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December 8, 2003
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Sullen
Saturday
Cagers suffer first loss of season
By Dan Rosen
Daily Sports Writer
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - "Exposed."
That's how Michigan coach
Tommy Amaker described his team
after an 83-63 scrapping by unde-
feated Vanderbilt on Saturday.
The Commodores (5-0) dominat-
ed the Wolver-_MCHGAN_63_
ines on the glass,
outrebounding
Michigan 42-24 on the night. They
double-teamed the Wolverines in the
low post, forcing long perimeter
jump shots and turnovers.
""When they double the post, we
hope to find people that are open to
try and make them pay," forward
J.C. Mathis said. "We weren't able
to do that."
After two quick Michigan baskets
opened up the scoring, Vanderbilt
took control of the game. With the
home crowd on their backs, the
Commodores ran off 11 straight
points. They didn't give up the lead
the rest of the way.
During that early Vanderbilt run, the
Wolverines (4-1) began settling for
jumpshots and turning the ball over to
Vanderbilt's high-pressure defense.
Three-point shooting woes contin-
ued to plague the team as well. They
shot just 5-for-20 in the game from
behind the arc for a miniscule 25
percent.
The 6-foot-8 Mathis led the
Wolverines with two 3-pointers.
Michigan's three guards combined
to hit just two.
"It certainly was a frustrating
night," Amaker said. "Give Vander-
bilt their credit. They made it very
frustrating for us. I think that their
team is very strong, and they play
very physical."
Vanderbilt senior Matt Freije, the
Preseason SEC Player of the Year,
overcame an uncharacteristically
inept shooting touch early on to
score 22 points. He shot just 3-for-
11 in the first half, but was scrappy
See COMMODORES, page 5B
PHOTOS BY TONY DING/Daily
It was a rough day for Daniel Horton, who left Saturday's game early with a banged up knee, but later returned. The
sophomore was blocked by Matt Freije (above) and finished 2-for-11 from the field with five points.
Volleyball swept out
of tournament play
Sweep of Spartans
lost away from home
MICHIGAN 2, Michigan Stdate 0
MwuC OGA N STAHr 2, Michigan 0
By Eric Ambinder
Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan volleyball team is going
on a long vacation - not to Hawaii for
the third round of the NCAA Tourna-
ment, but back to Ann Arbor for final
exams.
California swept the Wolverines 3-0 at
Haas Pavilion in the __
second round of the
NCAA Tournament
in Berkeley, Calif. 6CGA '
Despite playing its 1AFRNiA_ 3
best volleyball on the
road recently, Michigan ran out of luck
against the Golden Bears on Saturday
night.
Freshman Meghan Bowman donned
the unlucky No. 13 - she usually wears
No. 6.
Maybe the strikingly similar blue-and-
gold Golden Bear uniforms against the
backdrop of Haas Pavilion - a lucky
home-court draw for California - jinxed
the Wolverines?
And while the Wolverines look forward
to studying for exams next weekend, Cal-
ifornia aced their second-round test.
The Golden Bears took game one, 30-
23, winning nine of the last 12 points,
and continued their dominance into game
two, taking a 7-0 lead. Michigan battled
back, winning 12 of the next 18 points,
and trailed by one, 13-12, midway
through the second frame.
But every time the Wolverines inched
closer, California turned to the "Croatian
sensation," Mia Yerkov, who led the Gold-
en Bears with a match-high 29 kills.
The Golden Bears countered Michigan
rallies all evening, responding with a
strong stretch-run late in game two, win-
that's the sign of a good team."
Down two frames, the Wolverines
played their best volleyball early in the
third game.
Senior Erin Moore, sensing the
impending end of a brilliant Wolverine
career, recorded two kills and a block to
jumpstart the Wolverines early. Up 14-10,
Michigan's small wave of momentum
was curtailed by several Yerkov kills and
costly Wolverine errors.
California took seven of the next eight
points en route to a 30-28 game three
victory.
Yerkov recorded the match's final
point on a kill, ending the Wolverines'
season.
"We knew Michigan was going to
come out strong and that they are athlet-
ic," California coach Rich Feller said. "I
just think we executed very, very well.
We were real focused and played at a
high level right from the very beginning.
That was a great match for us. It was
some pretty incredible volleyball."
The Wolverines played incredible vol-
leyball on Friday night when they defeat-
ed Colorado in the first round, 3-0. The
victory marked the fourth time in five
attempts that Michigan reached the sec-
ond round of the NCAA Tournament.
Erin Moore, an All-Big Ten selec-
tion for the second consecutive season,
capped off a brilliant career, retiring as
Michigan's all-time leader in kills with
1,384.
Despite the loss, Moore and fellow
senior Nicole Poquette haven't even
thought about life without Michigan
volleyball.
"I'm trying not to have any (thoughts),
because if you get caught up in it, you
just freak out and don't play well," Moore
By Sharad Mattu
Daily Sports Writer
EAST LANSING - Following Fri-
day's emotional 2-0 win over Michigan
State, the Michigan hockey team had,
according to coach Red Berenson, "a
chance to have a great weekend."
Friday's game may have been the
Wolverines' most complete effort of the
season. With strong offense and
defense, Michigan spent the majority
of the game in the Spartans' zone and
outshot Michigan State, 38-23.
Michigan hoped to do the same Sat-
urday - and nearly succeeded. Though
the Wolverines didn't get as many qual-
ity shots and opportunities, they did
outshoot the Spartans by 12.
But after shutting down the Wolver-
ines for 58:33 on Friday, Spartan goal-
tender Dominic Vicari kept Michigan,
from scoring for the full 60 minutes Sat-.
urday. Michigan State generated offense
off of a pair of unforced errors by
Michigan and split the home-and-home-
series with a 2-0 shutout of its own.
As a result of Friday's exhausting
contest, both teams were sluggish Sat-
urday and neither team was able to
establish control.
After Michigan failed to get a shot
off on its first powerplay of the game,
Michigan State got a powerplay of its
own and took advantage of a lucky
bounce to score its first goal of the
weekend.
See SPARTANS, page 4B
JASON COOPER/Daily
Michigan's David Moss - injured for Saturday's game - tangles with
Michigan State defenseman Jared Nightengale on Friday.
Wolverines' dreams fall short inElite 8
By Ellen McGarrity
Daily Sports Writer
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - As the rain fell in
sheets onto Santa Clara's Buck Shaw Stadium,
so too did the faces of the Michigan men's soc-
cer team.
There was nothing pretty about the game they
had just lost. Even the nor- -_cHGAN ___
mally picturesque mountains ANTA__LAA_3_
and exotic palm trees sur-
rounding the stadium were washed out by the
bleak weather conditions and the reality that
Michigan would not be advancing to the four-
team College Cup.
Burns said. "They're a team that really tries to
disrupt the way you play, and tonight they were
very successful at it."
The game got off to a slippery start, as play-
ers on both sides had trouble finding their foot-
ing on the wet field. Near the end of the first
half, it appeared as if the game might end simi-
larly to Michigan's tie against Notre Dame last
Sunday in the third round. In that game, Michi-
gan had sustained a 1-1 tie to the end of regula-
tion, finally advancing 4-3 on penalty kicks.
Santa Clara's Kelechi Igwe put the Broncos
on the scoreboard in the 11th minute of play
when he slipped the ball past goalkeeper Peter
Dzubay. Junior forward Mychal Turpin respond-
But in the 43rd minute, a handball called in
the box on Michigan sophomore defender Ryan
Sterba gave the Broncos the chance to take the
lead with an easy penalty shot before the half.
The controversial call sent Michigan fans and
players into a frenzy.
"I thought that my hand was part of my body
the whole time," Sterba said. "I didn't intention-
ally try to hit the ball - that's just a call some
refs throw. It was definitely a questionable call."
Burns said his concern was that "the ball
played the hand and not the hand played the
ball."
The call was sustained, and Santa Clara's
Jason Cunliffe made the penalty shot. Michigan
wuld he forredto nhav icath-iin after the breaik.