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Sports desk: 763-2459
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Mmwu 9 MICHIGAN , FERRIS STATE 3 MA1vci 10: MICHIGAN 3, FERRIS STATE 0

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ALYSSA WOOD/Dairy
In a rough and tumble series, the Michigan hockey team gave Ferris State a quick exit in their best-of-three series, booting the Bulldogs in two games.
Michigan brushes aside pesky Ferris State,
edvancesnintoCCHA semifinals Friday night

Jwry not out
on a lesson
learned
here is an old saying that
goes, "You learn something
new every day." I'm not
ready to close the book on that one
yet. If there's one thing I've learned
from this Michigan hockey season,
it's never to take anything for grant-
ed.
All season
long, it's been
the question on
Michigan fans'
minds - has
this team xHY
learned its les-
son? Disap-
pointing losses JON
were generally SCHWARTZ
followed by The Schwartz
impressive Authority
wins. The
reverse also has happened numer-
ous times.
And after each turnaround, chests
would be pumped, heads held high,
and thoughts circulated around the
idea that this team had learned its
lesson.
It certainly seemed that way
when Michigan's decimated lineup
let Michigan Tech and Boston Col-
lege rip it apart during the Great
Lakes Invitational, only to shut out
Lake Superior twice the next week-
end. If winning a weekend series by
a combined score of 7-0 doesn't
constitute a lesson learned, what
does, right?
And after losing a heartbreaking
2-1 decision to Lake Superior on
Feb. 22 in Sault. Ste. Marie, the
Wolverines came back two days
later and took it to the Lakers at Joe
Louis Arena, 5-2. Isn't that the kind
of response this team needed to get
back in it?
There was plenty of good that
happened this weekend against Fer-
ris State. Michigan stuck to its
game plan, never allowing the
Bulldogs' physical baiting to
thwart its goal of winning the
series in two games. Friday night,
the Wolverines probably played
their best period of the season in
the game's first 20 minutes. When
that happens in the playoffs, you
know the team is doing something
right.
So here's a new question to ponder
as the Wolverines wait for the CCHA
semifinals to start on Friday night:
Should we trust them this time?
"If you haven't learned it yet, it's
a little late to learn it," senior
defenseman Bob Gassoff said after
Saturday's game. "We have to put
everything on the line if we want to
See SCHWARTZ, Page 4B

MARJORIE MARSHALL/Daily
Alayne Ingram and the women's basket-
ball team are headed to South Bend.
Wo-men
earn berth
in NCAA
By David Roth
Daily Sports Writer
YPSILANTI - Confidence sur-
faces in many ways. Yesterday, it
emerged in the form of fried chicken
and mashed potatoes.
Michigan coach Sue Guevara was
so confident that her team would get a
bid that she held an open house for
her players and the media to watch
the NCAA Tournament Selection
Show together on ESPN.
But even mashed, the potatoes
couldn't go down smoothly until the
Wolverines officially received a No. 8
seed in the Midwest regional.
Guevara admitted she "ran for
about 55 minutes this morning just to
get rid of the stress and the anxiety.
Now I feel relieved that I know what
we're doing."
Michigan (10-6 Big Ten, 18-11
overall) will take on No. 9 seed Vir-
ginia (8-8 ACC, 18-13 overall) on
Saturday at 11 a.m. at the Joyce Cen-
ter in Notre Dame.
"When you're worried about get-
ting in or not, when you get any type
of seed you're happy," LeeAnn Bies
said.
Throughout the season, Guevara
had designated 18 wins as necessary
to make the tournament. Those
seemed a world away when the
Wolverines had an 8-6 overall, and 1-
3 Big Ten record by Jan. 7. But five
straight and ten of thirteen Big Ten
wins put Michigan back in con-
tention. Still, the selection process
could just as well be decided by a
Ouija board.
"You're always nervous," Anne
Thorius said. "There is that slight
chance that someone had a little bet-
ter schedule or performed better in
certain games."
Guevara said she will learn more
about Virginia when her scouts give
her the scoop today, but she knows
about Schuye LaRue, who was last
year's ACC freshman of the year and
was named to the ACC First Team
this year, averaging 18 points and 12
rebounds per game.
If Michigan makes it past the
See SEED, Page 3B

By Ryan C. Moloney
Daily Sports Writcr
As the Michigan hockey team left the Yost Arena
ice in the waning moments after its last home game
of the 2000-2001 season, senior Bob Gassoff, as is
his custom after every game, waited for his team-
gates to make their exits before he made his.
His playing career in the old barn concluded, the
senior raised his stick in tribute to the scattering
crowd, then headed down the tunnel.
Though Gassoff's gesture was a tribute to the
past, his team had just finished paying everyone
notice of the future.
In defiance of a season that had gone awry in its
second half, the Wolverines started the weekend
with an action-packed 8-3 victory over Ferris State
on Friday, then followed it up with a hard-fought 3-
0 win the next night.
It was the first weekend series since Lake Superi-
Or on Jan. 5 and 7 in which Michigan won both
games.
The weekend was seemingly characterized more
by the extracurriculars after the whistles, than the
play between them. While trash-talking and the
occasional shove passed between both teams, noth-
ing reminiscent of the two teams' fight-riddled
series on Nov. 10 and 11 took place.
The win in the best-of-three series propels the
Wolverines into the semifinals of the CCHA cham-

pionship at Joe Louis Arena next Friday.
"We didn't want to play another game," Michigan
coach Berenson said. "After (Friday) night we want-
ed to have a good game tonight, this was important.
You didn't want to have the momentum shift, give
them the momentum and give them more confi-
dence.
"Let's not forget the other team, Ferris State's a
good hockey team.'
Michigan did not escape the weekend without
some bad news - senior defenseman Dave Huntz-
icker injured his right shoulder after taking a hit on
the boards towards the end of the second period on
Friday night, causing him to miss Saturday's game.
The status of the shoulder is, as of yet, undeter-
mined.
On Saturday, the Bulldogs started the game with
an aggressive flurry of shots on goalie Josh Black-
burn, courtesy of Rob Collins and Chris Kunitz, en
route to outshooting the Wolverines in the period,
10-8. Neither team dominated throughout the
remainder of the scoreless first 20 minutes, though
Ferris State boasted constant pressure and a shot off
the right goal post by defenseman Jim Dube.
"They had us on our heels, they outshot us, out-
played us in the first 10 minutes of the game,"
Berenson said. "Had they scored a goal or two,
it could have been a different game."
Josh Langfeld started the scoring at the 4:48-
See BULLDOGS, Page 4B

WHO'S ON TAP?
Michigan gets the week off before it heads to Joe
Louis Arena next Friday to face No. 4 seed Nebraska-
Omaha in the CCHA Championship semifinals.
The Mavericks survived a three-game battle with
Ohio State in the first round, ending in a double-over-
time thriller.
Michigan and Nebraska-Omaha have split the season
series, with both games being played in Omaha.
Other CCHA playoff scores:
THURSDw'S GAME
Bowling Green 4, Miami 3
FRIWWS GAES:
MIchigan 8, Fenis State 3
Michigan State 5, Alaska-Fairbanks 2
Northern Michigan 3, Western Michigan 2 (OT)
Bowling Green 4, Miami 3 (OT)
Ohio State 5, Nebraska-Omaha 4 (OT)
S~IuRoAYS GAMES:
Michigan 3, Fernis State 0
Michigan State 3, Alaska-Fairbanks 2 (OT)
Western Michigan 9, Northern Michigan 7
Nebraska-Omaha 2, Ohio State 1
UNMY'S GAMES:
Northern Michigan 5 Western Michigan 4 (OT)
Nebraska-Omaha 4, Ohio State 3 (201)
Blackburn stands tall in net
Wolverines shed season-long inconsistency
Plus, scores from around the nation


Women's gymnasts fall to No. 1 UCLA

By Naweed Sikora
Daily Sports Writer

Despite having 3,854 screaming fans in its corner at
Crisler Arena Friday night - a regular season record
- the Michigan women's gymnastics team was not
able to overcome the strength, finesse and perfection of
its west coast rivals, UCLA, falling to the Bruins
197.7-197.125.
The loss could not overshadow the Wolverines' near
flawless performance, as their team score was the sec-
ond highest of the season thus far.
"I'm really thrilled with our performance," Michigan
coach Bev Plocki said. "Quite frankly, I was a little bit
nervous about competing in Crisler because it was our
first time this season. But, I'm glad we came here and
had a good experience because we have to be here
three more times this year."
The biggest surprise of the meet for Michigan came
on the balance beam, where it was able to overcome its
recent difficulties in the event and post its highest score
of the year, a 49.125. With six consecutive solid rou-
tines and no falls, the Wolverines' beam performance
was the brightest point of the evening. Michigan

backing off on a little bit of the difficulty," Plocki said.
"It's what I would call smarter gymnastics. They all
had a 10 start value, but we were able to take out some
of the unnecessary risk, and we hit."
Although much of the focus before the meet was
placed on the four summer Olympians who were com-
peting -- Elise Ray for Michigan, and Kristen Mal-
oney, Jamie Dantzscher, and Yvonne Tousek for
UCLA - the overall effort of all team members was
what kept the meet close until the end.
The Wolverines began their first rotation on the
vault. Michigan senior Christine Michaud won the
event and tied her career-high with a 9.95.
"It's disappointing that we lost, but we are all pretty
happy with our performance tonight," Michaud said.
"We really went out and tried to attack and I think we
stepped up to the challenge."
Even with Michaud's score, the Wolverines fell
behind after the first rotation by .35 of a point.
Dantzscher performed brilliantly on the uneven bars for
the Bruins, winning the event with a near perfect 9.975.
The meet remained tight after the second rotation as
both teams continued to perform at their best.
It wasn't until the final rotation that the Wolverines

the beam, providing Michigan with a chance to take the
lead for the first time. But the Bruns would not fold,
posting three consecutive scores of 9.9, and finishing
with a 9.925 by the all-around champion, Onnie Willis.
"It's quite common in gymnastics for a spiral or
domino effect to occur where one person falls and
everybody else knows they have to hit," UCLA coach
Valerie Kondos said. "Just that added little pressure can
do something to your nerves and your energy that
doesn't allow you to stay on those four inches. From a
coaching standpoint, I was excited to see them rise to
the occasion and not let the nerves get to them."
Completing the meet on the floor exercise, the
Wolverines received excellent performances from
freshman Calli Ryals - who tied for first overall with
a 9.925 - and Ray, who scored a 9.975 but lost .1 of a
point for stepping out of bounds.
With the season winding down, Michigan continues
to gather strength and confidence, as it will once again
compete for a national title. It looks inevitable that these
teams will again meet in the NCAA championships.
"I think we proved tonight that we can hang with
them," Plocki said. "I also think every one of these kids
knows that we have definite areas of improvement. It

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