The Michigan Daily - Friday, March 9, 2001- 9A
Ten's tennis swept on
* road by Notre Dame
With No. 26 Notre Dame handing the
Michigan men's tennis team a 7-0 loss in
South Bend yesterday, the Wolverines
have fallen under the .500 mark for the
first time this season. Michigan has
dropped six straight matches, and has been
*hut out twice in the last three matches.
The Fighting Irish managed to pull
out all the close matches. With three
matches needing tiebreakers to be decid-
ed, the Wolverines weren't blown out,
despite the lopsided score.
* "Like some of the other matches in
our recent streak, we played some decent
tennis, but we just didn't win the close
matches," coach Mark Mees said.
Mees has tried to emphasize a busi-
ness-as-usual approach to help his team
get out of its recent funk.
"Every loss is disappointing, but with
what we have ahead, we cannot afford to
hang our heads," Mees said. "We'll prac-
tice hard and be ready for the next one."
- Brian Druchniak
Knight talks to Tech,
says he'll sue Indiana
Former Indiana basketball coach Bob
Knight is talking to Texas Tech about
taking over its basketball program, in
addition to saying he will sue Indiana
University, the Associated Press report-
ed.
Knight has discussed taking over the
head coaching job with Texas Tech
administration, unbeknowst to current
coach James Dickey. The Red Raiders
are 9-18 and 3-13 in the Big 12.
" In a letter to Indiana, Knight alleges
that the school denied him the opportu-
nity to earn in excess of $7 million.
Knight claims he is owned compen-
sation from the school for "lost income,
pain and suffering, mental humiliation
and interference with his ability to
obtain subsequent employment."
Knight was fired by Indiana after 29
years as coach of the basketball team on
Sept. 10 for his failure to follow the
school's "zero-tolerance policy."
- From staff and wire reports
NCAA men
Yesterday's results
Big Ten Conference:
PURCUE 91, Minnesota 77
PENN SmE 82, Mchi 80
lowA 72, Northwestern 55
Atlantic Coast Conference:
Clemson 66, FloRiDA STATE 64
Big East Conference:
No.9 BostoN CouGE 93, Villanova 79
Pittsburgh 66, No. 18 NOTRE DAIME 54
Seton Hall 58, No.19 GEORGETOWN 40
No. 14 SAcusE, 55, Providence 54
Southeastern Conference:
No. 24 TENNESSEE 73, Auburn 66
South Carolina 69, Missssappi STATE 62
No. 25 ALABAMA 78, Vanderbilt 59
Lousiana state 63, GEoRCA 62
Pac-10 Conference:
No. 7 Arizona 76, No. 1 SrANoRD 75
No. 17 UCLA 86, Washington State 76
Southern Cal 85 WAsHNGTON 56
CAUFORNIA 86 Arizona State 67
Big 12 Conference:
BAYLoR 86, Colorado 84 (OT)
0i'tAHoA STATE 71, Texas Tech 59
Kansas State 60, NEBRSKA 58
Mid American Conference:
Ohio 64, Tom C63
Miami (Ohio) 65, CENTRL MICHIGAN 56,
No fu in the sun yet for 'M' nine
,... Ste Jacs
Daily Sports Writer
Nothing says summertime in America like the crack of the
*at. But as long as Mother Nature spites the Michigan baseball
team with snow and cold, it will continue to practice in the
friendly confines of Oosterbaan Fieldhouse.
"We'd like to say that this would be our last week," assistant
coach Chris Harrison said. "But hopefully after the Kansas
weekend (Mar. 16-18) we won't come back here again."
Spending six days a week working under the watchful eye of
the florescent lights has left many players anxious to play outside.
"Its boring,"junior pitcher and first-baseman Jeff Trzos said.
"Looking up and seeing the same thing everyday stretching -
ou'd rather watch some clouds."
While their surroundings remain constant, Coach Geoff
Zahn's club must work its schedule around the football team's
spring practices.
Baseball alternates with softball, practicing either before or
after. Lloyd Carr's clan. On any given day the players could be
working as early as 2 p.m. or as late as 9 p.m. at night.
No matter what time it is, though, the team must adjust to its
less-than-fiendly environment,
"We do as much as we can to make it as real as we can, know-
ing that there are limits on what we can do," Harrison said.
While Oosterbaan is large enough to accommodate full-scale
ield practice, other things - like taking fly balls or playing
trasquad games - are simply impossible. ,
"Working in here forces you to work on individual funda-
mentals;' Harrison said.
After spending a week in Florida without a homerun,
Michigan will be putting extra emphasis on the fundamentals
of driving the inside pitch.
"If there was one thing that showed up last week, it was we
didn't drive that pitch well. And that is something we need to
do;' Harrison said.
Conversely, the Wolverines' pitchers put more emphasis on
*onditioning when they are indoors.
"A lot of it has been agility work;' pitching coach Steve
Foster said. "And we're building the power muscles - below
the pectorals and above the knees."
He says the only fundamentals pitchers have to deal with are
"throwing strikes and not getting hit."
Despite the unanimous preference for practices under the
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FILE PHOTO
The Michigan pitching staff sets its sights on building mus.
cle in the winter in order to build velocity in the spring.
sun, one feature of the facility received rave reviews from play-
ers and coaches alike - the new playing surface.
The current material, called FieldTurf, was installed in
January. This is the third surface since the building's construc-
tion in 1970, with the first two being the more traditional
AstroTurf. Unlike AstroTurf, which is a tightly-tufted carpet
installed upon a six inch foam cushion, FieldTurf is designed to
better replicate natural grass.
"The blades of FieldTurf are two-and-a-half inch long poly,
with a two inch deep mixture of crushed rubber and sand filled
between the blades" explained Robb Dunn, who oversees the
building for the Athletic Department. "This filling acts as both
a stabilizer and cushion for the turf, eliminating the need for the
foam cushion beneath the surface."
"It's much more like grass" Harrison added. "It's fast. But
when you go down south, you play on fast fields. They're dry,
baked and usually cut low."
Michigan will get another look at those fields when it travels
to Louisiana this weekend to play a three-game set against the
Cowboys of McNeese State.
CCHA
Continued from Page 8A
n a playoff setting, with the win-
Wer's season continuing through the
CCHA Tournament at Joe Louis
Arena next weekend, neither team
can afford suspensions, making a
good argument for a tamer series on
the horizon - one remembered for
dominating right wings as opposed
to blistering right hooks.
"It was so long ago," Michigan
associate head coach Mel Pearson
*aid, referring to his hope that this
series will bare little resemblance to
the season's first. "I think if it was
just' recently it would be a little bit
more of a problem. But it's such a
long time ago and I think (the
Bulldogs) understand that they can't
be doing that either."
As the No. 3 seed in the confer-
ence - its worst seeding in more
than a decade - Michigan has a lot
more to lose this weekend than the
ghth-seeded Bulldogs. The
olvenines stand to end a season
that has been disappointing at best,
but still has them in position to make
the NCAA Tournament. And despite
the underachievement, few people
have ruled Michigan out of the title
chase.
"They don't have any pressure on
them," Michigan coach Red
erenson said. "They finished in
ighth place, they're going to come
in here and try to upset Michigan -
it's as simple as that."
The biggest factor in Michigan's
favor - besides home-ice advantage
- is the probable return of senior
Josh Langfeld. After injuring him-
self in the game against Michigan
State Feb. 17, Langfeld has recov-
ered quickly and practiced with the
team this week. His return signifi-
cantly improves Michigan's offense.
40 "1 think we have three solid lines
now and a good fourth line that
checks and plays hard," Langfeld
said. "I think we have all the intan-
gibles to be a championship team,
it's just putting them all together."
MhIn the best-of-three series,
Michigan is looking to act quickly.
Finishing off the Bulldogs in two
games could help exorcise some of
he demons of inconsistency that
plagued the Wolverines at the end of
the regular season.
"It's huge," captain Geoff Koch
said. "Who wants to play three
games this weekend? We want to
finish them off. During playoff time,
it's key to be rested and we want to
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