cgJbr Aibijian ?aai1g SPORTS% '\** December 8, 2003 SECTION 111 iiii;1lip I;Iill;!:Ii:ll 1 1 il:lil:!i lil Jig ----------- -- - -- 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.