The Michigan Daily - Thursday, October 23, 2003 -11A
I
Wolverines have wounds to heal on road ILate start with Blue not
By Brad Johnson
Daily Sports Writer
Over the last four days, things have not exactly
gone according to plan for the Michigan volleyball
team.
The Wolverines had a golden opportunity to take
over first place in the Big Ten going into last Satur-
day's match against Illinois. After winning the first
game, Michigan fell to the Fighting Illini in the next
three games. As a result, the Wolverines lost not only
their chance to take over the conference, but also
valuable freshman Danielle Pflum in the process.
The outside hitter was forced to leave the game early
due to an unknown knee injury.
Adding salt to the Wolverines' wounds, they now
have to set out on the road this weekend to face No.
25 Minnesota and Iowa. This road trip will come
after a less-than-ideal week of practice for the team
- practice had to end nearly an hour early Tuesday
due to a lack of healthy players on the court.
"You try to come up with the best lineup," coach
Mark Rosen said. "It looks like Danielle might not
be able to play this weekend and might be out for
longer. We're trying to get some rest and get some
Tennis trio adjus
kids some experience."
Michigan (5-3 Big Ten, 13-6 overall) is also try-
ing not to dwell on the missed opportunity from last
weekend.
"From the big picture standpoint, we're not think-
ing that it could've been this or could've been that,"
Rosen said. "This week we are trying to make some
adjustments with different injuries that we are trying
to deal with right now."
One bright spot for the Wolverines was the return
of senior Chantel Reedus, who has not seen action
since leaving the Ohio State game with an injury on
Sept. 26.
Reedus saw limited action against Illinois last
weekend and is easing back into the lineup.
"I felt good today," Reedus said of her return Satur-
day after nearly a month on the bench. "I was a little
rusty because I've been on the sidelines and I wasn't
warm, but I just mustered everything I had and got
myself into the match."
Rosen hopes Reedus will be able to contribute
more in the coming matches, especially given the
recent injury that has kept Pflum off the court.
"(Chantel) didn't get much opportunity to play (last
weekend), but we are gradually trying to get her back
into the mix. You can't expect her to come in and be
able to do everything that you can do in the long
haul. She started for three years and was starting at
the beginning of this year and doing a nice job. It
will be nice to get her back in the mix."
The Wolverines will need all of the help they can
get tomorrow against the Golden Gophers. Michigan
has lost eight of its last nine matches against Min-
nesota, and is 8-34 in the all-time series.
Also, Michigan has not pulled off a victory on
the road against Minnesota in more than six years
- a statistic that should make every Detroit Lions
fan proud.
"(Minnesota) is going to play big like Illinois,
but they are much more athletic and faster," Rosen
said. "The two outside hitters absolutely jump out
of the gym and just rocket the ball. They are really
dynamic."
Whether or not the Wolverines can control Min-
nesota's outside hitters, passing will definitely be a
key to the team's success on the road this weekend.
"I think once the passing breaks down, everything
breaks down," Reedus said. "If you don't get a good
pass, then the setting location is off, and you can't
attack efficiently."
holding back L'Heureux
By Phil Kofahl
Daily Sports Writer
While many runners would be content
with winning league titles, no matter
where they are, Alex L'Heureux wasn't.
The fifth-year senior transfer is in the
middle of his first and last season for
the Michigan men's cross country team.
L'Heureux left Lehigh University in
Bethlehem, Penn., during his junior
year to run his last year of track and
cross country for the Wolverines.
L'Heureux moved from Canada his
sophomore year of high school to Palm
Beach, Fla., with his family. During his
two years of running for Gardens High
School, he won state titles in cross
country, the mile and the two-mile.
L'Heureux wasn't very familiar with the
colleges in the United States, and when
Lehigh was the first to recruit him, he
signed.
While at Lehigh, he won the Patriot
League Championship for the indoor
800-meter, the mile, the outdoor stee-
plechase and was runner-up in cross
country in 2002.
UHeureux couldn't help but think
that he could do more, but he needed to
go elsewhere.
"Once I got to running for them, I
realized that this wasn't the place for
me, L'Heureux said. "I started to find
out more about college running, and I
kept hearing about Michigan."
He began to look at Arizona, North
Carolina State and Michigan, but his
visit to Ann Arbor sealed the deal.
"Once I came and visited and I met
(Michigan coach) Ron (Warhurst) that
was it," L'Heureux said. "I had made
my decision."
Convincing a coach to give a scholar-
ship to a senior with one year of eligi-
bility left isn't always easy, but
exceptions were made.
"It doesn't usually work, but this has
worked out pretty well," Warhurst said.
"He had a desire to transfer for Archi-
tecture and for running."
L'Heureux left his lead runner role at
Lehigh, and has become a solid fourth
man for the Wolverines. L'Heureux and
senior captain Nick Stanko have consis-
tently rounded out the team's scoring in
the fourth and fifth position, possibly
the most important ones for the Wolver-
ines this year. Stanko sees the commit-
ment in his fellow senior.
"He thinks for the team. Everything
he does, he does for the team,' Stanko
said. "It's his last year and he wants to
do a lot for the team. He really respects
Ron and listens to him."
L'Heureux's willingness to listen and
learn has been a great example for the
younger members of the team.
L'Heureux has hopes of making the
Canadian team in 2004 after college,
but for now, his sights are set squarely
on the Wolverines.
His move to Michigan has already
paid off with dramatic improvement
in his running times, but a top-five
finish for the team at nationals in
November would surely be a reward
in itself.
ts to busy lives as student-athletes
By Matt Venegoni
For the Daily
Imagine taking a regular course load,
and then adding four hours of extra
class every day to it. For the three
freshmen on the Michigan women's
tennis team, this is how they started
their college experiences. While many
freshmen are worrying about what
party to attend next, or what time "Real
World" is on, freshmen Lindsey Gold-
stein, Kara Delicata and Liz Exon are
busy practicing the sport they love.
A typical day for the three of them
begins with early morning classes.
"Once I leave in the morning, I'm
gone all day until I get back from prac-
tice anywhere from 6 or 7 p.m.," Gold-
stein said.
All of them have class right up until
their daily practice at 2:30 p.m. This
makes even simple tasks such as eat-
ing difficult.
"We just try to find food when we
can," Exon said.
One of the ways they have "found"
food is by going out to eat with each
other. This has also helped them come
together. As much as that has helped
team unity, just practicing with each
other has helped even more.
Although it has been a major adjust-
ment for all three freshmen, they say
that their sport actually helped them
adjust.
In college, it is just a continuation of
an ongoing process for them. In high
school, they were already traveling and
going to tournaments constantly. The
places have just changed. However, all
three said that it is more fun in college.
"It is not hard to adjust when you're
having fun with such a close-knit
group. I think that I was nervous the
first day, but after that it was a fast
adjustment;' Goldstein said.
Not everything is an easy adjust-
ment.
"College is very competitive, not just
on the court. The academics have been
demanding also;" Delicata said.
But she is not complaining. She
knows that she has an opportunity that
few others could receive, and she con-
siders herself very lucky to be in the
position that she is.
"I'm getting a lot of opportunities
that others cannot," she said.
One of the unique opportunities they
have is playing each other in tourna-
ments-unusual for a team sport. The
chance of playing a fellow Wolverine is
slim, but it is still an exciting thought
for the freshmen. Although it can be a
little awkward, they just try to make it
seem like practice. All three will be
participating in the Midwest Regional
Championships in Kalamazoo this
weekend. This is the largest individual
fall tournament in the Midwest.
Although the main goal for them is to
perform well, all three want to win the
matches they should.
Although they may be freshmen,
they have the mentality of upperclass-
men. With the initial adjustment to
Division I athletics ending, they all are
poised to have breakthough seasons.
RILEY
Continued from Page 10A
games, and has 10 starts. This weekend, she blocked an
impressive six shots, and has not been scored on in her last
266:29 minutes of play. She is also this week's Big Ten Defen-
sive Player of the Week.
Although the goal can be a stressful place to be, the fresh-
man thrives on the pressure.
"I like having to react to the shot," Riley said. "I like being
back there for my team and being able to encourage every-
one."
Oddly enough, Riley was not planning on receiving such a
huge amount of playing time when she arrived in Ann Arbor.
"I came in here, and my goal for the season was to improve
myself" she said. "I wanted to be the best goalkeeper I could
be, and work on some basic skills."
One person who helped Riley along was Michigan's other
goalie, fourth-year junior Molly Maloney. Maloney took the
freshman under her wing, and the pair have since developed a
symbiotic relationship based on constructive criticism and
mutual respect.
"Every day, we have practice together, and we encourage
each other," Riley said. "If I was missing a certain kind of
shot, or off my angle, she'd take me aside, and give me advice,
which was really helpful.
"And I would do the same for her."
Apart from a focused attitude at practice, Riley utilizes
more abstract methods to prepare herself for games.
"I really like our team's warm-up mix," Riley said. "And I
would have to say that I like the fight song the best. That one
really gets me going."
Another Michigan tradition that Riley finds inspiring is
attending football games at the Big House.
"It's just awesome to see how many people support Michi-
gan athletics," she said. "You see maize and blue everywhere,
and it's just incredible."
In regards to the somewhat smaller audience at field hockey
games, Riley believes that it is quality, not quantity, that is
important.
"Attendance has gotten better as the season has progressed,"
Riley said. "My family has traveled to several of my games in
Ann Arbor, and it's great to see little kids come out, who are
playing field hockey in elementary school, to see us. My
friends come and cheer for me too."
As for her future at Michigan, the standout, as usual, just
wants to get things done for her team.
"I would like to improve myself and better my team," Riley
said. "We always shoot for a national championship, but more
realistically, I want to be a better goalkeeper."
To us, imagination has always represented the most exciting frontier. At Northrop Grumman, we use the power of imagination to push our defense and aerospace capabilities
years into the future. With projects ranging from the Firehawk VTOL unmanned surveillance craft to the C4ISR systems that will control the network-centric battlefields of the future, we think there