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. I Infoss P O W E R E D B Y I N T E L L E C T D R I V E N 8 Y V A L U E S www.infosys.com "Settle for a traditional work experience out of college OR... W§