2B - The Michigan Daily - SportsWednesday - October 15, 2003

CLUBsPORTsWEEKLY
Water ski club escapes
cold, heads to Texas

Rubin excels in Tennessee as
Wolverines dominate at home

By Ryan Sosin
Daily Sports Writer
Belleville Lake will soon be a sheet
of ice, but none of that matters to the
men and women of the water ski club.
The team will be heading down to
Austin, Texas, tomorrow for the
National Collegiate Water Ski Associ-
ation Championships.
Michigan earned its bid, despite a
shaky fall showing, with a third place
finish at the Midwest Regional compe-
tition last month.
"Things didn't work out right (dur-
ing the fall season)." senior Brian
Spinneweber said. "It almost looked
like we weren't going to make it to
Nationals this year."
Stuck in the middle of the pack for
most of the regional, the club grabbed
the final spot thanks to a solid all-
around performance from the team.
"It was definitely pretty nerve rack-
ing because we couldn't tell where we
would end up," sophomore Allison
McIntyre said.

Michigan is becoming a staple at
the Division 1-A tournament; it will be
making its fifth appearance since
1996. Last year's solid showing earned
Michigan a sixth-place finish, the
highest in team history.
"We've been ftying get everyone out
to the lake a lot to get practiced up and
in skiing shape for the tournament,"
Spinneweber said.
The fun doesn't stop when the lake
is frozen over and the team's brand
new MasterCraft ski boat is put away
for the winter. The offseason is
stocked with social gatherings ranging
from a snow ski trip on Boyne Moun-
tain to a winter conference at Purdue
with professional water ski instructors.
"The team itself is pretty close, so
we hang out a lot during the winter"
McIntyre said.
The crowning excursion for club
members is an annual spring break trip
to Louisiana. And what spring break
trip to the Pelican State would be com-
plete without a visit to New Orleans
for Mardi Gras?

By Matt Singer
For the Daily
Giant killer Michael Rubin's standout perform-
ance at the ITA All-American Championships
highlighted a busy weekend for the Michigan
men's tennis team.
While Rubin got his accomplishments, the
Wolverines hosted the inaugural Michigan Invita-
tional in Ann Arbor.
Held at the Varsity Tennis Center, the event pro-
vided Michigan the opportunity to face off
against future opponents Michigan State, Western
Michigan and Ohio State.
Although the results did not affect standings or
team rankings, Michigan gained valuable experi-
ence from the three-day event.
"We get a chance to play a lot of matches in the
fall," Michigan coach Mark Mees said. "It's a
time that we can really step up and work on the
things that we need to work on."
Michigan displayed balance and consistency
throughout the invitational. With every player in
action, the Wolverines posted records of 13-9 in
singles play and 11-7 in doubles matches.
Michigan also managed to win at least half of
its matches each of the three days.
"As a team, I thought we played well, I thought
we competed well," Mees said. "I was pretty

pleased with the way we went after it this weekend."
Junior Josef Fischer (2-0 singles, 4-1 doubles)
and sophomore Carey Rubin (4-0 singles, 1-2
doubles) provided the spark for the Wolverines.
Rubin is undefeated in singles play through the
first two tournaments.
While his brother was racking up victories in
Ann Arbor, No. 78-ranked junior Michael Rubin
left his own mark in Chattanooga, Tenn. Compet-
ing with the nation's best at the ITA All-American
Championships, the elder Rubin rode four con-
secutive victories all the way to the round of 16.
"He really had a great run, the quality of tennis
down there is as good as it gets," Mees said. "I'm
happy for him, because he works as hard as any-
body on our team."
Before finally succumbing to Old Dominion's
Izak van der Merwe 3-6, 3-6, Rubin knocked out
No. 3 Tobias Clemens of UCLA 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-0.
When his remarkable run in Tennessee came to
a close, Rubin hurried home and helped the
Wolverines win two more doubles matches on
Sunday.
Michigan will now prepare to take on the
region's best at the ITA Midwest Championships,
to be held Oct. 23-28 in East Lansing. The event
serves as a qualifier for the ITA National Indoor
Championships, which will take place in Ann
Arbor Nov. 6-9.

BRETT MOUNTAIN/Daily
Sophomore Carey Rubin helped Michigan to a successful
weekend, while his brother, Michael, competed in Tennessee.

Arbor Nov. 6-9.

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