14A - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, November 19, 1998 '1 1 M' unfazed by struggles The Ar Grind Sharat Raju Wit/i all ofIowa' troubles, Fry' retirement would not be fittbng By Michael Shaft r WilySports Writer How do you prepare a volleyball team for matches against Ohio State and pow- erhouse Penn State? Well, if you're Michigan coach Greg Giovanazzi, you play a little dodgeball. "It's something we do about once a week, especially towards the end of the season," Giovanazzi explained. The Wolverines (4-12 Big Ten, 12-14 overall) have dropped their past four matches. It doesn't seem to have fazed the team, though. "Our preparations are going well," Giovanazzi said. "The team is amazing- ly resilient and is dedicated to practicing hard and playing hard." At this point in the season, the last thing the Wolverines need is a matchup with the second-ranked Nittany Lions. As large as that may loom, Giovanazzi said, Michigan is focusing more on the Buckeyes. "We are planning on having a walk- through Saturday morning for Penn State," Giovanazzi said. "But at this point we are really concentrating on Ohio State" This weekend marks the final two home matches for the seniors. "It's actually really exciting. It's my chance to show Michigan what kind of player I am and leave a real lasting impression on the program," senior Cheerena Tennis said. Ohio State won in four games the last time it faced the Wolverines and Penn State crushed Michigan in three games. "Ohio State is a pivotal game, not only for pride but also for our standings," Giovanazzi said. "If we can beat them and then pull an upset, we can move ahead of them in the standings." Penn State, which is playing a tough match at Michigan State Friday night, is vulnerable, Giovanazzi said. "You can sometimes catch a team sleeping the second night of a road triP." Giovanai'i said. "Howveer, this Penn State team is probably the best t eam ev er in the Big Ten" Penn State has been extended to five games only once this season. "I think at this point w e are playing a lot looser and really have nothimg to lose," Ebert said. i Freshman Shannon Melka, coming off a weekend in which she set a career high in assists, will set this weekend. "I told Shannon before last weekend that she had the starting job. I think it's really helped her confidence, G iovanazzi said. Sophomore Alija Pittenger, the other setter on the team, is being trained at the opposite setter position for next season. There will be no emotional ceremo v for the seniors before their final matc Cliff Keen Arena. Instead, Giovanazzi will say a sentence about each player before the Penn State match. B efore the season began, Iowa football coach Hayden Fry was a mere five victories shy of tying former Michigan football coach Bo Schembechler in career NCAA victories. Five victories. That's all Fry needed to tie for ninth on the all-time list. And now, with the season in its final game and the Hawkeyes struggling with three paltry victories in eighth place, it looks like Hayden won't ever surpass Bo. "With a year like I've had with a young ballclub and injuries - it's been a real long year," Fry said. Speculation in Iowa City has been that this, Fry's 20th sea- son with the Hawkeyes and 37th in the NCAA, will be his last. Although he wouldn't say whether or not Saturday's game against Minnesota will be the Dean of Big Ten coaches' final donning of the 'old gold and black,' he probably has the thought somewhere in the back of his mind. "I haven't reached 70 yet," the 69-year-old Fry said. "I always said that it would be nice to coach 'till 70." Besides the fact that Fry needs only to wait until February to turn 70, this shouldn't be the Dean's last season. Not the way everything has panned out thus far. If he loses against the Gophers and finishes with his worst record ever in Iowa City -that would be depressing. Mired in a horrendous string of bad luck this season, Fry has had to contend with losing not one, not two, but three quarterbacks to injury. He also lost several players to the NFL, including every one of his 1997 superstars. But the influence of Fry reaches far beyond just players. The Odessa, Texas native has developed people who are now some of the top coaches in the country. Wisconsin coach Barry Alvarez, Kansas State's Bill Snyder, former Arkansas coach Frank Broyles, the Minnesota Vikings' Dennis Green and St. Louis Rams coach Dick Vermeil - that's the short list of current head coaches who coached under or played for Fry. "Hayden Fry really means a lot to me," Alvarez said. "He gave me a chance when I was just a high school coach. I'll always be indebted to him for giving me an opportunity to be at this level." But how can one gauge coaching greatness? More often than not, it's great players who make a coach look good. The measure of greatness, in my opinion, is the ability to make something out of nothing. Building a program from scratch - that takes true determination and talent. Doing it twice? That's pretty amazing. Turning three foot- ball programs around in one lifetime, that's greatness. Fry's done it. In his first season at Southern Methodist back in 1962, Fry finished 2-8. By the time he left I1 years later, the Mustangs were a winning team at 7-4. Fry then went up to North Texas State. In his first year he was 5-5-1, but eventually finished with a 10-1 season fol- lowed by a 9-2 season. In 1979 in Iowa City, Fry began the same way - with a losing record (5-6). Now, 20 seasons later, Fry is the Dean and widely considered amongst the greatest coaches ever. "The reason why he's lasted so long is because of his orga- nization, his beliefs," Alvarez said. "He taught me how to organize team and organize a program." In true Fry fashion, Alvarez and Snyder - his two most prominent college proteges - have each resurrected their respective programs. Alvarez took hold of an underachieving Wisconsin pro- gram and returned it to glory. The Badgers won nine straight games for the first time since the early 1900s. Snyder is doing even better. He's at Kansas State, for cry- ing out loud, and his team is now No. 2 and undefeated and has been the story of the season. But it all goes back to Fry. He is so old that he broke the color barrier in the Southwestern Conference when he recruited Jerry Levias at Southern Methodist back in the '60s. Penn State coach Joe "Paterno and (Florida State coach Bobby) Bowden and (Brigham Young coach) Lavell Edwards are trying to outlive me," Fry joked. And over the many many years of Fry's coaching career, one thing has been constant - his sense of humor. In this day of structured press conferences, distancing of athletes from media and overbearing athletic departments, Fry's down-home country wit is always refreshing. Earlier this season he predicted that this would be a trying season. He said that one player "fell in love" with a girl more than football, so he won't return to the Hawkeyes. He mentioned that he had a good "Irishman" on his team with a great- sounding name but he was not a tremendous athlete. Maybe it's that grandfatherly feeling Fry that has made him so likable - and so durable - throughout the years. That durability has been put to the test this season. But a character like Fry should not fade away like he would if he retires after this losing season. Fry should ride high into the sunset, waving a 10-gallon hat into the sky with a broad smile across his face. When a reporter asked Penn State's elder statesman about Hayden's possible retirement, Paterno said he didn't know Hayden was even considering that. "I've known Hayden for, gosh, about 100 years" Paterno joked. "We're such good friends, he doesn't mind needling me. I think he's the finest gentleman we've had in this game. "I hope you're wrong on what you just said." A lot of people hope the same thing. - Sharat Raju can be reached via e-mail at sraju@umich.edu. TITANS Continued from Page 10A able to quiet Detroit. The physical play switched from producing fouls to draw- ing them. This time it was the Wolverines who found themselves in the bonus quickly, and they were able to convert on those opportunities. And Michigan was able to pull away once again. As the clock wound down, the Wolverines were still playing at the top of their game. Since Thomas only played seven minutes of the second half, others were needed to step up in her place. Anne Thorius, who played almost the entire game, contributed defense and scored 10 points. And freshman phe- nom Ingram had another incredible per- formance, tying Thomas for a game- high 22 points. That's when the end was starting to look a lot like the beginning. The Wolverines, who seemed a little worn down, were still able to maintain a 20- plus point lead. But the Wolverines were not the only ones missing players in this game. Michigan was still missing Ann Lemire and Kenisha Walker, who will both back on Saturday, but the Titans were without their team leader. Preseason all-MCC team member Stephanie Gray had knee surgery prior to the game. "Our leader in scoring and in minutes was sitting out," Detroit Mercy coach Nikita Lowry said. "She gets our defense generated and she would have caused Alayne Ingram more problems. It affected us a great deal, but we have to learn to move on and be well-pre- pared for the MCC." But such circumstances cannot be used to downplay the Wolverines' success. Michigan played like last year's team last night - an experi- enced team - that could pose a threat in the Big Ten. FO FT RED MIN M.A MA 0.T A F P Yoches 33 46 1010 17 0 4) Winters 9 01 00 02 0 1 Lewis 22 38 34 410 1 1 Palmer 10 02 00 0-0 1 1 Hill 24 27 34 12 2 1 Jackson 26 210 22 24 4 2 Brown 18 13 23 11 1 4 James 32 312 00 13 0 5 Peterman 23 69 6-8 67 0 1 Courtney 3 00 2 2 0 0 0 3 Totals 200 21-58 28-331741 9 23 FG%: .362 FT%: .848. 3-point FG: 316, .188 (James 28, Yoches 1 1, Hill 01. Peterman 01. Palmer 0 2, Jackson 0-31. Blocks: 0. Steals: 8 (James 4, Peterman 2, Hill, Yoches). Technical Fouls: 0. Michigan (96) PTS 19 0 9 0! 71 6I 4 18 2' 73 FS FT REB MIN M-A M-A 4T A F PTS Thomas 27 9-13 4-7 4-8 5 5 22 Kipping 14 14 00 11 0 3 2 Goodlow 28 57 25 12 1 3 12 Thorius 39 48 12 15 7 3 10 Ingram 31 817 33 12 4 2 22 Minler 21 4-5 3-8 5-9 1 2 11 Oesterle 25 5-13 0-0 39 4 4 11 Dykhouse 5 11 22 00 0 1 4 Stowe 10 13 0-0 12 0 2 2 Totals 200 38-71 15.271942 22 25 96 FG%: .535 FT%: .586 3-point FG: 5-13,..385 (Ingram 36, Oesterle 1 2, Thorius 14, Thomas 0 1). Blocks: 2(Goodlow, Thons) 2Steals :12 (Thomas 4, esterle 3. Thorsus 2, IngramKippi Miller). Technical Foals: 0. 1 M Ball State.............30 43 Michigan... ............55 41- At: Crisler Arena Attendance: 621 73 96 .. .... ..... . ........ . ... ............. . ..