ow No. 2,Mihgn ry _IT, r I' '9 6 4a,""ointed with worst since ena KrLscher Sports 5\ rier s hard to be humble when y otre as working as the Michigan volleybal In just six matches, the erines have proven themselves by of. if not better than their tmea- o. 21 ranking in the 1999 USA y AVCA top 25 poll. They've daz- the country with a 5-1 start under utelage of first-year coach, Mark n, along with three sery talented men. e Wolverines secured runner-up rs behind No. I1 Pepperdine at the Sport Challenge at Cliff Keen a last weekend. e Wolverines beat unranked cuse 3-0 (15-3, 15-8, 15-12). but fell to Pepperdine in a close, three- match 15-4, 15-11. 15-10. It bhed its runners-up honor after a e, four-set match, upsetting No. 16 snsas 3-1 (15-8, 15-9, 9-15, 15-10). We're not underrated" said senior aptain and defensise specialist, igie Cooper. "As long as we're ed, I'm ecstatic. It's an honor to be :ed 25th. We've been ranked in the Ten before, but never in the coun- We've proven ourselves thus far, but till have a long way to go." 'espite its one loss, the team has sed its existence into the minds of teams it has conquered as well as teams it is anxiously awaiting to pete against. We have a strong chance to win this ,said senior co-captain and out- hitter Sarah Behnke. "We're on a right now, and I'm happy we're get- the recognition we deserve. We ked hard during pre-season, and glad to see that the work is paying Ste Wtslserisnes haes spi sesan, espec ily asfter stsealits.gs a 1mat aginst No. 7 Brsnghan Yousg st Se. 3. 'it shosss a los abort s Iha ws e ton go out asd upset tests tia are ranked hIgsher tan se are," sid s pbssore outside hitter Nicole. Kteor. KRstintgs are catinos. b ornar e o htnk about thst. s Iaso 'a osts hard, go )I! pa tdr With 1en ohincste consta i in lxr the t.e on effec , b11 stro f,,nd' ie coac I itrs eucfusl" Beltnke said been "so nit us jusot what cw a' ss ohsmously beenw ork its "We're ome more bal- anced in of ECOt just one player" sssd ess i or s :a be more sistint an sakes ss t ast much i er to stop. "fTh' is a good atmoshaere forthe team," said junor auts e. hittcr and serv er Alija Pttenger. "It's dsllerett from last year \\e hants't realy set goals yet for the rest of the season, but as long as we keep on improving, we re going to do well." Michigan will travel to the Carolina Classic for a chance to make a lot of noise against South Carolina this Friday and will compete in a doubleheader against Virginia and Connecticut Ott Saturday. "We should do well this weekend," Cooper said. "We've played tough com- petition, and we've only lost one match. Playing tough competition makes Lis a better team, and if we stay focused, con- centrate, and have good ball control, we'll be fine." By David Mosse S tcce.r ea tbe a crsel 'gtsme. There is na thter stO wsee Is. fsnai soe e IIf.ers scht as deptartureI frs ste actssal 1es ef Ithe ga'e: , Th s act issnt lost on he Mieigas sswsten's soccer team, ssi elsun ad itsclf on the wrong end of sitesres mstnes the last two weeks. t. \\Is ettmes outplayed each of thseir last s oree pponents, yet salked of the held ssithout a victory in two of the three games. They also struggled might- ily for tieir lone win. Alr pernsnths' season with two dominatn tn ictores. elesating their na ional ranking to No. 15, the Wol-etnes bean an ominous trend aimst. MDsoel .Michigan outshot the fT ers 14-1 aind had four more corner kIcks, et wsz blon saway 4-1. The Volsrines squandered countless opporUnities early in the gate, and fin- shed the half trailing 2-0. The Tigers ner' loesked back, handing Michian tIseir trst defeat of this season. hat took place in their next game was Itily retmarkable. In front of a raucous crowd in the home opetter a ,Michigan soccer fiel, the \olserines sliced and diced their u through An/ona State to the tune of 30 shots. Midway through the irst half the raiste shaIould hase been sewn up, yet. ichigan led only 1-0. The\olserines then fell ictim to an old soccer adage, if you don't score, you will be scored upon. The Sun Desils exploded for three goals in the last ten minutes of the half Michigan hit the post three agonizttg tames in the second half, and fel 3-1 to \rionaSt ate. "When you only manage one goal off 30 shots, it's hard to win games" Michigan coach Debbie Belkin said. The next game was against Utah, and even as the Wolverines snapped their two game losing streak, the disturbing pattern continued. Michigan outshot the Uses. 29-1I5, but ratherthan a walk in the park. \shigass escaped with a gut wrenching o',sertime victory. The numbers are as astounding as they are frustrating. Michigan outshot its opponents 73-40 in the last three games. managing a 1-2 record. The Wolverines fired I18 shots to their opponent's 57. yet have a 3-2 record to show for it. Their worst start in three years. "We're getting good looks," said Belkin. "We just have to concentrate on our finishing." Belkin can take solace in the fact that her ace in the hole. Amber Berendowsky, played in only one game this year due to an ankle injury. If any- one can ignite this struggling offense, it is Berendowsky the Wolserines' all- time leading scorer with 36 goals. The Wolverines now head into Big Ten season, knowing full well that if they are to fulfill their preseason ,promise, the ball needs to find the net more often. "The bottom line is we have to score more goals, if we expect to win any games" Belkin said. Michigan junior goalie Clarissa Stewart notched her 20th career victory against the Utes. Stewart is the second Wolserine net minder to reach the 20- win plateau and now trails Jessica Jones by six wins on Michigan's all-time list. While Amber Berendowsky garners much of the spotlight, junior Kacy Beitel continues to climb the scoring charts. Beitel's overtime winner against the Utes was her 21st career goal, mov- ing her into fourth place all-time in the Michigan scoring list. The Wolverines two losses this season mark the Wolverines earliest defeats since 1996. The Wolverines opened last year with five consecutive wins and in 1997, they were unbeaten through their first 10 games. MICHELLE SWELNIS/Daily After opening the season with two convincing victories, the Michigan soccer team heads into the Big Ten season 1-2 in its last three games. t Come tomorrow night. 19992000 Hockey Schedule Date Opponent Oct. 1 Blue/White* Oct. 2 Wilfrid Laurer* Oct. 7 at Notre Dame Oct. 8 at Notre Dame Oct. 15 UMass.-Lowell Oct. 16 UMass-Lowell Oct. 22 at Alaska-Fairbanks Oct. 23 at Alaska-Fairbanks Oct. 30 Yale Nov. 5 Ohio State Nov. 6 at Ohio State Nov. 12 Miami, Ohio Nov 13. at Miami, Ohio Nov. 19 Lake Superior St. Nov. 20 Lake Superior St. Nov. 26 MinnesotaA Nov. 27 WisconsinA Dec. 3 ,at Bowling Green Dec. 4 Bowling Green Dec. 10 Nebraska-Omaha Dec. 11 Nebraska-Omaha Dec. 29 Lake Superior St.# Dec. 30 Mich. Tech. or Mich. St.# Jan. 8 at Michigan State Jan. 14 Miami Ohio Jan. 15 Miami (Ohio) Jan 21 at Ohio State Jan. 29 Ohio State Feb. 4 at Ferris State Feb. 5 Ferris State Feb. 11 Western Michigan Feb. 12 Western Michigan Feb. 18 at Northern Michigan Feb. 19 at Northern Michigan Feb. 25 Michigan State Feb. 26 Michigan State March 3 at Bowling Green March 4 Bowling Green March 10-12 CCHA First Round March 14 CCHA Play-in Game March 17-18 CCHA Tournament March 24-25 NCAA West Regional March 25-26 NCAA East Regional April 6-8 NCAA Frozen Four *exhibition ACollege Hockey Showcase # Great Lakes Invitational 10 0 9) CCHA introduces new team, clusters in 1999 Bowling, Green, Mis Ohio State. The Woh Continued from Page 16 each team in their cl make a difference competitively. It and play the rest of' would be more interesting for the CCHA twice during fans if we played-different teams on son. consecutive nights." The Wolverines fir Also new to theleague this year petition will be the B will be Nebraska-Omaha, which will bition game on Oct become the 12th team in the league. season opens Oct. 7 The CCHA will now be divided into three clusters of four teams each. Michigan's cluster will include Wit" PUN EA$F EU STETEA* AWlA * THmRTS ~ UN TEHEUU UL LOTIN , ~ bav tami (Ohio) an( verines will pla; uster four time the teams in th the regular sea rst taste of c lue/White exEi . 1. The CCH at Notre Dame The Michigan Athletic Media Relations Department seeks reliable work-study and volunteer students with flexible hours. Must be availableto work evenings and weekends. Various duties include clerical, writing, research and statistical work plus game day activities for Michigan's 23 varsity sports. Call the Athletic Media Relations office at 763-4423fororeformation. studentameeting is planned-for Sep 6- 4p m ' _ S.-StateS Champions Conf rence Room, Weade ' ' . f _-