The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, February 4, 2004 - 13 Injury can't slow down former Olyr By Melanie Kebler Daily Sports Writer Last weekend, women's gymnast Elise Ray gave a performance that left no doubt that she was a former Olympian. But while many might know about the Olympic rings tat- tooed on her shoul- der, few probably realize how much scar tissue lies underneath. "It still hurts, just the scar tissue and everything, but as long as it's sta- .. .. .. .. .. Michganboos d ixi ble, I can work through the pain," Ray said. The injury came early last season when Ray overextended her shoulder and briefly dislocated it during a tumbling pass. Michi- gan coach Bev Plocki said that Ray tried traditional rest and rehabilitation, but soon realized that surgery was the only way to strengthen the shoulder so that it didn't continue to pop out of the socket. "She's very flexible in her shoulders and that makes her prone to these types of injuries," Plocki said. Ray's recovery has been impressive, con- sidering that after her surgery last March, she didn't step back into the gym until September. "Over the summer I really concentrated on keeping in shape aerobically, because I wasn't allowed to do gymnastics yet," Ray said. She quickly honed her gymnastics skills, building enough confidence to lead Michi- npian Ray gan in almost all events. Against Nebraska on January 11 - her first competition since 2002 - Ray won the beam with a 9.950 and placed second on vault. "It's a scary process," Ray said of her return to the gym. "The surgery on my shoulder made it secure, but I was still scared because I injured it during gymnastics." Though she had to take "baby steps" for a while, Ray said she knows her body well enough to know what she had to do. In fact, she felt so good about her redeveloped skills that she started to expect a little too much of herself. "It felt like I hadn't even taken any time off," Ray said of competing in the team's intrasquad meet to begin the season. "But then my expectations went very high for myself, so that when the first couple of meets didn't go perfect, I was disappointed. "Then I kind of had to step back and say, 'Elise, you took a year off, give yourself a break.' I really just took a step back and refocused." That kind of focus allowed her to win the all-around last weekend at the Wolverines' first home meet of the season against Michigan State, scoring 9.900 on three events. At this point, Plocki said Ray may start adding in some bigger moves to help her routines. These moves were left out to begin the season in order to help her get back on her feet. "She started with some pretty basic rou- tines, for her what are fairly simple rou- tines, but still have 10.0 start values," Plocki said. "When you're coming back JASON COOPER/Daily Senior Elise Ray sat out most of last season with a shoulder injury, but you wouldn't know it with her strong performances this season. from an injury, you have to regain confi- dence. You can't be going out there think- ing, 'Oh my gosh, I hope (my shoulder) doesn't do that again.' " Plocki isn't afraid to draw a comparison to Ray's freshman season, during which she was coming off of an injury to her other shoulder. "She dislocated her other shoulder at the Olympic games and amazingly continued to compete," Plocki said. "When she came here in January, we had to start out really slow. At the end of the year, she won the all-around at the NCAA Championships." A repeat of that performance could be in the works. For now, though, Ray and her teammates will concentrate on the upcoming State of Michigan Classic, in which Michigan will host four other Michigan schools at 8 p.m. this Friday at Crisler Arena. Plaushines/Streifler duo undefeated N ETTERS Continued from Page 12 matches also used to be a best two-out- of-three format, as opposed to the eight-game pro-set format followed today. The International Tennis Associ- ation, though, decided that the dual matches were lasting too long and cre- ated the doubles point. "It's a very good format," Ritt said. "Doubles always counts. I think it makes it more exciting for the players and fans." Streifler echoed Ritt's enthusiasm for the current scoring system that revolves around the doubles point. "(With the doubles point), your team is counting on you, and you have to rely on your team," Streifler said. "(Without the doubles point), the team aspect of the game would be lost." FILE PHOTO With so much importance riding on winning the doubles point, strategy is required in choosing doubles pairings. Ritt explained that pairing players whose styles of play complement each other is very important. "We have so many options," Ritt said. "We try to come up with three very competitive teams, but the.reality is that we could come up with more than that." Ritt has experimented with a variety of doubles pairings so far in the sea- son. This flexibility is a testament to the depth of this year's roster. .isW Streifler also explained that being aggressive and holding nothing back have been key factors to the team's dou- bles success. Ritt acknowledged that communica- tion and chemistry are also vital to a successful dou- EKCEND bles pairing, which the Plaushines/Streifler duo has heavily demonstrated thus far. rida The doubles point will continue to be a huge factor }< r in Michigan's upcoming _____home matches against Maryland and South Caroli- na on Friday and Sunday, respectively. Though the doubles competition occurs at the beginning of each dual match, the team is always aware of the impact of the doubles point at the end of the day. "You never know what's going to happen," Ritt sid. Plaushines and Streifler, for instance, have played together all year. The duo has won both of its matches of the sea- son at No. 3 doubles. "Our games complement each other really well," Streifler said. "I'm not afraid to come to the net if (Plaushines is) up there with me." Debra Streifler has been solid when paired with Kim Plaushines In doubles competition. BLUE'S CHMI RECRUITS Today is national signing day for senior high school football players. Below is a list of players who have verbally committed to Michigan and are expected to sign their letters of intent today. ESPN recruiting guru Tom Lemming ranked Michigan's overall class third nationally as of Jan.30. Five Michigan players made Lemming's top 100 players list. Both wide receiver Cameron Colvin and defensive lineman Eugene Germany have Michigan on their short list and will announce their decisions today. Besides Michigan, Colvin is looking at USC and Oregon, while Germany is considering USC. PLAYER Jamar Adams Roger Allison Adrian Arrington Alan Branch Keston Cheathem Jeremy Ciulla Grant DeBenedictis Doug Dutch Brett Gallimore Chris Graham Mike Hart Chad Henne Tio Jamison Will Johnson Max Martin Michael Massey Alex Mitchell Chris Rogers' Charles Stewart John Thompson Morgan Trent Marques Walton POSITION S FB WR OT DB OT 00 WR OT LB RB QB DL DT RB TE 00 LB DB LB WR DT HIlGHT 6-2 6-2 6-4 6-6 6-3 6-6 6-5 6-0 6-5 5-11 5-10 6-3 6-4 6-4 6-2 6-5 6-5 6-3 6-1 6-2 6.1 6-2 WEIGHT HomTow N 198 Charlotte, N.C. 230 Lake Orion 180 Cedar Rapids, Iowa 315 Albuquerque, N.M. 195 Pomona, Calif. 275 Kennesaw, Ga. 270 Boca Raton, Fla. 193 Washington 290 Riverside, Mont. 210 Indianapolis; 175 Syracuse, N.Y 210 West Lawn, Pa. 238 Harvey, Ill. 285 Lake Orion. 210 Madison, Ala. 225 Cleveland 310 Bay City 240 Wexford, Pa. 188 Farmington Hills 230 Detroit 180 Orchard Lake 280 Chicago KEY STAT 4.49 40-yard dash Benched 185 lbs. 27 times Ranked No. 43 by Lemming U.S. Army All-American 4.5 40-yard dash U.S. Army All-American CaliFlorida Bowl participant Ranked No.49 by Lemming 91 pancake blocks in Jr. year 137 tackles, 6 sacks in Sr. year 4.4 40-yard dash Ranked No. 7 by Lemming Ranked No. 18 by Lemming Missed Sr. year w/ knee injury Ranked No. 73 by Lemming Brother of Pat Massey Michigan all-state selection 4.7 40-yard dash 4.47 40-yard dash 4.5 40-yard dash 4.4 40-yard dash 100 tackles, 10 sacks in Sr. year TCH 0i I U '0 s tatistics courtesy of Rivals ~iom, ESPN~com i m