The Michigan Daily - Friday, February 2, 2001- 11
Depth, doubles
fuel M' tennis
By Albert Kim
Daily Sports Writer T
Mental skills dgve
No. 1 gymnasts, edge
The Michigan men's tennis team will not forget last week-
end for a long time. With the match on the line both Saturday
and Sunday, two players on
opposite ends of the experience
spectrum stepped up and hit the
shots when they counted.
Freshman Anthony Jackson grit-
ted out a three-set marathon
against Tulane on Saturday while
junior Danny McCain pulled off
a stunning comeback victory on
Sunday against DePaul.
"They're both consistent, and
put a lot of pressure on their
opponents," sophomore Chris
____,
VARSITY TENNIS CENTER
Who: Michigan (30) vs.
Louisiana-Lafayette (30)
When: 10:30 a.m. Sunday
Juno No. 2 singles
player Ben Cox is back in
the lineup after battling
injury last week. Michigan
beat the Cuns, 5-2 in the
bayou last year.
Shaya said. "If I were a betting man, I'd bet on them in the
clutch."
But it wasn't the fact that these two players were different
in terms of experience that was striking about the victories.
It was the fact that Jackson plays No. 4 singles, while
McCain competes at No.2. Michigan capitalized on their
depth in both matches overall, and when the top of the line-
up faltered, the bottom stepped up.
"I didn't realize how deep we were (this year) until the Big
Ten Singles Championships," Shaya said. "We've got guys
who can compete with any other guys"
Hand-in-hand with depth, though, comes doubles.
Michigan has won the doubles point in each of its first three
matches, and not surprisingly, has won all three.
"We played three good teams," Shaya said. "Doubles this
year will be a big part of it."
The first three matches have been character builders
BRAD QUINN/Daily
Junior co-captain Henry Beam has been solid at No. 1
doubles thusfar this season, along with Chris Shaya.
for Michigan. The tight matches against Tulane and
DePaul will go a long way in preparing the Wolverines
for the grind of the Big Ten schedule. The team has
already shown mental toughness and will only get better
as the year goes on.
Importantly, the Wolverines are not losing focus of the big
picture.
"I think the wins were big, confidence wise, but the Big
Ten is where it's at," Shaya said.
With Louisiana-Lafayette's Ragin' Cajuns invading the
Varsity Tennis Center this weekend, the Wolverines are sure
to have their hands full. But don't be surprised if someone
other than Jackson or McCain steps up.
Michigan won't be.
By Adam McQueen
Daily Sports Writer
While physical strength plays a
major role in achieving success in
men's gymnastics, it would be worth-
less without sufficient mental prepa-
ration.
It has been said that it's difficult to
realize that envisioning a perfect per-
formance before executing a routine
is essential to pulling off a solid
showing in a difficult event.
Often gymnasts start thinking
about an upcoming meet the night
before, repeatedly going over their
routines in their head.
The No. 1 Michigan men's gym-
nastics team has recognized that
maintaining a confident mindset is
the key to competition.
"Being able to see yourself do a
routine is almost as important as
actually doing it," senior tri-captain
Justin Toman said. "Having a confi-
dent mindset makes all the differ-
ence."
"If you aren't confident with a
skill, you won't make it," freshman
Chris Gatti said. "You might get
injured."-
Nervousness can often be disas-
trous in competition. Mental prepara-
tion helps to shake any "butterflies"
and keep gymnasts focused.
"The whole point of getting men-
tally prepared is to fight off the ner-
vousness and be relaxed, just like in
practice," senior Kenny Keener said.
While everyone has different ways
of preparing for an event, many gym-
nasts find it helpful to go througn a
checklist before attempting a routine.
This puts things in perspective and
STATE CO LLEGE
Who: No. 1 Michigan (8-0) vs. No. 6 Penn
State (1-1)
When: 7 p.m. tonight
latest: Michigan faces another tough road
test this weekend, this time in the Nitanny
makes the crowd background noise.
"I isolate myself right before I'm
up on an event," senior tri-captain
Kevin Roulston said. "Everything
goes out of my head except for my
routine."
By picking out things to concen-
trate on during the performance and
remembering the words of their
coaches, the Michigan gymnasts
hope to gain an advantage over other
competitors.
"Some people falter because they
try to not mess up, rather than trying
to succeed," Roulston said.
The Wolverines spends hours upon
hours preparing in the gym. Their
bodies know what to do, but their
minds need extra preparation.
"The trick is training your brain to
go along with the flow," Roulston
said.
"You have to build up your confi-
dence in your abilities so that there is
no second guessing yourself in the
middle of the routine," Roulston said.
"The number one cause for error is
doubting yourself."
The Wolverines have cast aside any
doubts over the past few weeks by easi-
ly handling high-quality opponents.
Their high level of confidence
should put them in prime position this
weekend against defending National
Champion and sixth-ranked Penn
State.
Musgrove comeback a labor of love
By Seth Klempner
Daily Sports Writer
The fates must have been frowning
on junior Joanne Musgrove the day she
hurt her wrist. She was only
doing what she was supposed
to. In fact, she was doing
more than she had to, going TEN
to the Varsity Tennis Center Who: Mid
in June just to hit balls and DePaul (o
practice more. When: 2:
"Often she is the last one in latest: TI
practice and hits even on her women'st
days off," women's tennis dking to
coach Bitsy Ritt said of record to
Musgrove's work ethic. "She always
finds a way to get some hitting in."
It is Musgrove's restless work ethic
that made this injury so difficult. Her
desire to be on the court in both prac-
tice and matches was stymied by the
knowledge that the only way to get bet-
ter was to let her wrist rest and heal.
Musgrove was working on condi-
tioning drills when it happened. She
sprinted up the court, tripped over her-
self and used her hands to break her
fall. Landing on her wrist, she felt
immediate pain. She was done practic-
ing for the day and the next six weeks.
The pain in Musgrove's wrist weak-
ened it so much, she couldn't even "lift
things or open doors.
N1S C.ENTER
chigan (2-0) vs.
04)
00 p.m. Sunday
he Michigan
tennis team is
o improve its
3-0.
It wasn't
"I had X-rays taken
and they showed it was-
n't broken;' Musgrove
said. "I thought it was
just cartilage, so I just
decided to let it rest and
heal. I began hitting
balls again before
school started and it still
hurt but I was able to
ignore the pain."
until she played at one of
was a lot of stress wondering when I was
going to get to play and worrying what
if I had to.miss the whole dual season. It
was especially hard to watch everyone
play and not be able to be a part of that."
Musgrove did not walk away from
the team during this injury. She could
still work on conditioning drills and her
footwork and she supported the team in
this way. The injury also didn't stop her
from cheering on her teammates and
lending them support.
Because of this ability to perform
conditioning drills with the team,
Musgrove did not have to deal with the
usual post-injury dilemma of getting
back into shape. She did have to bring
her game back to the level that she was
accustomed to playing at.
At Yale this past weekend, Musgrove
played her first lengthy match since the
surgery in November. After losing the
first set 2-6 to Liz Oosterhuis she came
back to win the next two decidedly,
despite playing with the lingering ache
in her healing wrist.
"Maybe it wasn't her best tennis but
she competed well and found a way to
win," Ritt said.
Hot shooting prevails
as Robinson lights up
Rush chooses Penn
State over Michigan,:
Charles Rush, one of the top defence
sive tackles in the country out of Erie,;
Penn, will attend Penn State next fal,,
Rush narrowed his choices down t
Michigan and Penn State, and after
much deliberation, chose the Nittany
Lions.
Rush's decision marks the second
time in the last two weeks that a blue
chip recruit has overlooked Michigan
in favor of his local university.
Reggie Williams, touted as the to
high school wide receiver in the
nation, chose Washington over th
Wolverines as well.
Michigan's last major recruiting
prospect Tyler Reed, a lineman out of
Pittsburgh, is also considering Penn'
State.
Signing day is Feb. 7.
- Staff Reports
. PORTS BRIEFS
Alvarez frontrunner
for Miami-vacancy
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP)
Wisconsin's Barry Alvarez says he
hasn't had any contact with Miami;
But that doesn't mean he won't.
Alvarez appears to be the
Hurricanes' top choice to succeed
Butch Davis, who resigned earlier
this week to take the head coaching
job with the Cleveland Browns.
Athletic director Paul Dee said
yesterday that Miami's list of candi
dates is down to "four or five.
names."
"We haven't called anybody at this
point," Dee said.
Dee said he and the university's
board of trustees will begin contact:
ing candidates this morning.
Alvarez interviewed for the Miami
job in 1995 after Dennis Erickson
left the program, but the Hurricanes
hired Davis instead. Alvarez also has
ties to incoming Miami president
Donna Shalala, who wa$
Wisconsin's chancellor when the
Badgers hired Alvarez to rebuild the
program in 1990.
Bills hire Williams as
new head coach
ORCHARD PARK, -N.Y. (AP) -a
Gregg Williams, the Tennessee
Titans defensive coordinator, has
been hired as the Buffalo Bills next
head coach.
Williams' hiring was considered a
surprise, as he was. going up agains
the defensive coordinators -
Baltimore's Marvin Lewis and Nex4
York Giants John Fox - of the tw
teams that met in the Super Bowl. 0
Under Williams, the ,Titans
defense finished first in the NFL I
fewest yards allowed this past sea
son.
Defensive coordinator in
Tennessee for the past four season,
Williams broke into the professiona
ranks as the franchise's first qualit!
control coordinator in 1990 whet
the Titans franchise was based in
Houston. He als-o worked as th
team's linebackers and special teamg
coach.
Titans general manager Floyd
Reese said Williams' past experi-
ences groomed him to be a head
coach
"He's not just a one- or two-year
wonder. Hs somebody that has paid
his dues and worked his wa
through," Reese said
"He's developed some really, real
ly strong opinions about things that
he believes you need to do." -:
GOPHERS
Continued from Page 9
the fall tournaments in Ann Arbor that
the pain became so unbearable that she
couldn't play. She withdrew one round
from the tournament finals after amass-
ing a 3-0 record.
She had a CAT-Scan soon afterward
and found that the bone had fractured
and completely separated. It would
require surgery to remove the broken
bone, forcing her to miss more tennis.
"It was hard," Musgrove said. "I
wanted to be out there real bad, there
Robinson again came up big for
Michigan when the game was tied,
this time scoring three points on an
off-balanced left hand layup that
she was fouled on.
"She's so exciting to watch,"
Thorius said. i.
"She has so much emotion when
she plays. She the sort of player who
can bring one key play and spark the
entire team.
"She was a great sparkplug and I
thought she did awesome on both
offense and defense."
Robinson's defense contributed
to Minnesota's 29 turnovers, which,
in turn, led to. 37 points for
Michigan.
"You're not going to win too
many ball games in any conference,
truly not in'the Big Ten turning over
the basketball 29 times," Littlejohn
said.
. . ...
Nebraska-Omaha wary
of 'M'sophomorcs
MAVERICKS
Continued from Page 9
50 points, Hilbert enters the week-
end with a 16-game scoring streak.
"He's a major concern," Kemp
said. "We know what he can do
dynamically - we are going to put
one guy on him at all times."
If Michigan is to keep pace with
the Spartans, Hilbert will have to
keep it going at no less than his cur-
rent pace.
Six of Michigan State's last nine
games are against Northern
*Michigan, Alaska-Fairbanks and
Ohio State - teams ranging from
the middle of the pack to the lower
end of the CCHA.
Michigan still controls its own
fate - should the Wolverines win
out in their remaining nine games,
OMAHA Civic AUDITORIUM
Who: No. 5 Michigan (1342 CCHA,19-64
overall) vs. Nebraska-Omaha (1082, 15-11-
2)
When: 7:05 p.m. tomorrow, 7:05 p.m.
Saturday
Latest: In the Wolverines first trip to
Nebraska-Omaha, Michigan forward Jed
Ortmeyer returns home to receive a second
opinion on the status of his knee.
Radio: WTKA 1050 in Ann Arbor
including two against their arch rival
Spartans, they will win the league's
regular season title by a point
regardless of what Michigan State
does.
"Right now we know our goals,"
center Mike Cammalleri said.
"We're staring them in the face -
it's crunch time and there's no room
for error."
YESTERDAY'S GAME
innesota (51)
FG FT REB
MIN MA MA OT A F PTS
(Pickens 10 0-0 12 2-2 0 0 1
Andersson 31 2-5 4-5 1-10 0 4 8
Prince 34 4410 4-5 28 0 1 12
Piroglu 28 3-5 0-0 03 6 5 6
Whalen 37 612 0-2 24 1 2 12
Hemberg 1 00 00 0-0 0 0 0
McGhee 2 12 0-0 0-0 0 0 3
Hill 6 01 0-0 1-1 1 0 0
Leiser 27 3-7 0-0 11 0 2 9
Bell 24 0-2 0-0 0-2 1 2 0
Totals 200 19-44 9-14 10-35 9 16 51
FG%: .432. FT%: .643. 3-point FG: 4-9 444 (Leiser 3-6,
McGhee 1-2. Andersson 0-1). Blocks: 6 (Bell 5, Prince
1). Steals: 11 (Piroglu 6, Whalen 4, Prince 1). Turnovers:
29 (Piroglu 9, Whalen 6, Prince 4, Bell 3. Leiser 3,
Andersson 2. Pickens, Hill). Technical Fouls: none.
MICHIGAN (69)
FG FT REB
MIN M-A M-A O-T A F PTS
Oesterle 29 4-11 3-4 2-8 3 1 12
Goodlow 29 5-9 2-2 2-3 2 4 12
Bies 36 2-9 4-5 4-8 2 1 8
Gandy 25 2-5 2-4 3-6 0 2 6
Ingram 40 6-14 0-1 1-4 8 0 17
Jara 2 0-0 00 0-0 0 0 0
Robinson 25 5-10 0-1 0-0 1 1 14
Smith 14 02 0-0 01 1 3 0
Totals 200 24-60 11-17 15-33 17 12 69
FG%: .400. FT%: .647. 3-point FG: 10-19, .526. (Ingram
5, Robinson 4, Oesterle). Blocks: 2 (Oesterle, Goodlow)
Steals: 13 (Bies 7, Ingram 3.Oesterle 2,Gandy).
Turnovers: 16 (Ingram 5. Robinson 3, Bies 3. Oesterle 2,
Goodlow 2, Smith 2). Technical Fouls: none.
Northwestern....-..-...-..--21 30 -51
Michigan......... .27 42 -69
At: Crisler Arena
Attendance: 1,212
THORIUS
Continued from Page 9
and dished out eight assists in 40 minutes
- Thorius-like numbers.
Everyone else had to pick up their
game while Thorius had to pick up her
spirits.
"It's not something I enjoy," Thorius
said. "Its very difficult to walk out and
see everyone warmingup
Guevara positioned Thorius between
young guards Michaela Leary and
Robinson. By talking to the youth
throughout the night and vocalizing her
excitement with the same intensity as if
in uniform, Thorius played a role in
inspiring the Wolverines.
"I thought Anne did a really nice job
on the bench tonight," Guevara said.
"She was very encouraging to the kids
out on the floor. I don't like seeing her sit
there, but she did a nice job while sitting
there."
While Thorius fulfilled her duties as
captain from the unfamiliar bench,
Ingram took over out on the floor. The
absence of Thorius gave way for the
junior to really thrive in a role she relish-
es - that of the leader.
"She ran the show and she ran it with
confidence," Thorius said. "She knows
how to lead this team."
Next year, Michigan is going to have
to find a new point guard for the first
time in four years, as well as a new
"glue that holds Michigan together" as
Thorius has been described by the
team. The past couple of games,
Guevara had Ingram play from the one-
spot even with Thorius available. Last
night, she had no choice.
"We said today, 'We're going to get a
look at what our team is going to play
like next year,'" Guevara said. "I really
liked how the team responded without
Anne Thorius."
TWI h2ha voij love him
CCHA Standings
Team
Michigan State
Michigan
Western Michigan
Nebraska-Omaha
Ohio State
Miami
Northern Michigan
Alaska-Fairbanks
Ferris State
Lake Superior
Bowling Green
W
14
13
9
10
9
10
7
6
5
6
3
L
2
4
5
8
7
7
7
8
10
14
11
CCHA
T Pts GP
3 31 19
2 28 19
5 23 19
2 22 20
2 20 18
1 21 18
6 20 20
6 18 20
3 13 18
0 12 20
4 10 18
GF
54
81
70
61
56
60
57
52
41
37
48
GA
21
37
66
63
50
49
54
66
61
67
61
OVERALL
W L T
21 2 4
19 6 4
16 6 5
15 11 2
12 10 2
13 11 2
11 8 7
8 10 6
9 13 4
10 17 0
8 14 4
A look at the
underside of U of M
www.universitysecrets.coml
*E 0EU 0
OMAHA
Continued from Page 9
NHL. "In Omaha they fill the building
and hoot and holler. They fill it every
Nebraska-Omaha's home arena,
something that is not common in col-
lege hockey atmospheres.
"Alcohol is kind of different to
other campuses," Cupp said. "It helps
the. ntmj- rnhierP. hit and h-ts e rnrl~
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