2B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - October 15, 2001 4 'M' tennis focused on improving By Melanie Kebler Daily Sports Editor For tennis players, the fall season is a time for improving individual skills and perfecting techniques, and the best way to improve is to compete at the highest level possible. That's exactly what four members of the Michigan men's tennis team did last week at the ITA All-American Championships in Stone Mountain, Ga. "There are two or three things we look to do with the team during the fall," Michigan assistant coach Dan Goldberg said. "We want to see indi- vidual improvement, help players make technical changes to their game and get them involved in top level con- ditions. The idea is to let them see some different faces and find out where they stack up nationally." The tournament - one of the top two or three in the nation, according to Goldberg - consisted of a prequalify- ing round, a qualifying round and a main draw. Players without a national ranking started competition in the pre- qualifying round, while the top-ranked players automatically received a bid to the main draw. Michigan sent three team members to the prequalifying round. The Wolverines' No.1 singles player Henry Beam (No. 43) was invited to the main- draw. In prequalifying last Tuesday, sophomore Anthony Johnson and freshman Matt Lockin won their first matches but failed to advance any fur- ther toward the qualifying round. Senior Ben Cox went 2-1 for the tour- nament, advancing through the first two rounds of prequalifying before falling to Zoltan Papp of Baylor, 7-5, 6-2. "I thought we played fair, but nobody was quite as sharp as we would have liked," Goldberg said. "Ben has been battling some arm problems but otherwise I thought he had a good chance to make it to the qualifying round" Beam began play last Thursday, fac- ing a tough draw in No. 1 Stanford singles player K.J. Hippensteel (No. 3), who beat Beam 6-2, 6-0 en route to the finals of the singles tournament yesterday. "Henry got down early and never quite dug himself out," Goldberg said. "His opponent played well from the start. Still, he learned quite a bit in his first match and played better in his later consolation match" In the consolation round, Beam bat- tled Indiana State's No. I singles play- er, Stefan Him, but lost in three sets, 6-3, 5-7, 6-2. Although none of the Wolverines played particularly well at the ITA Championship, that doesn't mean that they didn't get a chance to learn and improve. "You learn quite a bit playing against top players, and that's what we wanted to do at this tournament," Goldberg said. "Our goal this fall is have some individual time with players and to help them improve the fine points of their game." CLUBP0RTSWEEKLY Edited bh Kanen, Copeland and Jim heer Not a draft pick? Join hockey club* ATHLETE OF THE WEEK By Eric Chan Daily Sports Writer The varsity men's hockey team at Michigan is one of the best in the nation. But not everyone on campus can be Mike Komisarek or Mike Cammalleri. The club hockey team was established eight years ago, and has been increasing in numbers ever since. This year the team had 50 hopefuls trying out for a team with only 25 spots. Seniors make up more than half of the club team's roster. There were freshmen who impressed coach Mike Radokavich, but there weren't any spots on the team. Radokavich knows that they are the future of the club team; so these freshmen are invited to practices that are very intense and competitive. But club members noted that the club isn't all work and no play. "This is probably the most fun I've ever had with a hockey team," club president Dan Burkons said. "We're all friends in there, and we all party together on the weekends too." The club hockey team is one of the most competitive and elite non-varsity teams on campus. Its schedule this year includes a non-league game against Life Universi- ty of Georgia, last year's national champion of the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA). The team has competed in the ACHA national tournament the past three years, but it has not been able to bring home the title. "Our team has high expectations this year, with only one goal in mind: Win nationals," Engineering sopho- more Derek Hickey said. The team usually plays two games a week, but this past weekend, it competed in the Oakland University Showcase in Fraser, Michigan. Burkons was not pleased with the team's perfor- mance. "It was a tough weekend for us," Burkons said. "We didn't get a full week of practices in like we would have liked, and a lot of the older guys were taking the LSATs. Our team just seemed very disorganized." The squad lost to Michigan State and Humber Col- lege, a varsity team from Canada Michigan salvaged a tie with Illinois' club team. Club members pay a pretty hefty price to be part of the team. The amount the club needs to pay for travel and facil- ities runs about 540,000, but the team only receives 55,000 from the University. Dues per player this year will be about $1,200 each. The team does its best to lower these dues through fundraising and program sales. "Our club is definitely a great opportunity for good hockey players to keep on playing," Burkons said. Who: Alan Webb Hometown: Reston, Va. Sport: Cross country Year: Freshman Why: Webb finished first in yesterday morning's Wolverine Invitational, leading 12th-ranked Michigan to a first place team finish. Webb dominat- ed the field, winning by a margin of 32 seconds en route to his second victory of the season. 'M'SCHEDULE Monday, Oct.15 M Golf at Duke Golf Classic, 8 a.m. Friday, Oct. 19 Ice Hockey at Western Michigan, 7:05 p.m. Volleyball vs. Ohio State, 7 p.m. W Soccer vs. Minnesota, 4 p.m. W Swimming and Diving at Florida, 6 p.m. M Cross Country at Eastern Michigan Open, 4:30 p.m. W Golf at Hatter Golf Classic (Orlando, Fla.) Saturday, Oct. 20 Ice Hockey vs. Western Michigan, 735 p.m. Field Hockey vs. Penn State, 11 a.m. Volleyball vs. Penn State, 7 p.m. W Swimming and Diving at Florida Relays, 10 a.m. W Golf at Hatter Golf Classic (Orlando, Fla.) Sunday, Oct. 21 Field Hockey at Central Michigan, 1 p.m. W Soccer at Oakland, 1 p.m. M Soccer vs Wisconsin (Varsity Soccer Field), 2 p.m. W Golf at Hatter Golf Classic (Orlando, Fla.) W Rowing at Head of the Charles (Boston, Mass.), 8 a.m. DAILY SCOE 3 AD I I I Bad weather stymies Wolverines By Nauman Syed For the Daily So far this season, the Michigan men's golf team has been in the middle of the pack. Most of the tournaments it has participated in have resulted in one school clearly playing better than the competition. But the Wolverines' chances to leave the Duke Golf Classic with a victory were not dashed by Virginia Tech - which leads the field after yesterday's play -- but by bad weather. The Wolverines scored 306 in the first round of play, which was good enough for 10th out of 18 teams. Michigan finished 13 strokes behind the Hokies (5 over par) for the lead, but only eight behind second place Tulsa. The four Michigan scores that counted were sophomore David Nichol's 73, senior Andrew Chap- man's 77 and 78s from senior Andy Matthews and junior Scott Carlton. Originally, two rounds were scheduled yesterday, but weather conditions halted the second round just as they began the back nine holes. Michigan coach Jim Carras feels there are several reasons for the Wolverines' inflated numbers. "This is a difficult golf course without adverse weather condi- tions," Carras said, adding that the course hosted last season's NCAA Tournament. Adding to the difficulty of the course, the heavy wind and rain cre- ated higher scores for the entire field. "You couldn't see 50 yards in front of you," Carras said. In a game with a ball as light as a golf ball, even slightly adverse con- ditions have a major impact on the game. Eventually, tournament offi- NFL STANDINGS MLB PLAYOFFS 4 AMERICAN CONFERENCE Eastern Division W Miami 3 Indianapolis 2 NY Jets 3 New England 2 Buffalo 0 T 0 0 0 0 0 Pct. .750 .667 .500 .250 .000 PF PA 106 111 100 94 114 120 103 102 71 128 Central Division Baltimore Cleveland Pittsburgh Cincinnati Jacksonville Tennessee Western Division Denver Oakland San Diego Seattle Kansas City W 3 3 3 3 2 1 W 3 3 3 3 1 T Pct. 0 .750 0 .750 o .667 0 .5oo 0 .50o 0 .000 PF 96 87 59 89 63 67 PA 78 77 48 85 56 98 T> 0 0 0 0 0 Pct. .750 .750 .750 .500 .250 NATIONAL CONFERENCE Eastern Division W NY Giants 3 Philadelphia 2 Arizona 1 Dallas 0 Washington 0 Central Division Green Bay Chicago Tampa Bay Minnesota Detroit Western Division St. Louis San Francisco New Orleans Atlanta Carolina w 4 3 2 2 0 W 5 4 3 2 1 T Pct. 0 .750 o .50o 0 .333 0 .000 0 .000 T Pct. o .750 0 .667 0 .667 o .250 o .o0o T Pct. 0 1.oo 0 .750 0 .667 0 .500 0 .250 PF PA 123 97 108 77 132 87 84 107 95 93 PF PA 91 71 104 62 65 112 66 110 25 135 PF PA 134 50 74 43 68 67 89 111 46 118 PF PA 142 67 122 105 92 67 105 114 86 116 AMERICAN LEAGUE (Home teams in CAPS) Cleveland vs. Seattle Game 1: Cleveland 5, SEATTLE 0 Game 2: SEATTLE 5. Cleveland 1 Game 3: CLEVELAND 17, Seattle 2 Game 4: Seattle 6. CLEVELAND 2 Game 5 (today): Cleveland at SEATTLE, 4:20 p.m. New York Yankees vs. Oakland Game 1: Oakland 5. NEW YORK 3 Game 2: Oakland 2, NEW YORK 0 Game 3: New York 1, OAKLAND 0 Game 4: New York 9, OAKLAND 2 Game S(today): Oakland at NEw YORK, 8:17 p.m. NATIONAL LEAGUE Atlanta sweeps Houston, 3-0 Game 1: Atlanta 7, HOUSTON 4 Game 2: Atlanta 1, HOUSTON 0 Game 3: ATLANTA 6, Houston 2 St. Louis vs. Arizona Game 1: ARIZONA 1, St. Louis 0 Game 2: St. Louis 4, ARIZONA 1 Game 3: Arizona 5, ST. Louis 3 Game 4: ST. Louis 4, Arizona 1 Game 5: ARIZONA x, St. Louis x 6M9NOTES L Stickers split pair of games over weekend After losing 2-1Ito No. 10 Ohio State on Friday, the Michigan field hockey team bounced back against No. 12 Ohio with a 2-1 victory on'Sunday. The winning goal yesterday came from freshman Jessica Blake - who was also Michigan's only scorer in Fri- day's contest - with 5:40 left in the game. Michigan scored in the first half against the Bobcats with a goal from sophomore April Fronzoni. Ohio evened it up in the second with just over 10 minutes left before Blake's win- ning goal. The Wolverines' win pre- vented them from losing two in a row for the first time all season. Goalie Maureen Tasch had plenty of help from the defense as Ohio was only able to manage six shots on goal. Michigan's shot total reached .l1 as the Wolverines kept pressure on Ohio net- minder Tara Elliot. The Wolverines will return home from their weekend in Ohio and will host their final regular season home game next week against Penn State - From staff reports 4 4 DANNY MOLOSHOK/Daily Poor weather conditions prevented Andy Matthews and his teammates from finishing all three rounds of the Duke Golf Classic. NFL GAMES cials decided to end the day's second round prematurely. Normally, a rain delay would not ruin the Wolverines' chances to win the tournament. But instead of throwing out the second round of play and proceeding with the third, the leftover holes will be played this morning at 9 a.m. which will push back the final round. Carras can only recall one other incident in his 20 years as Michigan coach when the second round was finished instead of being discontinued after bad weather - 20 years ago at a tournament in South Carolina. Aside from its irregular nature, the delay tomorrow has caused the team to forgo the final round in order to make its 4 p.m. return flight. There are no later flights to the Detroit Metro Airport that the team could catch, and four of the five team members have class on Tuesday. "We're not in contention to win it," Carras said. "This is the strongest field of the year." Yesterday's games CHICAGO 20, Arizona 13 GREEN BAY 31. Baltimore 23 CINCINNATI 24. Cleveland 14 MINNESOTA 31, Detroit 26 New Orleans 27, CAROLINA 25 ST. Louis 15, N.Y. Giants 14 Pittsburgh 20, KANSAS CITY 17 NEW ENGLAND 29, San Diego 26 (OT) San Francisco 37, ATLANTA 31 (OT) TENNESSEE 31, Tampa Bay 28 (OT) SEATTLE 34, Denver 21. N.Y. JETS 21, Miami 17 Oakland at INDIANAPOLIS, inc. Today's game Washington at DALLAS, 9 P.M. Next week's games Buffalo at JACKSONVILLE (Thurs. night), 8:30 P.M. Pittsburgh at TAMPA BAY, 1 P.M. Carolina at WASHINGTON, 1 P.M. Chicago at CINCINNATI, 1 P.M. Baltimore at CLEVELAND, 1 P.M. Tennessee at DETROIT, 1 P.M. New England at INDIANAPOLIS, 1 P.M. Atlanta at NEW ORLEANS, 1 P.M. St. Louis at NEW YORK JETS, 1 P.M. Kansas City at ARIZONA, 4 P.M. Denver at SAN DIEGO, 4 P.M., Green'Bay at MINNESOTA, 4 P.M. Philadelphia at NEW YORK GIANTS (Monday night), Aa 4 Register for a Class Now It Not too Late. We are pro-rating. Step Aerobics, Swimming, HipHop, Kickboxing, Tae Kwon Do 764-1342 or www.umich.edu/-umove No one told you the hardest part of being an engineer would be finding your first job. 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