6B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - October 4, 2004
Spikers struggle in wins
By Stephanie Wright
Daily Sports Writer
This weekend should have been
about senior outside hitter Jennifer
Gandolph. In the Michigan volleyball
team's 3-1 win
over Purdue Friday,1 HA"
Gandolph broke
Michigan's all-
time kills record,
notching 16 kills
to bring her career
total to 1,385.
But Gandolph's record was over-
shadowed by her team's up-and-down
play in a weekend of conference com-
petition. The Wolverines controlled
their match against Purdue (3-1 Big
Ten, 10-4), but struggled to beat an
Indiana team that remains winless in
the Big Ten.
"In this conference, every team
is good - even the teams that don't
have good records or are strug-
gling," Michigan coach Mark Rosen
said. "You need to respect them and
expect they're going to come out and
play great."
Against Purdue, Michigan (3-1, 13-2)
played aggressively at the start, diving
on the floor to save points and holding
Purdue to a .022 hitting percentage in
game one. Even though the Boilermak-
ers won the close second game, 34-32,
and improved their hitting throughout
the match, the Wolverines never lost
control.
"It was the steadiest our team has
played all year long," Rosen said. "Pur-
due is the type of team that is going
to put tremendous pressure on you.
They're going to make you earn every
point you get."
Michigan's depth was also evident.
Five players recorded double-digit
kills, with Gandolph, freshman Katie
Bruzdzinski and senior Lisa Gamalski
notching double-doubles in kills and
digs. Yet the clearest indication of the
team's depth was when young players
like Bruzdzinski and freshman middle
blocker Lyndsay Miller stepped up
their play and led the team during the
third and fourth games.
"We knew the make-up of the team
was going to require us to have four or
five people we can go to, so the other
teams really have to respect more
attacking zones," Rosen said. "Any-
body we go to can hit the ball on the
floor. The other team can key on one
person, but we'll just go get them some-
where else."
One place the Wolverines have
always gone is Gandolph, who added
12 digs for her fourth double-double
of the season. But Gandolph was more
focused on her team's victory than the
record that came with it.
"Records are great, but the wins are
way more important," Gandolph said.
"I want to be on the roster that has all
those wins."
After its emotional win over Purdue,
Michigan came out flat against Indiana
on Saturday. The Hoosiers (0-4, 6-9)
scored the first three points of game
one on their way to a 30-25 win. While
Indiana exuded confidence and deter-
mination, Michigan was not aggressive
- hitting an attack percentage of just
.135 - and seemed like its collective
head was not in the game.
"I think our team overlooked Indi-
ana," Rosen said. "I don't think that
they came in with the right mind set
and they thought it would be easy.
Against a team that you're a little bet-
ter than, you should be able to take care
of business early."
The aggressive play of freshmen
Bruzdzinski and Miller finally ener-
gized Michigan in games three and
four, propelling the Wolverines to a 3-
2 win. Bruzdzinski led Michigan with
19 kills, including three in the decisive
fifth game. Miller added 14 kills, but
it was her enthusiastic reaction to each
Michigan point that really made an
impact on the team.
"Our young players did a great job
and really played with reckless aban-
don," Rosen said. "They didn't get
frustrated, they just kept going after
it. They spearheaded the aggressive-
ness that we needed to have from the
beginning."
0
Brannen leads
Blue to first-
place finish
By Pete Snoider
For the Daily
With a time of 24:25.89, senior captain Nate Brannen secured
third place and guided the No. 6 Michigan men's cross country
team to first place overall at the Great American Cross Coun-
try Festival on Friday in Cary, N.C. Michigan edged out No. 8
North Carolina State by five points in the 8,000 meter run - its
first scored meet of the season.
Brannen was joined in the top 15 by freshman Mike
Woods, who finished 12th overall in the 148-man field with
a time of 24:55.43 - trimming 57 seconds off his 8,000-
meter personal-best. Graduate student Jonathon Kieliszak,
freshman Victor Gras and junior Todd Iocavelli - who fin-
ished 23rd, 25th and 28th, within five seconds of each other
- were the other Michigan standouts. Rounding out the top
10 for Michigan was senior Rondell Ruff, graduate student
Mutt Mulvaney, senior Sean Moore, junior Andrew Bauer
and freshman Seth Thibodeau, who finished 32nd, 33rd, 34th,
35th, and 85th, respectively.
Although the Wolverines only scored three runners in the
top 25, they showcased their depth with nine in the top 35.
Michigan's ninth finisher, Andrew Bauer, out-ran N.C. State's
fifth finisher, Stephen Furst, who placed 39th. Michigan
Coach Paul Warhurst felt that the top nine had a significant
role in the victory.
"To finish nine guys in the top 35 is impressive and shows
how strong we are," Warhurst said. "We faced stiff competition
from N.C. State, but overall I thought we ran pretty well. Our
goal from the start was to win the race."
Brannen faced an uphill climb in the first half of the race, as
he was only 30th at the first-mile mark. But halfway through
'the run, Brannen pulled himself within the top five, joining N.C.
State's Bobby Mack and Virginia's Will Christian. Brannen out-
kicked Mack in the last 400 meters and eked by him at the finish
'ine with a .32-second margin of victory. It was Brannen's first
-race of the season and he didn't know what to expect.
"I was just looking to get a race under my belt and gain more
confidence for upcoming races," Brannen said. "I was happy
with my performance and the way the team ran."
DAVID TUMAN/Daily
Freshman Megan Bowman (6) and junior Jennifer Gandolph (3) prepare for a block. Michigan struggled but still beat both Purdue
and Indiana this weekend at Cliff Keen Arena.
'M' second only to Cardinal
By Scott Bell
For the Daily
When it comes to friendly confines and collegiate
sports, a few places come to mind. Whether it's traveling
to Evanston to take on Northwestern or making the short
trip to Ypsilanti to battle Eastern Michigan, there are some
places where Michigan can expect success no matter what
the sport.
South Bend is not one of those places. So when the
women's cross country team made the trip to Notre Dame
this weekend, there was no clear recipe for success.
But the Wolverines' culinary prowess was displayed as
they found that recipe for success and claimed their most
impressive showing to date, grabbing a second-place finish
at the Notre Dame Invitational.
Only outdone by No. 1 Stanford, No. 6 Michigan
bettered 22 other teams in the 24-team field, which
included nine teams ranked in the top-27 in the nation.
Among the teams Michigan eclipsed was host Notre
Dame, which held the fourth spot in the rankings going
into the meet.
Stanford finished first with an impressive 34 points.
Michigan's 84 points put it comfortably in second, as Notre
Dame followed in a distant third with 127 points. Missouri
(164 points) and Michigan State (174 points) rounded out the
top five in the team competition.
Michigan coach Mike McGuire was impressed with his
squad's showing.
"This will definitely move (our team) up in the rankings,
and we deserve it," McGuire said. "This is a good indication
of what we can do on a national level."
The Wolverines were led by All-American Rebecca
Walter, who turned in a personal best time of 16:44 for a
solid fourth-place individual finish. She was tripped early
on in the race but recovered well, setting a solid pace for
the Wolverines.
The four other Wolverines who contributed to their score
of 84 were: Sarah Pizzo (15th place), Alyson Kohlmeier
(18th place), Andrea Parker (19th place) and Theresa Feld-
kamp (28th). Each of the top-five runners for Michigan fin-
ished at or below the 17:30 mark.
With only one returning All-American, Michigan's
strength from top to bottom must be relied on.
"We have a strong team with a lot of depth to work
with," McGuire said. "A lot of people had lifetime-best
performances today, so we are steadily improving."
Possibly the most pleasant surprise for McGuire was
freshman Alyson Kohlmeier, whose time of 17:11 allowed
her to contribute to her team's success early in her running
career at Michigan.
"(Kohlmeier's) performance should springboard her to a
great season," McGuire said.
But the entire squad seems destined for a great sea-
son. Almost guaranteed a top-five spot in the nation, the
defending Big Ten champs hope to continue the strong
season this weekend at the Michigan Intercollegiate at
Grand Valley State University.
Freshman Michael Woods took almost a minute off of his
8,000-meter personal best and finished 12th this weekend.
Freshman Mike Woods also made an impact for the Wol-
verines. The former 2004 Canadian National Junior Champion
made his collegiate debut two weeks ago at the Spartan Invita-
tional, where he finished second overall in a Michigan victory.
"I was pretty happy with my performance," Woods said. "I
wasn't ecstatic, but I was glad that I made an impact. But per-
sonally, I want to make more of an impact in upcoming races."
The winner of the race was Josh McDougal (24:00,97), a
freshman from Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va. Shadrack
Kiptoo-Biwott (24:12.48) of New Mexico finished in second
place.
This was Michigan's third appearance in the Great American
Cross Country Festival, finishing second in the previous two
events. Next up is the Michigan Intercollegiate in Hudsonville,
Michigan on Oct. 8.
4
Michigan senior Sarah Pizzo placed 15th at the Notre Dame
Invitational, and helped the Wolverines finish in second place.
OT becoming a theme for Wolverines
q
By Jamie Josephson
Daily Sports Writer
Two 45-minute halves just don't seem
like enough to keep the No. 13 Michigan
men's soccer team satisfied anymore.
Playing against Louisville (3-3-3) at
Cardinal Park yesterday, the Wolver-
ines (7-1-2) took
their third straight
game past regula- IoueILE ,
tion play. The end
result was a 1-1 tie
after two overtime
periods. Michigan
also pulled out a 1-0 victory at Kentucky
in overtime two days before the tie with
Louisville.
"The players absolutely spilled their
competitive souls out on the field and
played up to the best of their abilities,"
Michigan coach Steve Burns said after
yesterday's tie. "They did a tremendous
job. It's hard to come back from an emo-
tional win like the one we had on Friday
and perform on such a high level less than
48 hours later. (We give) a lot of credit to
players. They did exactly what we wanted
them to do in terms of putting energy back
into the game."
From the start of the game against
Louisville, Michigan came out with an
aggressive energy on the offensive end. In
just the second minute of play, sophomore
Kevin Savitskie went for a header off a
Michigan corner kick from junior Ryan
Sterba, but his shot hit the crossbar to keep
the Wolverines at bay.
Michigan took a 1-0 lead at 30:16.
Sterba tallied the assist after sophomore
Bobby Trybula - who collected Sterba's
cross - found the back of Louisville's net
with an easy tap-in. The goal was Trybu-
la's fourth of the season.
"Right after that, we had a lot of confi-
dence," Sterba said. "We haven't scored a
lot in the first half, and we were happy to
have an early goal on them."
But once again, a one-goal lead didn't
prove sufficient for Michigan, who blew a
lead against Long Island on Sept. 26, result-
ing in a tie. The Cardinals caught Michigan
off guard with a shot from Marco Termi-
nesi in the second half at 67:30. Michigan's
fifth-year senior goalkeeper Joe Zawacki
came out of the goal to the play the ball, but
Louisville's Ryan Meyer flicked the ball to
Terminisi, who punished Zawacki's initia-
tive and tied the game at one.
"Certainly I think Zawacki makes that
save eight times out of 10, and that kid
hits that shot (only) two times out of 10,"
Burns said. "The players responded real
well after that goal, though. This is a team
that understands we're going to be in a lot
of low-scoring, defensive struggles."
In the second overtime session, Michi-
gan created a game-winning scoring
opportunity when junior Mychal Turpin
sent a cross to the middle of the field, find-
ing junior Trai Blanks in front of Louis-
ville's net. But a clutch save by Cardinals
goalkeeper Charles Edwards crushed
Michigan's hopes for a "W."
"I like the fact that, right now, we're
creating a lot of chances," Burns said.
"You know that pretty soon the form is
going to come, and we're going to finish
those chances soon."
Still struggling to convert on scoring
chances, overtime has been the theme in
Michigan's last three games. Even though
Michigan has spent extra time on the field,
Burns views these overtime games as a
testament to his team's field presence.
"It just shows that this team has some
character," Burns said. "It was a difficult
place to play against Kentucky with a real
vocal and active crowd and to follow that
up with Louisville. We almost relish those
opportunities, knowing we're going to be
involved in tight games all the time."
Junior Chris Glinski scored what proved
to be the decisive goal in Michigan's win
against Kentucky on Friday. Zawacki,
who has been competing with junior Peter
Dzubay for the position all season, tallied a
Michigan freshman Bobby Trybula scored in yesterday's 1-1 tie with Louisville.
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