10A - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, October 12, 2000
Blue hits Big Ten road
with weekend stops
Red Raiders look to
halt 'Huskers at home
By Kristen Fidh
Daily Sports wXriter
After an impressive turnout this past
weekend for its annual "Rock the
House" event, the Michigan volleyball
team (2-4 Big Ten, 11-5 overall) looks
to the road for its next two matchups.
Tomorrow, the Wolverines will head
down to Evanston for a game against
Northwestern. Saturday, the team will
travel to Madison to battle the
Badgers.
Defeating Indiana, 3-2, this past
Friday and narrowly losing to Penn
State, 3-2, on Saturday gave the
Wolverines something to build upon
and the motivation to perform well.
Currently seventh in the Big Ten,
Michigan has racked up 1,003 kills,
1,004 digs and 127 total blocks. But its
most impressive quality comes in the
form of strong leadership.
Senior Sarah Behnke - who regis-
tered 38 kills this weekend - recently
moved into eighth place on Michigan's
all-time kills list. Junior Nicole Kacor
leads the conference in digs, thanks to
a personal-best 75 in the last four
matches. To top it off, senior Joanna
Fielder posted a career-best hitting
average of .382 against Penn State,
despite the defeat.
Looking toward this weekend's
opponents, Nothwestern's only big win
has come against Penn State. Beating
the defending national champions was
quite an accomplishment, considering
that the Wildcats' record is just 1-5 in
the Big Ten and 4-12 overall.
Interestingly enough, Michigan has
not lost a match against the Wildcats
since 1994.
This 11-game winning streak began
in 1995 and is the longest in Big Ten
history.
The key to maintaining
Northwestern's humiliation for one
more season may lie within Michigan's
younger players.
During matches against Toledo,
Indiana and Penn State, game substitu-
tions allowed for inexperienced play-
ers to rack up court time.
"Every team in the Big Ten is dan-
gerous," Michigan coach Mark Rosen
said. "Putting in the younger players
just depends on how the match devel-
ops, although I do have a real confi-
dence in Chantel (Reedus), Cobey
BRANDON SEDLOFF/Daily
Sarah Behnke and the Wolverines will travel to Evanston and Madison this week-
end after sliding past Indiana and losing to Penn State this past week.
(Shoji) and Erin (Moore)."
Michigan's Saturday opponent,
Wisconsin, is well-equipped and will
provide a stern test. The Badgers are
second in the Big Ten and boast Big
Ten's player of the week this week,
Sherisa Livingston.
"Wisconsin is an extremely physi-
cally-talented team," Rosen said.
"Their star athlete, Livingston, is
one of the best, not only in the confer-
ence, but also in the country."
The Badgers' record of 5-1 in the
THIS WEEKENIC IN
MICHIGAN ATHLETICS
conference and 15-2 overall is impres-
sive, but Wisconsin's recent perfor-
mance at home is even more notewor-
thy. Wisconsin has won 12 of its last 13
matches at home, but Michigan is an
experienced team ready to handle the
challenge.
"All Big Ten .teams are not only
impressive, but extremely impressive
at home with their own crowds,"
Rosen said. "Our team is pretty used to
that, and it just comes down to who
plays better."
FIELD HCE
Continued from Page 8A
race," Pankratz said with a sense of
urgency.
Along with the Penn State game,
"it'll be the most significant."
Though conference matchups are at
the forefront of the team's mind, the
ACC foes this weekend serve as a
means of gearing up for the postsea-
son.
The Big Ten "changed this year to
get some outside games in for region-
al polls," Pankratz said. "It's also
going to get us ready for Penn State."
Preparation for this weekend gets
tricky with back-to-back juggernauts,
but it's foreshadowing Michigan's
near future.
"It's tough not only tactically to pre-
pare, but actually to play the games,"
Pankratz said. "But that's what you
have to do in the Big Ten champi-
onships."
By Nathan Unsley
For the Daily
Trying to find exciting matchups out-
side of the Big Ten this week is as diffi-
cult as staying awake in chemistry class.
But even in this era of ridiculous non-
conference games (Kansas State and
Clemson fans, this means you), every
now and again a game pops up worth
paying attention to.
And now, on to the highlights and low-
lights of the top 25.
No. 1 N EBRASKA (5-0) AT TEXAS TECH
(5-1): It is worthy to note that in the "oth-
ers receiving votes" category of the AP
poll, Texas Tech is tied with Wisconsin at
one vote each. The Red Raiders have a
powerful offense led by "the other" Ricky
Williams and quarterback Kliff
Kingsbury, who has completed 63 per-
cent of his passes
for 1,727 yards. Across the
This could cause
trouble for a sus- TOP 25
pect Nebraska
defense that gave
up over 400 yards to lowly Missouri in its
previous game a 49-27 victory.
Key stat: Texas Tech has won nine in a
row at home and Nebraska has won I1 in
a row overall. Something has got to give.
The Cornhuskers enjoyed a bye week
to cure their defensive woes, and no team
in the nation has the depth on defense to
stop Nebraska's parade of I-backs.
Texas Tech will put up a fight only to
fade in the second half like Nebraska's
other opponents this season.
Nebraska 31, Texas Tech 17
No. 8 OKLAHOMA (5-0) AT No. 2
KANSAS STATE (6-0): All right sports
fans, get off your polls-reward-weak-
schedules soapboxes and watch Kansas
State play a team with a winning record
(combined record of the Wildcats' previ-
ous six opponents: 7-25).
Oklahoma has actual football experi-
ence this season, courtesy of their 63-14
trouncing of Texas last week. Oklahoma
quarterback Josh Heupel lit up the
-Longhorns for 275 yards and Quentin
Griffin scored six touchdowns - all the
more impressive considering he splits
time at tailback with Renaldo Works.
Key stat: One, as in the number of
school days Oklahoma president David
AP TOP 25
(first-place votes in parentheses)
TEAM PTS PVS
1. Nebrask~a (67) 50 1,771 2 4
2. Kansas State (3) 60 1,640 4
3. Virginia Tech (1) 50 1,627 3
4. Miami (Fla.) 41 1,507 7
5. Clemson 60o 1,491 5
6. Ohio St 5-0 1,377 8
7. Florida State 5-1 1,357 1
8. Olahoma 5,0 1,336 10
9. Oregon 41 1,140 9
10: Florida 5-1 1,068 12
11. Washington 44 1,035 13
12. TCU 5.0 982 14
13. UCLA 4-1 862 16
14. Georgia 441 785 19
15. Miss. State 41 776 20
16. Southern Miss. 41 725 17
17. Northwestern 5-1 632 22
18. lMicgi4~2 614 6
19. Auburn 5.1 457 15
20. Notre Dame 3-2 322 25
21. Purduie 4-2 315 NR
22. Arizona 441 267 NR
23. Oregon State 41 261 23
24. South Carolina 5-1 239 NR ,
25. Texas 3-2 124 11
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SOCCER
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MEN'S SOCCER
Sunday, Oct. 15th
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(All soccergames played at
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WOMENS
SOCCER
Frida Oct 13th vs. Penn State 4pm
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Sat. Oct. 15th vs. Ohio State 1pm
L. Boren canceled to celebrate the win
over Texas.
Note to President Bollinger: Michigan
plays Ohio State on Nov. 18.
Oklahoma may have the momentum
after its big win over Texas, but expect
the Wildcats to use the home-field
advantage and their talented offense -
averaging over 51 points per game - to
hold off the Sooners.
Kansas State 31, Oklahoma 28
MARYLAND (2-3) AT No. 5 CLEMSON
(6-0): Sooner or later, Clemson will have
to play a game against a ranked team, but
it will probably only happen once an@
definitely not this week. The Tigers have
scored 272 points this season, while
holding their opponents to a paltry 75.
Maryland attempted to bounce back
from a 59-7 thrashing by Florida State on
Sept. 28 only to find themselves trailing
by 21 in the first quarter against
unranked Virginia this past weekend.
Key stat: Clemson quarterback
Woodrow Dantzler has accounted for1Y
touchdowns this season, while Maryland'
as a team has only reached the end zone
14 times. Maybe Clemson will forget that
the game starts at 7 p.m. and not be ready
for kickoff. Then again, probably not.
Clemson 49, Maryland 13
No. 19 AUBURN (5-1) AT No. 10
FLORIDA (5-1): Steve Spurrier said his
Florida team was not very good. Be that
as it may, it is still 5-1 with a legitimate
shot to win the SEC. After a decisive per
formance against Louisiana State, th
Gators are primed to move back up the
polls towards the all-too-familiar top
five. Auburn's ranking is the product of a
weak schedule - they scraped by an
overrated Mississippi team and beat~
Louisiana State before losing to
Mississippi State in their only games
against qualified opponents.
Key stat: For all their supposed offen-
sive woes, the Gators still have two regl.
lar running backs averaging over five
yards per carry and their quarterbacks
have thrown for an average of 334 yards
per game. Florida may not be very good,
but neither is Auburn and the game is at
the Swamp.
Florida 38, Auburn 24
WHY HAS THE
UNIVERSITY
OF MICHIGAN
FAILED ITS
STUDENTS?
For some answers see:
www.universitysecrets.com
-Autographs and Free Clinic with
the team following the game .
I
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