M (-5.5) vs. Missouri Ohio State (-25) vs. IOWA KANSAS STATE (-10) vs. Nebraska, tie CLA (-7.5) vs. WASHINGTON OREGON (even) vs. Arizona State Best Bet Last Week (best bet) Overall (best bet) SHARAT RAJU Michigan Penn State' Tennessee Florida State South Carolina Purdue Indiana Missouri Ohio State Nebraska UCLA Oregon Indiana 7-4-1(0-1) 66-52-3 (6-4) JIM ROSE Michigan Penn State Tennessee Florida State South Carolina Michigan State Indiana Missouri Ohio State Nebraska' Washington Orgon Ne raska 7-4 - (tie) 51-67-3 (3-&1) MARK SNYDER Michigan Northwestern Tennessee Florida State Florida Purdue Indiana Texas A&M Ohio State Nebraska UCLA Arizona State Nebraska 3-8-1(tie) 54-64-3 (5-4-1) Volleyball continues poor crunch-time play Guest Selector Provost NANCY CANTOR Michigan Penn State Tennessee Florida State Florida Michigan State' Minnesota Texas A&M" Ohio State Kansas State Washington Oregon Michigan 65-21(1-0)* 59-60-3 (4-4)* By Michael Shafrir Daily Sports Writer Weekends in college are supposed to be fun. Just don't tell that to the Michigan volleyball team. Time after time, the Wolverines have headed into a weekend of Big Ten con- ference play with high expectations. But, Michigan hasn't met these expecta- tions too often this season. The Wolverines proved consistent when they traveled to 20th-ranked Illinois and unranked Purdue. But as the Wolverines previously learned, there is a huge difference between goals and reality. Michigan (4-12 Big Ten, 12-14 over- all) dropped both matches. Illinois downed the Wolverines 15-13, 15-7, 15- 3, while Purdue took care of Michigan 15-8, 7-15, 16-14, 15-11. As in previous losses, Michigan's defense struggled. Purdue racked up 87 kills and a .396 hitting percentage. The poor play on defense effectively countered one of the Wolverines' best offensive performances of the season. Against the Boilermakers, Michigan registered season highs in kills (83), hit- ting attempts (187), assists (78) and ser- vice aces with 12. Freshman setter Shannon Melka con- tinued her impressive play, recording a career-high 44 assists against Illinois only to shatter that with an incredible 69 assists against Purdue. Fellow freshman Annie Maxwell also set a career best with nine kills against Purdue, while hitting .571 for the match. Michigan continued a disturbing trend that has plagued the team all season. The Wolverines haven't been able to win Soccer eliminated from NCAAs by Irish close matches. Illinois pulled out two games 15-13, while against Purdue the Wolverines led 14-10 in the third game, only to lose 16- 14 and the match in four games. "We really played one of our better overall matches," Michigan coach Greg Giovanazzi said in a released statement. "But we blew a 14-10 lead and that was really the key point of the match." Sophomore Sarah Behnke had a career-high 27 kills against Purdue. It was only the second time in the Big Ten season that someone other than Karen Chase led the team in kills. "Behnke and Chase were outstanding again. Especially Behnke, who was unbelievable with 27 kills and another double-double," Giovanazzi said. The two losses also effectively take the Wolverines out of any probable post- season tournament consideration. T-SHIRT * PRINTING ® LOWEST PRICES! HIGHEST QUALITY! FASTESTSERVICEI * 1002 PONTIAC TR. By Geoff Gagnon traily Sports Writer SOUTH BEND - Michigan soccer coach Debbie Belkin was hoping her team could put its experience to use as it entered second-round NCAA tournament competition yesterday. Belkin wanted to capitalize on the experience it gained by winning its first NCAA tournament contest earlier in the week, returning to the NCAA tournament for the second time in as many years and on the team's 1-0 loss several weeks ago to yesterday's opponent, 4 Notre Dame. Yet as the Irish wrapped up a 3-0 win over No. 18 Michigan at Alumni Field, it became clear that it was the tournament-savvy Notre Dame squad that finally asserted its experience. "We were not afraid of Notre Dame one bit," Belkin said. "We knew we were playing a final four caliber team, and they would demonstrate their experience, but lwe were confident. We wouldn't back down." Despite their confidence, the Wolverines fell behind *n Monica Gerado slipped a shot past Michigan net- minder Carrisa Stewart off a corner kick to put Notre bame ahead at 21:11 in the first half. WOMEN'S HOOPS bri Continued from Page 1 ul efensively. I think they work very hard at it, and 38 they're good at it." Gu In the second half, the Wolverines got back into afr tgame behind the shooting of freshman guard aft Ayne Ingram and the post play of sophomore cen- I ter Alison Miller. ga "We came back in the second half and finally got des the lead under double figures,"Guevara said. "I just an kept thinking if we could only get a three. But, we I couldn't buy a basket.' ga In that half, the Wolverines took 20 more shots I than the Commodores, but that didn't matter. Both ch teams scored 30 points after the break. a: But there's something to be said for the alt .1verines' emotional level." "I have to give them credit," Guevara said. "We Fo didn't quit and we played hard for 40 minutes. I was sta pleased with the way we went to the boards in the Thi second half." ba Ingram's play and the Wolverine defense were the af The Irish managed another score just prior to half- time as senior Shannon Boxx gave the Irish a 2-0 lead on a shot that sailed r'ver Stewart's head, finding the center of the net with just five minutes remaining. "After those first two scores we really tried to tighten things up," Belkin said. "Leading 2-0 is always real dan- gerous because some teams tend to get complacent, but to Notre Dame's credit they hung on and didn't let up." Protecting its 2-0 lead, the Irish defense flexed its muscle in the second half, holding Michigan to without a shot in the game's final 55 minutes. Instead, the Big East champions managed another score as Gerardo found the back of the net for her 71st career goal. Coming off a feed from Boxx, Gerardo scored from the left side at the 77:04 mark, notching Notre Dame's third and final goal in what would prove to be Notre Dame's 36th straight win over a Big Ten opponent. "We knew in the second half we would have to play more as a unit," senior Vanessa Lewis said. "We knew that if we played more focused and more together, we would be OK. Unfortunately things didn't work for us." Lewis anchored a defensive effort that held one of the most potent offensive teams in the country to only a ghtest spots in what was otherwise an unspectac- ar game. Ingram led all scorers with 17 points in 3minutes. "I don'tthink Alayne played like a freshman," uevara said. "She was very aggressive, she's not aid to shoot the ball and thank God she's not aid." But though there were a few positives in the me, 'sloppy' is perhaps the best adjective to scribe it overall. Both teams missed easy shots d gave up quick turnovers. But those are often characteristics of early season mes. This season there have been a number of rule anges in Division I basketball. Also included was schedule change that starts the regular season most two weeks prior to last year's start. "It's ridiculous that we're playing this early," ster said. "This was a great game, but we should art October 15th and not be allowed to play till hanksgiving. Otherwise you're going to see ugly sketball games. You can't play pretty basketball Anne er three weeks.' ball1 single score when Michigan hosted Notre Dame Oct. 23. Lewis said that Irish team differed very little from the one that bested Michigan yesterday. "They hadn't changed from when we played them earlier, and we were confident that we knew what we needed to do to win," Lewis said. "The difference is this time their shots just connected.." Despite the disheartening realization that the season had ended, Belkin said she was optimistic about the strides her program made this season. "I think that things will continue to improve for us," Belkin said. "Each year as we go a little further, we see improvement, and recruits notice those types of things. It's no secret that the best players want to play at the best schools, and I think we are working towards that." And as Lewis walked off the field for the final time yesterday, she said she, too, was proud of the example she and her senior teammates set. "The reality of being down hasn't yet hit me," Lewis said. "But I can say that we are proud of the legacy we leave behind. We brought leadership, communication, and dedication and I am happy with how we are leaving things." 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"I was happy that they didn't give their opponents a chance to come back in any of the matches." The Wolverine grapplers were not *owed any University of Michigan affiliation because the McMullen Open was only a scrimmage, and did not count toward the team's record. But the absense of 'Michigan' on their uniforms didn't stop these Wolverines from performing well. "Overall the guys performed well on their own," Trost said. "Even the guys who didn't place, got good experience because some guys had to compete in as many as eight match- es." The McMullen Open, which began after an hour-long delay, lasted from 10:30 Saturday morning until 9 - unusually long for most tourna- ments. "The length of the tournament was a little unusual, but good," Trost said. "Because of its length our endurance was really tested." Trost seemed encouraged that the Wolverines were learning from prac- tices. "The things we work on in prac- tice were evident in Muskegon. Everyone showed good conditioning. 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