8B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - September 8, 2003
4
Losses growing old
for women's soccer
Spikers still have joy
of Pepsi after defeat
By Melanie Kebler
Daily Sports Writer
Last year, the Michigan women's soc-
cer team defied expectations and
marched through the NCAA Tourna-
ment all the way to the quarterfinals.
The collegiate soc-
cer world tookSOUTHERN CAL 2
notice, and this
year, the Wolver-
ines began the sea-!OAKLAND
son ranked No. 17IMICHIGAN
in the nation. But
last weekend, Michigan discovered it
needed something more than just
acclaim to win, losing both matches and
dropping to 0-3-1.
"I think as a team, we need to devel-
op a bit more of a bite," Michigan
coach Debbie Rademacher said. "We
need to be more aggressive, we need to
be a little meaner - we need to be a
lot meaner. Scoring goals is a mentali-
ty ... it'll come, but we have to make
that happen."
A young Michigan team experienced
two physical matches as it took on
Southern Cal. and Oakland at home as
part of the Nike Challenge. Several
freshmen from a talented recruiting
class started one or both games, but
errors on defense and a frustrated
offense that struggled to score kept the
Wolverines from breaking through and
getting their first win of the season.
Michigan fell to Southern Cal 2-1 yes-
terday, scoring their lone goal on a
penalty kick. Friday, Oakland held the
Wolverines scoreless and won 1-0.
"We're making minimal defensive
lapses, and we're getting capitalized on,"
Rademacher said. "The amount of
opportunities we've had in the past three
games - we should have gotten a win
out of one of those games."
Against No. 15 Southern Cal. yester-
day, Michigan was unable to recover
after the Trojans notched an early goal
just minutes into the first half.
At times, the Wolverines challenged
fiercely for possession against a larger,
speedier Southern Cal. team. But at
other times, they seemed to be a step
behind. Freshman keeper Megan Tuura
started for Michigan, and her fellow
classmates Brenna Mullholland, Katelin
Spencer and Lindsay Cottrell also saw
significant playing time on defense and
in the midfield. Rademacher admitted
that her team lacks experience, but
praised her young players nonetheless.
"I would say the freshmen that are
out there are not playing scared,
they're just learning," she said. "So
we're inexperienced."
The coach referred to the fact that
even though Michigan started slow in
2000 and 2001 - and fielded a similar-
ly inexperienced team - the Wolverines
made it to the second round of the
NCAA Tournament both of those years.
Senior forward Therese Heaton
agreed that no one is giving up yet.
"We're working hard, and we're doing
everything we can. I think it's just going
to take time," Heaton said. "Yeah, it's
frustrating, but we're not going to let it
get us down. We're just going to keep on
persevering through it."
RYAN WEINER/Uaily
Michigan controlled the possession but not the scoreboard against Oakland Friday.
By Josh Holman
Daily Sports Writer
Sixteenth-ranked Louisville may
have topped the Michigan volleyball
team yesterday at Cliff Keen Arena, 3-
1 (30-24, 27-30,
30-27, 30-22), but
it couldn't keepMcHGN
junior setter Lisa
Gamalski from smiling. Maybe it's
because the Wolverines managed to
come away from the Michigan/Pepsi
Challenge as champions after two con-
vincing wins on the weekend. Or
maybe it's because Gamalski was one
of three Wolverines voted to the All-
Tournament Team.
Or maybe Gamalski is just learning
how to put on a happy face.
"To be a setter, you have to be a
leader and consistent," Gamalski said.
"I don't think I'm there yet, so that's
the thing I'm working out. I try and
smile and put some confidence in the
other kids."
It had been all smiles after a pair of
sweeps over Murray State on Friday
and Texas A&M on Saturday. The
sweeps elevated Michigan to tourna-
ment champion, based on games win-
ning percentage. Louisville, Michigan
and Texas A&M all went 2-1 in the
three-day event, but Michigan's 7-3
games record bested the rest. The
Wolverines clinched the tournament
championship by winning game two
against the Cardinals yesterday.
Gamalski kept on smiling until the
last point in yesterday's match, but the
rest of the team may not have caught
on. After answering back to win the
second game 30-27 and tie up the
match, the Cardinals jumped on the
Wolverines in game three, pulling out
to a 19-12 lead. The Wolverines cut the
deficit to one point, but fell short.
It was much of the same story in
game four, where Louisville carved out
its largest lead at 16-7.
"In the middle of game three, we
just got away from our style of game,'
Michigan coach Mark Rosen said.
"By game four, we just played flat,
like we were already beat. When I
called the second timeout in game
four, that's what we talked about, and I
really liked the way the team came out
after that."
Some of that emotional juice finally
kicked in again, and the Wolverines
closed the deficit to 17-14. Michigan's
uninspired play came back to haunt it,
though, and a pair of Louisville serves
that could have been returned landed
for aces instead. The Michigan rally
puttered out, and Louisville won the
match.
"When you're playing behind all the
time it's hard to get that momentum
going," Rosen said. "I said we were out
of sync, but we weren't as comfortable
as we'd been all week."
Senior Erin Moore was a big part of
Michigan's two wins, leading the way
in kills both nights with 14 and 17,
respectively. Her play landed her on the
All-Tournament Team with Gamalski
and junior Jennifer Gandolph, and
earned her tournament MVP honors.
Her biggest play may have come
Saturday against the Aggies, when the
Wolverines were facing game point in
the third game at 28-29. Moore got the
set from Gamalski and killed it right
past the Aggie blockers.
"Honestly, I wouldn't want (Gamals-
ki) to set anyone else, and I'd probably
be really mad if she did," Moore said.
"I've always loved being in that posi-
tion, and I just kind of expect it."
Gamalski followed up later with an
over the shoulder dump that brought
the score to 31-30 in one of those rare
kills for a setter.
"I love hitting. I love attacking,"
Gamalski said. "I love putting the ball
down and taking it myself. I used to be
a hitter, so I miss it."
Gandolph finished up the game and
match at 32-30 with a kill from the left
side.
4
Frustration was a key word for the
offense last weekend, beginning on Fri-
day when Michigan outshot Oakland
21-4 but was shut out. It continued yes-
terday, as Southern Cal twice narrowly
escaped giving up a goal when Michi-
gan's shots clanged off the goalposts.
"I think once we get a consistent flow
and hit the back of the net more than one
time in a game, then we'll be off and
running for the season," Heaton said.
"Everybody's been stepping up big
and trying to fill the role as best they
can, and what it comes down to is inex-
perience. It takes time for everybody to
get used to playing with people."
Rademacher said another way Michi-
gan can work toward that offensive
breakthrough is to step up physically.
As the upcoming Big Ten season
unfolds for the Wolverines, the key will
be how quickly they can gel together to
form a cohesive unit. Despite the team's
youth, Michigan players are confident
they will be able to improve.
"Nobody has given up. Nobody's
ready to throw in the towel for the sea-
son," Heaton said.
Fronzoni outscores Eagles herself in win
By Brad Johnson
Daily Sports Writer
For most athletes, scoring three
goals in the first 20 minutes of a game
would be more than enough cause for
celebration. But not for Michigan field
hockey All-American April Fronzoni.
The senior forward followed up her
incredible hat trick yesterday against
Boston College by
scoring the game-
winner as well,BE
giving the Wolver-
ines (2-2) a 5-3 victory over the Eagles
in Chestnut Hill, Mass.
"April has international world-class
speed," Michigan coach Marcia
Pankratz said. "That's something that
she brings to the field that makes her
extraordinarily dangerous during
games."
After Fronzoni blazed out of the
gate and gave Michigan a comfortable
3-0 cushion, the Eagles quickly rallied
back with a pair of goals to trim the
margin to one at the half.
The teams then swapped goals until
Fronzoni finally sealed the deal with
her fourth goal of the game.
On Saturday, a different hero
stepped up for the squad on the road.
While most freshmen were still busy
settling into the college life, Jill Civic
had her hands full leading the Wolver-
ines to victory.
Civic scored two goals on the road
against Northeastern, including the
game-winner in a 4-3 victory for
Michigan. Sonhomore Lori Hillman
and Fronzoni also aided the cause with
one goal apiece.
"Jill has been able to get in and get a
lot of minutes," Pankratz said. "She's
been helpful on the attack corner, and
the rest of the freshmen bring a ton of
depth to the team. They add to the
team chemistry and certainly the level
of play for us which is nice."
Following this weekend's contests,
Pankratz was most impressed with her
team's ability to score and play togeth-
er as a team. The coach was also obvi-
ously pleased with how the team's six
freshmen are progressing and maturing
as the season gets going.
"At the start of the year, we had just
gotten into school and you're talking
about freshmen that are adjusting to
life away from home and living in a
dorm," she said. "It's a huge adjust-
ment for them in every regard, and
they're handling it really well."
In addition to seeing solid contribu-
tions from their younger players, play-
ing well on the road was important for
the Wolverines, who dropped their first
two games at home last weekend.
"To drop last weekend's games was
discouraging, but we are a very
resilient team, and that was obvious
this weekend because we bounced
right back and played real well,"
Pankratz said.
Following such a strong perform-
ance on the road, the coach is brim-
ming with confidence in her squad
as the Wolverines return home to
face Ohio and New Hampshire this
weekend.
"We have to keep working hard and
matching up each weekend with the
team we are playing against,"
Pankratz said. "When we play with
poise and confidence, we are a very
potent team."
I I Is JI IIVcI DiLy v1I tVIIKAI IgI l I
. Department of Recreational Sports
REC Intramural Sports Program
SPORTS www.recsports.umich.edu
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