ire £ichigtn flail SPORTS mic hi gandaciy. com /s 0ort s THURSDAY OCTOBER 25, 2001 8A Wolverines fight valiantly, but fall to Michigan State atJenison By Charles Paradis Daily Sports Writer EAST LANSING - State pride was at stake when the Michigan vol- leyball team (6-5 Big Ten, 10-8 over- all) traveled to face its intrastate rival Michigan State (5-6, 12-6) In the first meet- ing of the MICHIGAN 1 season, it MICHIGAN ST. 3 took five games and an incredible come from behind effort for Michigan to win, but in East Lansing it only took four, and the Wolverines won just a single game. N The Wolverines got off to a horren- dous start as the Spartans grabbed a 11-2 lead without breaking a sweat. Michigan repeatedly found its attacks blocked by the Spartans, who record- ed six kills in game one alone. But the Wolverines got over their early game jitters to bring the game back to 15-10 on Erin Moore's first kill of the night. Michigan State again resumed its dominance and surged out to win the first game, 30-18. It was a game in which the Wolverines recorded only nine kills and committed 10 errors. "We just fell apart in the first game," junior Katrina Lehman said. "I don't even think we played to our level." In game two, the Spartans could not muster the same early superiority they had achieved in the first game. Nevertheless, the Wolverines com- mitted errors early on, which set them behind 10-7. Then, Michigan State regained its authority and estab- lished a 23-13 lead. With a double- digit advantage, the Spartans did not need dominance to win. Michigan did little to help its cause as it committed three consecutive attack errors to lose the game 30-15. This was the third lowest scoring output by the Wolverines this season - the other two came against Hawaii and Wisconsin. Against the Spartans, Michigan was continually unable to execute in its system. "I didn't think we represented what we were about as a team, in the first two games very well," coach Mark Rosen said. The Wolverines came out of inter- mission down two games to none to the Spartans, facing the same dire sit- uation they had in the first matchup of the State Pride Series. But the Wolverines did not have the same good showing they had had in the first match and had almost no momentum to build on. Michigan has proven so many times this season that it does not need momentum to win, just hunger. The Spartan's dominance disappeared during the intermission as the Wolverines grabbed a 12-7 lead, their largest advantage to that point. Michigan stepped up its offense and posted its only positive attack percentage of the match with an amazing .471 percentage, which led to its only win of the night 30-19. A big part of the Wolverines' offensive output was generated by Moore. She tallied six kills in the third game alone and led Michigan offensively with 15 kills in the match. "I just wanted the ball," Moore said. "And finally in the third game, it happened." Could Michigan's miracle come- back victory at Cliff Keen Arena on Oct. 3 be repeated on the road? The Wolverines fought hard to force a deciding game five, as they overcame an early Michigan State run to tie game four at 13. But the Spartans proved too domi- nant and seized a 25-20 lead. This would ultimately prove too much for the Wolverines, as the Spartans pow- ered past Michigan 30-22. "They beat us flat-out, they out- played us, they outworked us," Moore said. DAV Try as it might, Michigan just couldn't get the ball past Michigan State last night. The Spartans won In four games. 'M' trying to avoid letdown following bye By Raphael Goodstein Daily Sports Editor There are two ways of looking at a bye week. On the one hand, a week off can be beneficial, because it allows injured players to heal while also giving a team an extra week to pre- pare for its next opponent. But, a ,bye week can be bad, because it can throw a team off of its routine. With that in mind, nobody knows yet how No. 8 Michigan (3-0 Big Ten, 5-1 overall) will respond com- ing off its bye week with a game at Iowa looming on Saturday. "How we're going to play after an off-week, no one knows," Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said. "Our team knows this is a big game for us." Said defensive end Dan Rumishek: "It's all about remaining focused - going in there and watching film, being prepared, being ready. Iowa's a tough team. BRENDAN O'DONNELL/Daily Michigan fans have to hope that Norman Heuer and the rest of the Wolverines aren't rusty coming off of a bye week. Michigan will face Iowa on Saturday. "An off-week is a great thing for a football team in terms of being healthy again and refocusing on your goals. I think of it as a momen- tum builder. I really was able to look back and see how I've been doing so far this season and reevalu- ating my goals and getting after them again. That fire's back in me again." Michigan has lost its game'fol- lowing an off week for two straight years, losing at Northwestern last year 54-51, and falling to Illinois 35-29 the prior year. But that's not what concerns Carr. He's more worried about playing at Iowa (2-2, 4-2) for the first time in three years. Former Michigan coach Gary Moeller once referred to Iowa's Kinnick Stadium as the Big Ten's most difficult stadium for a visiting team. "The crowd in Iowa is tremen- dous, and it's a little different envi- ronment," Carr said. "It's a throwback. You go to Kinnick Stadi- um, you sense how much those peo- ple truly care and love the Hawkeyes. It's nice to see how much they care about their players and programs." Michigan's current seniors won in Iowa City as freshmen, as the Wolverines triumphed 12-9 in a sloppy game played in the rain. Similar conditions are a possibili- ty Saturday. To prepare for that, Michigan made it a point to practice outside last Wednesday and Thurs- day, when it was raining. "You don't go out there if it's pouring rain," sophomore quarter- back John Navarre said. "But Wednesday and Thursday, when it's lightly raining, cold and muddy, you have to see how your team handles those situations. "You have to do it with respect to what you can do with your offense, and Coach Carr does a good job." Carr has Michigan in the driver's seat for another Big Ten title, as the Wolverines have a one-game lead over Illinois, Purdue and Ohio State, three teams that share second place. Because of Michigan's 45-20 win over No. 22 Illinois and 24-10 win over No. 24 Purdue, the Wolverines own the Big Ten tiebreaker over at. least those two teams. Michigan has won at least a share of three of the last four titles. "At this point in the road, you need teams to help you," Navarre said. "Especially when you don't play Northwestern, you need a team like Penn State to help you. You need all the help you can get, even though we control our own destiny if we win out." Winless Penn State upset North- western last Saturday, giving the Wildcats their second Big Ten loss. "It feels good in the fact that we can win out and win the Big Ten championship," Navarre continued. "If both teams are undefeated and you don't play each other, it's a dif- ferent feeling then waiting for someone to lose. "It's a great feeling to know if we win out, then we have the clampi- onship." U U SUBS & SALADS WE DELIVER 7 DAYS 11a.m. till 3 a.m. CALL (734) 741-2567 All of our subs are made the "The BLIMPIE Way" FAX (734) 741-8350 with Tomatoes, Lettuce, Onions, Oil, Vinegar and Oregano. Pickles, peppers, mushrooms, black All our subs are served on freshly baked olives, mayo or mustard are available on request. White, Wheat, Rye, or Zesty bread. 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