7LJbE llkbigan iaiI,, Sports desk: 763-2459 sportsdesk@umich.edu SECTION B I. ° -r 4 r -x; t era iI Challenging schedule awaits Michigan By Chris Burke Daily Sports Writer On Nov. 9, Michigan fans will have their first opportunity to see a women's basket- ball team that has been ranked as high as No. 10 by some preseason publications. But they better try to keep that game fresh in their minds, because it will be a long time before they see the Wolverines in action again. After the exhibition opener against Latvia Clondica, the Wolverines begin the regular season with nine of their first 10 games on the road. The stretch will include trips to New Hampshire, New York, Washington and two ventures to Louisiana. "I hope we tease everybody in our exhibi- tion game and we're able to get people back when we open against Marquette (on Nov. 29)," Michigan coach Sue Guevara said during the Wolverines' media day on Fri- day. "When you look at our schedule, not only are we on the road, but this is a very challenging schedule and one that our play- ers are really looking forward to playing. "It will get us ready for the Big Ten." Guevara will learn a lot about her team right away, as the Wolverines make their first appearance in Louisiana to play Louisiana Tech. Last year, the Lady Techsters made it to the NCAA Tourna- ment's Elite Eight. But they also lost, 69- 66, in Ann Arbor during the regular season. After Louisiana Tech, Michigan faces trips to Detroit, New Hampshire and Syra- cuse before getting its home opener. "Certainly it will help our confidence level if we can beat Louisiana Tech and some of these other tough teams," for- ward Stephanie Gandy said. "It would give us momentum going into the next game, and getting road wins is very key seeing as how we don't have many home games." Things do not get any easier for Michi- gan after Marquette visits. Three days later, the Wolverines take on defending national champion Notre Dame in Grand Rapids. A weekend excursion to Seattle to play Wash- ington State and another Elite Eight team in Washington will be followed with games at See SCHEDULE, Page 6B Inside scoop The triple threat of LeeAnn Bies, Jennifer Smith and Raina Goodlow give the Wolverines a solid post presence that ranks among the top in the Big Ten. Freshman phenom Tabitha Poole stays in her hometown to energize the Wolverines and make an imme- diate impact. The Wolverines play a challeng- ing schedule that includes early season trips to Louisiana Tech and Grand Rapids to play defending national champion Notre Dame. PAGE 6B LESLIE WARD/Daily Michigan women's basketball coach Sue Guevara directs freshman guard Sierra Hauser-Price In drills during practice. Back in the saddle High and low series for Blue's Komisarek By J. Brady McCollough Daily Sports Writer With his team already losing 3-1 in the hostile environment of West- ern Michigan's Lawson Ice Arena, Michigan sophomore defenseman Mike Komisarek handed the Bron- cos a point-blank attempt to score their fourth goal and put the game out of reach. Deep in the Wolverines' zone, Komisarek tried to force the puck to freshman defenseman Brandon Rogers. The pass was intercepted, and then thrown out front for a golden scoring opportunity for the Broncos on senior goalie Josh Blackburn. "That was our worst play of the game," Michigan coach Red Beren- son said. "That was our worst defen- sive lapse where we just flat out gave them the puck." Also in the third period, Komis- arek was called for checking from behind. Michigan's top defenseman proceeded to receive a crucial rough- ing after the whistle penalty, leaving Michigan shorthanded for four min- utes instead of two. This was one of many penalties the Wolverines picked up during the game that were unnecessary, and took Michigan out of its offensive rhythm. "The penalties are killing us," Komisarek said. "Five-on-five, we're as good as any team in the country. (Taking penalties) disrupts the flow of the game. I'd be the fist to admit that my penalties weren't too good, but it's a team thing, and we have to eliminate our penalties." After a less-than-spectacular per- formance on Friday night, Komis- arek did everything he could to help Michigan split the weekend series, introducing a facet of his game that hadn't been released until Saturday night - goal scoring. Komisarek scored two goals and added one assist, leading Michigan to a 5-3 victory over the Broncos in the setond game of the series. With his two goals, he is already halfway to equaling his output from last sea- See KOMISAREK, Page 4B Sophomore Erin Moore celebrates as she helps the Wolverines beat Penn State for the first time since 1995. Blue gts Nittan Lion off its back By Charles Paradis Daily Sports Writer Since joining the Big Ten Conference in 1991, Penn State volleyball has dominated Michigan volleyball. In the 10 years that the two teams have played together, t1e Wolverines (6-4 Big Ten, 10-7 overall) are 1-22 against the Nittany Lions. But this all changed Satur- day night when Michigan routed No. 11 Penn State in straight games. The win snapped'a 10-match winning streak by Penn State against Michigan, which dated back to Nov. 18, 1995. "It's a big win for our kids' confidence," Michigan coach Mark Rosen said. Rosen became only the second Michigan volleyball coach to ever beat Penn State. Game one of the match set the pace for the entire night. Michigan dominated virtually every aspect of the game. The Wolverines destroyed the Lions in game, at one point leading by the score of 28-14. Michigan struggled putting Penn State away, but time had run out for the Lions as freshman Jennifer Gan- dolph slammed home the final kill, winning the game 30-18. Gandolph led the charge for the Wolverines in game one as she tallied eight kills against Penn State, a team that had recruited her heavily. "I wanted to go out and show what I can do," Gan- dolph said. "That's why I wanted to come here." Gandolph's excellent play extended into the second game, where she led all scorers with seven kills and six digs. This time, however, Penn State did not go down as easily. The Lions showed why they are a top- 25 team as the two teams battled back and forth until a 25-25 tie. At this point, the Wolverines went on a 4-2 run spurred on by two kills by Gandolph. With Michigan leading 29-28, the crowd at Cliff Keen Arena rose to its feet and began to cheer loudly for the Wolverines. The cheers seemed to have an effect on the Lions as a reachable ball dropped between two bewildered Penn State players. The most baffled Penn State player in the match seemed to be senior Katie Schumacher. Penn State's leading offensive threat, averaging 4.76 kills per game and accounting for a third of the Lions offense, was See NITTANY LIONS, Page 7B BRENDAN O'DONNELL/Daily Junior forward Mark Mink (25) returned to Yost Ice Arena for the first time since breaking his hand during captain's practices a few weeks ago. M' salvage S series split with Broncos By Naweed Sikora Daily Sports Writer What a difference a day makes. While Michigan's inexperience played a huge factor in its 3-1 loss to Western Michi- gan Friday night, Michigan's top returning players set the tone Saturday night as the Wolverines defeated the Broncos 5-3 at Yost Ice Arena to salvage a split in the weekend series. Michigan's top returning defenseman, Mike Komisarek, set a personal career-high in goals and points in a game with two and three, respectively. Michigan's alternate captains Mike Cammalleri and John Shouneyia each scored a key goal, while junior captain Jed Ortmeyer iced the game by scoring an empty net goal with 30 seconds remaining in the game that ptt the Wolverines (1-1-1 CCHA, 2-2-1 overall) up by two. "I played Cammalleri and Ortmeyer head on against (Mike) Bishai and (Jeff) Campbell all night long and I thought they did a great job, especially on the four-on-four," Michigan coach Red Berenson said. "Our junior class is learning what it takes to become leaders. Cammalleri, Ortmeyer and Shouneyia need to be huge leaders on this team. "It's not something they should have to do until their senior year, but with a young team, we need them to step up for us. They were big factors tonight, and they need to do that every night." Just like Friday night, the second period was the turning point of the game. This time, however, it turned in favor of Michigan. Cammalleri began Michigan's second peri- od offensive onslaught by scoring a goal six minutes into the period to break the 1-1 tie. Although Western Michigan's Anthony Battaglia scored to tie the game at two later in the period, goals by Komisarek and Shouneyia put the game out of reach for the See BRONCOS, Page 4B Just kickin' it Two overtimes not enough for Michigan against Grizzlies 0 Defenders Carly Williamson and Andrea Kayal have led Michigan to nine shutouts with aggressive, physical play. PAGE 5B The men's soccer team sur- vived a late-game rally by Wis- consin to win, 2-1. This puts them in fourth place in the Big Ten conference. By Jim Weber Daily Sports Writer ROCHESTER - Michigan goalie Suzie Grech collected her eighth and ninth shutouts of the season this weekend, setting a new school record, but the Michigan women's soccer team still only managed one victory. After beating Minnesota 2-0 on Friday, No. 24 Michigan tied Oakland 0-0 yesterday in a game tht, enn.I b0havernna eithecr wnva Suzie Grech jumped to block a ball that was placed right under the crossbar. The ball then rico- cheted off of the post and away from the goal. Michigan had a brief break between the two overtime periods that head coach Debbie Rademacher used to talk about the team's offense. "We just said we can't play individually and try and go one on one the whole time," Rademacher said. "They are too good for that, wep have to wo~rk as a unit rand mocve oete. ; {, : s / 3 ; s' a x mi ~ .., . , ar . rs _ a. x ,~;9 I ' I