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 If you didn't make it to New Orleans Tonight! .8:00 PM - 12:00 AM MICHIGAN UNION The carnival is a post spring break celebration and part of Little Sibs weekend...It will feature Games, Casino, Artsbreak, Bingo, Karaoke, 2 shows by Big Time hypnotist: Steve Meade! Free Food. Come collect all the Mardi Gras beads you can! All events are free... Student ID required at the door after 9:30 PM. Sponsored by Michigan Union Arts & Programs, Michigan Union Program Board, RHA, and SORG. 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 DAILY SPORTS: THE FIRE AND RATTY CLOTHES AND THE HEAT. MY GOD, DAVID, THE HEAT! pSCOREKEEPERS I Sportsg rilIlI& Pu bI 75 CLL Assotu t S DRINKS FRIDAY= J s e of 1 a 27 Taps! Full Menu! BOTTLESo Only 750 SATURDAY 310 MAYNARO -995.0100 21 & OVER WITH PROPER !0) AdveLrtisin Productior *GraphicDesine ComputerizedaoS itan *Archiving asisan Salaried positions;,. Knowledge of QuarkXpre 7-10 hours per week ss 9 Work study accepted .M '® I