The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - November 1, 2004 - 7B
Errors
doom
Spikers
in loss
By Stephanie Wright
Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan volleyball team
could have beaten No. 21 Illinois.
Michigan outhit Illinois .337 to
.242 in the match, and notched a
commanding 30-16 win in the first
game.
But the Wolverines allowed the
Illini to build an early lead in each
of the next three games, and couldn't
come back, eventually losing 3-1.
After winning the second game 30-
28 to tie the match 1-1, Illinois (7-5 Big
Ten, 15-6 overall) jumped out to an
11-4 lead in game three, with strong
offensive play from junior Rachel Van-
Meter and senior Jessica Belter. But
Michigan freshman Lyndsay Miller
energized the Wolverines with a strong
service ace, and combined with fresh-
man Katie Bruzdzinski to score six of
the team's next nine points, pulling
Michigan within three.
The Wolverines maintained this
energy for the rest of the game
-cheering loudly after each point
- and a kill by sophomore Megan
Bowman gave them a 21-18 advan-
tage. But three Michigan errors
enabled Illinois to make a run. The
Wolverines gave the Illini quick
points with two service errors, while
a late attack error gave Illinois a
29-28 lead. Sophomore Erin Cobler
recorded a kill to tie the game, but
the Illini scored two straight points
to take the victory. Michigan com-
mitted nine attack errors in the
third game.
"We set ourselves up to have to
play perfect at the end of the game,"'
Michigan coach Mark Rosen said.
"We're in the position where we're
always one point or two points
behind. We're right there even with
them, but, if we make one mistake,
it's game over. We're putting too
much pressure on ourselves late in
Coach Keady's farewell
By Eric Ambinder
Daily Sports Writer
CHICAGO - There are two influen-
tial Coach K's for Tommy Amaker.
The first, the one with a difficult to
pronounce name
- Krzyzewski -
mentored Amaker at
Duke as a player and
as an assistant coach.
The second, the one
with the Southern
drawl - Purdue
$0
coach Gene Keady - spent a part of the
summer of 1985 coaching Amaker as a
player for USA Basketball.
"To me, the best compliment I can give
coach Keady is that I can refer to him as
coach Keady," Amaker said. "I have to
compete against him, and I guess, from
the outside, we're considered colleagues
and all those things, but there are certain
people in life no matter what stage you go
into or however old you become or how-
ever successful you become, you will still
look up to. He's one of those guys."
Just the top of Keady's head - possibly
the most distinctive feature of the longest
tenured coach in the Big Ten - could be
seen buried among the reporters at the
Big Ten Media Day yesterday.
The buzz?
This season, the coach's 25th, will be
Keady's last at Purdue. Keady will step
aside for assistant Matt Painter at the sea-
son's conclusion. Painter is a coach Keady
had greatly helped he University select.
And just because Keady will begin his
farewell tour this year, it does not mean
his colleagues intend to treat him with kid
gloves.
"I'll miss a coach that looks like his
mascot," Michigan State coach Tom
Izzo said jokingly. "I'm going to miss
the phone call when you lose that he
gives a lot of the coaches in this league.
I'm going to miss his professionalism.
And I'm going to miss his competitive,
unbelievable passion for the game. I don't
think there's anybody in this league,
including myself, that has what he has in
that respect."
For Minnesota coach Dan Monson,
Keady's departure highlights a disturbing
trend in college basketball.
"You have a guy like coach Keady
who's been in there 25 years. And it is sad
that I'm going to be here as long as any-
body but Izzo after six years," Monson
said. "I think that's sad that college sports
have gotten to that point. I don't know that
we'll ever see any-
body in the Big Ten
for 25 years again."
Keady aver-
aged more than 21
wins per season
and graduated an
impressive 89 per-
cent of his players
during his career at
Purdue. Although Keady
he has never coached Purdue to the Final
Four, he has six National Coach of the
Year awards.
STATE-MENT GAME: Yesterday, before
the start of the annual Maize and Blue
scrimmage, the Michigan basketball
team watched the conclusion of the
Michigan-Michigan State football game
in its locker room, and waited anxiously
for the game - scheduled 30 min-
utes past the conclusion of the football
game - to end so its game could begin.
The team showed great interest in its fel-
low Michigan athletes.
"We have the best football player in
the country in Braylon Edwards," Horton
said. "He proved it (on Saturday). I don't
understand why he's not a front-runner
for the Heisman."
Just the mere-mention of the devel-
oping, competitive basketball rivalry
between Michigan and Michigan State
evoked thoughts of Saturday's memo-
rable football game.
"It's going to be very competitive," said
guard Daniel Horton about the upcom-
ing basketball contests against Michigan
State. "(Michigan State football coach)
John L. Smith said it best, 'in order for
something to be a rivalry, both teams
have to do their part' And I think we've
been doing our part, and they are doing
their part.' "
Horton, who was the MVP of last sea-
son's NIT, put up 11 points for the Blue
team, en route to its 37-32 win. Center
Courtney Sims led the Blue team with
13 points, while the Maize team's Chris
Hunter hit 13 of his own.
"It feels good to be out playing again,"
said Hunter, who suffered from knee
problems last season. "I'm trying to get
used to it and not worry."
Amaker let his assistant coaches run
their respective squads as he took notes
from the scorer's table. He was pleased
with his team's progress as the Wolver-
ines prepare for their first exhibition game
against Michigan Tech yesterday.
"We tired to accomplished three
things," Amaker said. "First, we wanted
to compete. I thought it was a complete
game for 20 minutes. Second, we wanted
carry-over from our practices to the game
situation. You don't want, all of a sudden,
players trying to do something we aren't
asking them to do. This third thing we
wanted was to have some fun. I like to
think we accomplished all that."
SHUBRA OHRI/D.
Freshman Katie Bruzdzinski helped lead on a Michigan short-lived rally in the third
game against Illinois.
the game, because we're not taking
care of the first part of the game."
Michigan (5-7, 15-8) played well
at the start of the fourth game, and a
kill by Miller gave the Wolverines an
early 6-5 lead. But the Illini respond-
ed with a 6-1 run - sparked by two
kills from junior Rasa Virsilaite -
and built a five-point advantage. At
this point, Bruzdzinski took control,
recording seven kills in the fourth
game. But after senior Lisa Gamalski
tied the game at 26, VanMeter scored
four of the next six points to give Illi-
nois a 30-28 win.
"We fought pretty hard in game
four, but right at the end we made a
couple of critical mistakes," Rosen
said. "It's the little things that are
hurting us right now."
Michigan did improve its all-
around play from the past few
matches. Five Wolverines finished
with double-digit kills, led by Bru-
zdzinski, who tied her career high
with 20. Gamalski had her second
triple-double of the season, record-
ing 12 kills, 58 assists and 12 digs.
But it wasn't enough to help Michi-
gan beat a good Illinois team.
"There were a lot of situations
when we played really well," Rosen
said. "You don't hit .337 and not play
well. We're doing good things, and
that's what is maddening. We're not
completely falling apart, but we're
falling apart just enough. We outde-
fend a team, we outhit a team, and
we still find ways to lose."
With the loss, Michigan has
dropped its third straight match, and
sixth out of its last seven.
Cagers gaining recognition
By Eric Ambinder
Daily Sports Writer
CHICAGO - As he finished
fielding questions at yesterday's
Big Ten Media Day, Daniel Horton
walked over to join Illinois' Deron
Williams and Indiana's Bracey
Wright - two Preseason All-Con-
ference selections - at the table
the two shared.
All three laughed and chatted
side-by-side, catching up. Before
they became collegiate standouts,
they played against or with each
other on various AAU teams in
Texas.
After Michigan's NIT cham-
pionship last season, players and
coaches around the Big Ten have
understandably taken notice - they
expect Michigan to graduate to the
NCAA tournament this year.
"Michigan is a great team," said
Williams, the Big Ten Conference
Preseason Player of the Year. "A lot
of people overlook them. They had
a strong finish last year, winning
the NIT. They should definitely
be in the NCAA tournament this
year."
Michigan received the 28th most
votes in the ESPN/USA TODAY Top-
25 Preseason Coaches' Poll, ranking
behind conference foes No. 5 Illinois,
No. 10 Michigan State and No. 20 Wis-
consin. The AP rankings have not been
released yet.
But the Wolverines don't pay
much attention to the polls.
"Expectations are a little higher
for this team this, year," Horton
said. "We have our own standards
as a team, and those are things we
really pay attention to."
The rest of the Big Ten raised its
expectations for Michigan, too, espe-
cially with the way the Wolverines
responded just one season removed
from post-season sanctions.
"I think you got to give a lot of
credit to them," Michigan State
guard Kelvin Torbert said. "They
bounced back off some hard times,
and are back in the elite with every
other team in the Big Ten. We know
that they are going to be one of the
best teams in the league this year."
Michigan State coach Tom Izzo,
who led the Spartans to the 2000
National Title, understands how
winning a postseason champion-
ship can ignite a team the follow-
ing season.
"They've learned how to win
now," Izzo said. "They've learned
how to win a championship.
They've got guys with experience
and that's critical."
But Indiana coach Mike Davis
focused on the teams younger
players.
"I think Michigan, they're still
young," Davis said. "They are tal-
ented, but they are a young team.
Youth is youth and it goes good or
bad. But they gelled and banded
together at the end of the year and
won the NIT. That's no easy feat."
For the first time in two seasons,
Michigan will start a majority of TONY DING/Daily
upperclassmen, and will return four Michigan coach Tommy Amaker and the rest of the Big Ten will bid Purdue coach Gene Keady goodbye at the end of the year.
of five starters from last year.
The Wolverines begin their exhi-
bition season on Nov. 7 at home
against Michigan Tech.
Michigan junior Daniel Horton looks to
lead the Wolverines in 2004-05.
STICKERS
Continued from page 11
remaining when sophomore Mary Fox slipped the ball
past Akstin. Senior Jessica Blake took a shot which was
saved by Akstin, but it rolled back into the center of
the circle. A second Michigan shot was turned aside by
a Penn State defender, but Fox picked up the rebound
and put it in.
Michigan's defense was able to maintain its shutout
for the game's final five minutes, giving the Wolverines
their third consecutive conference title. After seeing
her team repeat as champions last season by clinching
a share of the title at home against Penn State, Pankratz
knew that the Nittany Lions would be aiming to halt a
Michigan celebration in State College.
"When you win the Big Ten title consistently, there
becomes an expectation," Pankratz said. "I thought
this team responded very well to the challenge. I'm
very proud of everyone. This was a great win for Mich-
igan."
Though the Wolverines shared the title, they have been
awarded the top seed for next weekend's Big Ten confer-
who