40 6B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - December 9, 2002 Wildcats down Blue 3-0 in NCAA tourney By Albert Kim Daily Sports Writer There may not be much out in the fields of Kansas, but the Wolverines learned Friday that there is a good vol- leyball team there. The Michigan volleyball team fell 3-0 to No. 22 Kansas State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Ahearn Field House in Manhattan, Kan. The tight match came down to which team could manufacture points late. "We haven't been very good playing on the road," senior Katrina Lehman said. "We haven't been able to put teams away." The Wolverines finished the season 2- 13 on the road and 14-2 at home, and the hostile environment in Manhattan proved to be too much. Michigan led for most of game one, but couldn't stop the Wildcats after they called a timeout with the Wolverines up 24-20. Kansas State ran off five straight points and Michigan never recovered, losing 30-26. Similarly, Michigan.led 24-23 in game two, but was victimized again after a Kansas State timeout and lost 30-25. Game three went down to the wire, with Kansas State earning five match points. Michigan fought back to the tie the score four times, but was unable to make the final push, dropping the game 35-33. Errors down the stretch led to the Wolverines' downfall. "The crowd got into it, and we expected them to lose it instead of us expecting to win it," junior Nicole Poquette said. Poquette and Chantel Reedus led the Wolverines with 11 kills each, while Jennifer Gandolph led the team in digs with 14. Michigan did out-block the Wildcats, but had three less digs. Lehman posted eight kills, three digs and three blocks in her last match as a Wolverine. She leaves Michigan as the best blocker in the program's history, artd will be missed for not only her play on the court, but her leadership off of it. Although disappointed with the loss, Lehman had nothing but good memo- ries to look back on. "I'm definitely leaving Michigan with no regrets," Lehman said. The loss may taste bitter now, but Michigan knows that it will be motiva- tion to climb even further next year. "The core group is going to know what it feels like to lose in the first round," Poquette said. Poquette is one of five starters that will return to the lineup next year. Despite losing in the first round, Michigan showed perseverance and resilience throughout the season. The last month of the Big Ten proved to be Early out Michigan's first-round loss on Fri- day was the first time the pro- gram didn't advance in the NCAA Tournament. Here's a look at Michigan's four appearances. 2002: T ne Wildcats ousted the Wolver- ines in the first round, sweeping them 3-0. 2000: Michigan beat Louisville to advance to the second round, where it lost to No. 2 seed Arizona. 1999: The Wolverines fell to Pacific after a first-round win over Fairfield. 1997: Michigan beat Temple before Texas knocked it out in the second round. rocky as the Wolverines fell in the rank- ings, but the players were able to pull off an NCAA Tournament bid. Michigan ended the season with a winning (16-15) record, including big wins over Ohio State and Penn State. In addition, the Wolverines also swept the State Pride series against the Spartans. The Wolverines have improved in Big Ten play in each of the last three years, winning eight games in 2000, nine games in 2001 and 10 games this year - good for a sixth-place tie. Losing only Lehman to graduation bodes well for a team that made it to the NCAA Tournament despite a late season slump. And with virtually all its key players coming back, the future seems bright for Michigan. "Experience helps a lot, and I think this team will be extremely strong next year," Lehman said Tumblers rusty 1in intrasquad By Michael Nisson Daily Sporis Writer Lots of airtime, combined with mind- boggling body control, can mean only one thing: its gymnastics time. On Friday, the Michigan women's team opened its season with its annual intrasquad meet. The Maize team edged out the Blue team 161.625-159.375. Those familiar with gymnastics might find the final score to be quite surprising, considering that a good winning score is usually at least 195, and often times higher. It appeared that Michigan was a little rusty com- ing out of the gate. "We still have a whole month before (the actual season starts)," Michigan coach Bev Plocki said. "This is the earliest that our intrasquad has ever been." Some of the problems can be attrib- uted to the fact that the two teams were a little shorthanded. Normally, six team members perform in each event, with the two lowest scores being dropped and then the scores totaled. Each team in the intrasquad only had five people. Both teams had trouble on the uneven bars. There were a number of falls, and a few gymnasts had to back out of more complicated maneuvers. "We had more trouble than I thought we would on bars," Plocki said. "We've been a lot more consistent on bars in practice, so that was a little surprising." Grieco came in first in the all-around with a score of 39. Calli Ryals was a close second with a score of 38.6, and freshman Jenny Deiley rounded out the top three with a score of 38.425. a 44 Calli Ryals peforms in the women's gymnastics intrasquad on Friday. The Maize team won the meet 161.625-159.375. Four Tankers make Open finals Deiley was a bright spot for the team, finishing in the top four in three events. "Jen looks really good on all events, and we're really excited for her to coin- pete all-around," Ryals said. "I was actually more relaxed than I have been usually," Deiley said. "I felt comfortable coming in here and my teammates are really supportive." Freshmen Becca Clauson and Rachel Colon also had their moments. "I'm really proud of how (the fresh- men) did (Friday)," Plocki said. "For them to get through this, even with one or two mistakes, is a really big thing." The other encouraging story was the emergence of redshirt freshman Lauren Mirkovich, who scored a 9.800 on the uneven bars to win the event. Last year, Mirkovich injured her knee on a bad landing during a floor routine. Performing for the first time "was very exciting," Mirkovich said. "I sort of did feel like a freshman, but with a little more experience behind me." By Megan Kolodgy Daily Sports Writer While most of Michigan's women's swimming and diving team remained in Ann Arbor for a weekend of grueling mid- season practices, four particularly talented Wolverines made the trek to Minneapolis to compete in the U.S. Open, one of the most prestigious swim meets in the country. Despite the high caliber of athletes at the Open, Michi- gan's competitiors went into the event without interrupting their regular training schedule. They did not taper or shave down, which are typical practices when preparing for a big meet. "We were racing to see how we could do in the mid-sea- son," coach Jim Richardson said. "I wanted to see how close to their personal best times they could come." The Wolverines came out of Minneapolis - their first attempt at long-course racing this year - with several out- standing achievements. One of the most significant of these was junior co-captain Anne Weilbacher's 2004 Olympic Tri- als qualifying and NCAA consideration time of 1:02.75 in the 100-meter butterfly, which placed her fourth in the event. Richardson called this "avery good swim." - Apart from Weilbacher's Olympic Trial cut, this meet marked milestones for sophomore Amy McCullough and junior Kelli Stein. Each made it to finals for the first time in her career. Stein placed eighth in the 200 breaststroke, and 10th in the 100 breaststroke with a NCAA consideration time of 1:13.31. McCullough finished 14th in the 400 freestyle. "Finaling is a tremendous accomplishment, particularly because they weren't rested," Richardson said. "It's a big deal when you do that for the first time." Although the Wolverines' times this weekend were excep- tional, Richardson knows that his team must continue to work hard to attain similar results in upcoming meets. "There is no correlation with the end of the season," Richardson said. "If someone swam well at the Open, that's great. If not, oh well." Richardson also believes that performances at this meet will give the swimmers the kick they need to come into the final stretch with strength. "A bad swim is just motivation to improve at future meets," Richardson explained. "And a good swim provides motivation to maintain your time." While this was not the most eagerly anticipated event on Michigan's schedule, Richardson was still pleased with his swimmers' efforts. "It's always fun to go to a meet like the U.S. Open," Richardson said. "But it wasn't a focal point." I" M' places 2nd at Eastern invite By Waldemar Centeno Daily Sports Writer The Michigan's men's swimming and diving team entered the Eastern Michigan Invitational in Ypsilanti atop the nation- al rankings. The Wolverines earned that prominent spot after their win against last year's national champion, Texas. Although the Wolverines felt good about their placement in the rankings, they found their next meet to be more casual. Facing Eastern Michigan, Kalamazoo, Wayne State, Calvin College, Allegheny and Case Western Reserve, Michigan put most of its swimmers in events other than their specialties. Michigan did this so that its swimmers may gain more experience in multiple events, but the Wolverines ended up taking second place in the tournament behind Eastern Michigan. The Eagles destroyed the Wolverines, 1,157-815. "The meet during the weekend didn't surprise me," Michigan coach Jon Urbanchek said. "Because the meet was an exhibition, we entered most of our swimmers as non-scoring and entered our bottom 10 swimmers so that they may gain more experience in the events." Despite the second-place finish, Michigan came out of the tournament with a better understanding of its swimmers. The Wolverines earned eight event wins including a first- place finish in the 400- and 800-yard freestyle relays. They also finished first in the 400-yard medley relay. Senior co-captain Jeff Hopwood contributed with his per- formances in both breaststroke events. Hopwood earned first place in both of the events with a time of 56.59 in the 100- yard breaststroke and 2:02.62 in the 200-yard breaststroke. "I thought Jeff Hopwood did an excellent job," Urbanchek said. "He was one of the few swimmers out there that had a good amount of experience in his event." Michigan also had a powerful performance from its dis- tance swimmers. Junior Dan Ketchum claimed his third NCAA consideration time with a time of 1:37.75 in the 200- yard freestyle. Freshmen Peter Vanderkaay s'wam an NCAA consideration time of 4:21.47 in the 500-yard freestyle. The Wolverines had many first-rate performances dur- ing the exhibition, but the Eagles captured the victory by winning five major events. THE DETROIT INSTITUTE OF ARTS 0 Ii ii K. REC SPORTS INTRAMURALS The University of Michigan Department of Recreational Sports Intramural Sports Program www.recsports.umich.edu 734-763-3562 REC SPORTS INTRAMURALS Entries taken: x Tues, 01/07 ONLY 11:00 AM - 5:30 PM IM Building Entry Fee: $80.00 per team Manager's Meeting: MANDATORY Wed, 01/08 6:00 PM or 9:00 PM IM Building Play begins: Thurs, 01/09 IM Building Basketball 3 off '~ ,.......,,,,,... Entries taken: Tues, 01/07 ONLY 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM IM Building Entry Fee: $415.00 per team Manager's Meeting: MANDATORY Tues, 01/07 6:00 PM IM Building Play begins: wa Al /^0 I one of its most passionate observers, master Impressionist Edgar Degas. TICKETS ON SALE NOW! 1-866-DEGASTIX Group Visits: 313/833-1292 Membership Hotline: 313/833-7971 Join or Renew to receive FREE Membership Tickets Sponsored dby: - DATA/rAT? tCTv'Y TP1? Wed, 01/08 Yost Ice Arena Ice Hockey ,. h,,; , a kx" ,r . k X ,.£r }. :. a Entries taken: Tues, 01/07 ONLY 11:00 AM - 5:30 PM IM Building Entry Fee: $50.00 per team Manager's Meeting: MANDATORY Wed, 01/08 7:15 PM IM Building Play begins: Thurs, 01/09 1M Building -'-- 4} 'n- . . Entries taken: Tues, 01/07 ONLY 11:00 AM - 5:30PM lM Building Entry Fee: $70.00 per team Manager's Meeting: MANDATORY Wed, 01/08 8:00 PM IM Building Play begins: } Edgar Degas, Dancers at the Barre (detail), ca. 1900. The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC. Thurs, 01/09 IM Building I M A I.I+ ElIN l I Tarim D oirnv io+h,11 I I I i I 11