Friday November 5, 2004 sports.michigandaily.com sports@michigandaily.com SOe RTSgn3 ilp Pool's 24 sparks exhibition victory M MENS BASKETBALL Cagers prepared for 'intense' exhibition By Matt Singer Daily Sports Writer With seven freshmen on the roster, it's obvious that the Michigan women's basketball team lacks experience. And it didn't take long for it to show. Thinking that she was being introduced prior to the game, freshman Krista Clem- ent started toward the court, only to CAN realize that fellow freshman Becky Flippin's name was blar- ing over Crisler Arena's loudspeaker. "I think it's kind of cute, actually," Michigan coach Cheryl Burnett said. "Before the game, they're like, when do we run on the floor?" Fortunately for the Wolverines, their inexperience wasn't much of a factor the rest of the way. Featuring a fast-breaking, aggressive style, the youthful squad came up with a 75-61 exhibition game victory over Athletes in Action last night at Crisler Arena. With most players on the team making their collegiate debuts, Michigan came out fired up - diving on loose balls, creating turnovers and out-rebounding its opponents despite the Wolverines' obvi- ous size disadvantage. "We were all really excited, and we all came out and played like we were," sophomore Kelly Helvey said. "We were up-tempo the whole game and our energy just showed." The Wolverines' second leading scorer last season, senior Tabitha Pool, keyed Michigan's strong offensive showing. The forward was a force throughout, leading Michigan with a double-double - 24 points and 14 rebounds. "Tabitha Pool is a player that we're going to continue to ride the shoulders of," Burnett said. After emerging from halftime with a 41-35 lead, Michigan kicked it into high gear. The Wolverines nearly ran Athletes in Action out of the building, ratcheting up the intensity on both ends of the court. Within seven minutes, Michigan had opened up a 17 point lead. "That's our game," Pool said. "They were getting tired. We knew we had to push it and just start running." No one typified the Wolverines' go- for-broke style more than Helvey. Early in the second half, she took an outlet pass from freshman Becky Flippin and fired a perfect bounce pass to freshman Janelle Cooper for a quick score. A few minutes later, Helvey dove for the ball at midcourt, came up with it and fed Flippin for a wide- open lay-in. "This early in the year, Ithink it's unusu- al to have those great fastbreak opportuni- ties where we're seeing the floor and seeing people that are open," Burnett said. Helvey weaved her way through the Athletes in Action defense all game, opening up the Wolverine offense, and racking up a game-high seven assists. The forward also sparked Michigan on the defensive end, picking up both of her steals in the second half. "I've coached a long time, and I don't know thatI've ever seen one player play- ing the effort game that Kelly Helvey did tonight," Burnett said. "She was solid. She had hustle plays. She was a factor with just the energy and effort she By Megan Kolodgy Daily Sports Writer Last year the Michigan men's bas- ketball team went into its exhibition matchup against Michigan Tech aloof and relatively unprepared. This lackadaisical attitude led to what currentjunior LesterAbram described as an "embar- UN A rassing 73- Mi.. higa.: Tech 61 win that M. tg . was much 7, closer than « expected. The Wol- verines took the jab to heart and have adopted a new perspective that should help them perform a bit better when they take on Michigan Tech on Sunday. "Last year, those guys came in with a lot of intensity," junior Daniel Horton said. "They came here to win. They wanted to win. I really respect those guys, and I think our team has a lot more respect for them coming in the game this year than we did last year." Michigan's newfound admiration for the Huskies is not undeserved. Michi- gan Tech forward Josh Buettner was named National Preseason Player of the Year for Division II. Last season, Buettner averaged 22.2 points and 6.6 rebounds per game, while leading the Huskies to an appearance in the NCAA Great Lakes regional semifinal - Divi- sion II's NCAA Tournament. Currently, the Huskies are ranked No. 6 in Divi- sion II. Horton said he knows what Michigan Tech will bring to the table this week- end, and feels he is mentally prepared to counteract the Huskies' skills. "Everybody on their team can shoot the ball, and they play well together," Horton said. "They are going to play tough on 'D,' and rebound - and they are going to do the things their coach asks them to do. That's what you have to expect from a championship-level program." This weekend presents the first opportunity for both teams to test them- selves against an opponent. The game marks the beginning of what Michigan coach Tommy Amak- er and the rest of the Wolverines hope will be their most successful season since Amaker arrived in Ann Arbor three years ago. "I think, as we start this season, we're very optimistic about where we are and hopefully where we're headed," Amaker said two weeks ago at Michigan's Media Day. "We're coming off of a successful year for us this past year in a lot of ways. Certainly we want it to be more success- ful as we continue to climb the ladder, but we're very optimistic about this sea- son and we're very hopeful." Horton believes that this game will be the Wolverines' first stepping stone to bigger things. "That's what we are trying to do - be a championship-level program - and playing against a team like Michigan Tech will help us," Horton said. "It will be a step toward that." Tabitha Pool led the Wolverines in scoring last night with 24 points. put out on the floor." Michigan's nerves were evident early on, as Athletes in Action scored on its first four possessions and took a 10-5 lead. After Burnett called a timeout, Clement put in a reverse layup to get the Wolver- ines rolling, and they soon took the lead for good.. Perhaps the biggest surprise was Mich- igan's 40-33 advantage on the boards. The Wolverines overcame a severe height dis- advantage, consistently boxing out their opponents and ripping the ball out of their hands. But Athletes in Action took advantage of its size offensively, work- ing the ball into the paint and getting off many high-percentage shots. Center Jes- sie Stomski scored a team-high 19 points, 16 of them coming inside the paint. "Certainly our post defense is some- thing we're going to have to continue to work on," Burnett said. "That's going to be a team challenge due to our lank of size" 0 WOMEN'S SOCCER 'M' downs Wisconsin to advance in Big Tens By Seth Gordon Daily Sports Writer With just eight minutes left to play, freshman Melissa Dob- byn scored her first goal in over a month to lift the Michigan women's soccer team to a 1-0 win over No. 25 Wisconsin in yesterday's opening round of the Big Ten Tournament in Columbus. The win was the Wolverines' first step toward qualifying for the NCAA MCG Tournament. The duo of Dobbyn and junior Therese Heaton - Mich- igan's two leading scorers - came out of their late-season scoring slump at just the right time. Heaton timed a pass into the Wisconsin box to Dobbyn, who fired the ball past goalkeeper Lynn Murray from 12 yards out. "We need (Heaton and Dobbyn) to score," Michigan coach Debbie Rademacher said. "It has shown this entire season that, when those two are able to assist or put one in, then we come out on the winning side." After the goal, Michigan (7-3-1 Big Ten, 12-7-2 over- all) had to rely on its defense - including two of its sec- ond-team All-Big Ten players, goalkeeper Megan Tuura and defender Brenna Mulholland - to seal the win. Tuura turned in her seventh shutout of the season, while Rademacher credited Mulholland with a strong effort on the back line. "The last five minutes, they were just down our throats," Rademacher said. "After the goal, they put another forward up top. We still held pretty strong, but the last five minutes were pretty hectic. They were getting the ball in our end and bringing us under a lot of pressure." Michigan thought it had taken the lead in the first half when freshman All-Big Ten midfielder Jamie Artsis headed home a rebound off a corner just 16 minutes into the game. But the goal was called back when the referee called a push- ing foul on Artsis. The Wolverines went into halftime confident after control- ling much of the first half, which was slowed by heavy rain. With the rain gone, a back-and-forth game developed in the second half in which both teams were able to create scoring chances. Tuura recorded just two saves in the game, but both thwarted good scoring chances in which Wisconsin sent the ball deep into Michigan's box. Heaton narrowly missed on a crossing pass in the 56th minute, as no Wolverine was able to reach the ball. It rolled just a few feet in front of the post. Yesterday's win was important for Michigan's chance of making the 64-team NCAA Tournament field. After a disappointing 3-7-1 record in October, the Wolverines may need to earn an automatic bid by winning the Big Ten Tournament. "This was a great win for us," Rademacher said, "The team is very fired up and very motivated after the win." Michigan can't afford to enjoy the victory for long as it turns around to play No. 13 Ohio State at 7 p.m. tonight - the tournament's No. 2 seed. The Wolverines and Buck- eyes tied their only contest this season, 1-1, on Oct. 3 in Ann Arbor. Special teams, defense key to weekend series with Miami M MEN'S TENNIS Hung out in singles, still alive in doubles By Ryan Sosin Daily Sports Writer As practice began to wind down yesterday, the No. 2 Michigan hockey team was in high spirits. After an arduous week of practice, the Wolverines enjoyed a few laughs during the final tune-up of the week before a weekend series against Ti EK No. 17 Miami (Ohio) "It looked like every- 7 hgn body was making plays (in practice)," senior cap- T 3 . tain Eric Nystrom said. "(Wednesday's) practice was pretty tough, but (yesterday) we looked ready to go." The theme of the week's practices appeared to be defense. Despite failing to put a puck past Ferris State goalie Mike Brown last Saturday, Michigan coach Red Berenson was happy with his team's play in the 1-0 over- time loss to the Bulldogs. He believes the solid defense will lead to solid offense. Nystrom echoed his coach's sentiment. "If the offense doesn't light up, the defense needs to be there," Nystrom said. "We all need to buy into the defense because we won't score four or five goals a game." Last season, Michigan took three of four from the RedHawks. All four games were high scoring - with 32 combined goals between the teams - in what Beren- son called "heart attack hockey." "This weekend is huge," Nystrom said. "These are the games that put you in first place, or the ones to knock you out of first place." This weekend, special teams will once again be a key. Miami has been explosive on the power play this sea- son. In its final matchup last year, Michigan went 3-for-6 with the extra man, while the RedHawks put two in the net on five chances. As the coaches filtered off the ice yesterday, the team was free to enjoy the end of practice. Senior Milan Gajic rode his stick across the ice to celebrate a faceoff win over Nystrom, while junior goalie Al Montoya attempted acrobatic catches of pucks flipped into the air by senior Brandon Rogers. If the offense does ignite and the defense plays on the right side of the puck, it's a good bet that those smiles will carry through to next week. QUARTER DECK FOR TEAM USA: The U.S. National Junior team announced its preliminary roster yes- JOEL FRIEDMAN/Daily Mike Brown attempts to score against Ferris State. terday and named four Wolverines to its initial group of 12. Montoya was the only netminder selected so far. Sophomores Mike Brown, T.J. Hensick and Matt Hunwick will join Montoya on the team. Hensick and Brown are both newcomers to the team, while Hunwick and Montoya return to defend last year's gold medal. The team will compete in the IIHF World Junior Championships from Dec.. 25 to Jan. 4. CM NOTE Blue advances to pair of quarterfinals The Michigan women's tennis team entered just two of its players in the ITA National Indoor Championships, which were held at Varsity Tennis Center in Ann Arbor. But senior Michelle DaCos- ta and sophomore Kara Delicata proved themselves to be good picks to represent the Wolverines. DaCosta and Delicata went into their doubles match with a No. 4 ranking, and defeated No. 8 Nebraska's Maja Mlakar and Diane Hollands 8-1, 8-1 in straight sets. The duo will advance to the quarterfinals, where it will face a UCLA pair today at 5 p.m. DaCosta also won two tiebrakers en route to defeating Hollands in singles, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (5), and advanced to the quarterfi- nals. This is the first time that a Michigan women's singles player has advanced to the quarterfinals of the tournament M WRESTLING 'Independent' week ends tomorrow By Scott Bell Daily Sports Writer Brian Hung has been on a tear during the past few weeks, and seeded players are feeling the effects. Hung had two more chances to enhance his giant-killer persona yes- terday in the ITA National Indoors at the Varsity Tennis Center. Although he came up short in the singles draw, Hung and doubles partner Ryan Heller left their mark. Hung and Heller faced off against No. 3 seed Ludovic Walter and Jason Zim- merman of Duke - the tournament's defending champions - in first-round action. The wildcard Wolverine duo hoped to play consistently for the whole match, hoping to collect a late break and hold on for the upset. That break came in the 10th game, giving Michigan a 6-4 lead in its eight game pro-set. The lead did not hold long though, as the defending champs rallied to break back and send the match into a deciding tiebreaker. Play went back and forth for the majority of the tiebreak as Michi- gan tried to stick to its "better safe than sorry" strategy. Although Duke grabbed alate match-point opportunity, Michigan fought it off, rallying for three straight points and the win. Michigan coach Bruce Berque was satisfied with his doubles team's win, even though he thought it missed a few opportunities. He was especially impressed with Heller's performance, calling it his "best match of the year." Heller's partner agreed. "Ryan stepped up big time," Hung said. "He served and returned great, but he especially did well at the net." Today Hung and Heller will next tack- le another ACC foe in Geoff Boyd and Brad Pomeroy of North Carolina. Hung's attempt at another upset fell just short a few hours later in his first- round singles match. Playing another seeded opponent - No. 5 Izak Van der Merwe of Old Dominion - Hung treat- ed the Ann Arbor crowd to a three-set thriller that left nothing to the imagina- tion, but couldn't hold on in the end. In the third set, the grind of back-to- back matches seemed to take its toll on Hung. After grabbing the first game of the set, Hung's counterpart won six of the next seven, giving him the victory. Hung ended up committing 29 errors on his backhand side during the match. "Fatigue did play a factor for me in the third set." Hung said, "Not just physi- cal fatigue, but mental fatigue certainly kicked in as well." "Having to constantly read his serve and anticipate took a lot out of me." Van de- Merwe collected two straight breaks midway through the first set, giv- ing him the serve at 5-3. Hung charged back, winning eight straight points and deadlocking the score at 5-5. The two traded games on serve and took the first set into a tiebreaker. Van der Merwe took an early 2-0 lead in the tiebreak, but Hung strung seven straight points together, giving him the opening set. Hung had 19 winners in the opening set and looked to be on track for another big upset. But Van der Merwe didn't get that memo, and, after falling down 2-1 in the second set, won four straight games. Although Hung grabbed a late break, Van der Merwe held on to a 6-4 second set win. In the other singles match for the Wol- verines, senior Michael Rubin returned to action for the first time in over six months. Last year, he suffered aribinjury that cut his junior season short. Although he visibly struggled early on, he made, adjustments as the match progressed and put together a good second set. He took his opponent - Texas Tech's Bojan Szu- manski - into a tiebreaker and held a 5-3 lead. But that lead evaporated after Rubin had two errors and Szumanski won a forehand. After a Rubin backhand volley found its way into the net, the match was over. Szumanski advanced by the score of 6-0, 7-6 (5). "Last season was a great season." Rubin said, "This was a good first step on getting back on the track I was prior to the injury." By Mark Giannotto For the Daily Last year, after winning the Big Ten regular-season title, the Michigan wres- tling team finished third in the Big Ten Championship. The stumble atthe finish put a damper on an otherwise successful season and the team went on to finish 10th in the NCAA championship. "We were a little disappointed with our finish. We fell a little short of our goals," Michigan coach Joe McFarland said. The coaching staff has examined the reasons behind the late-season fade. As a result, the Wolverines have made some changes in the way they prepare for the season. "We've made some adjustments and changed a few of the workouts," McFar- land said. "We are having light weeks so (the team) can have a breath of fresh air. Last year, there would have been a full (wrestling room) right now, but we're giving the guys a week to be independent of the team." Practices, at least right now, are laid back. Wrestlers are not expected to be in Crisler atla specific time, and there is no set training schedule. "We are easing into things right now," redshirt sophomore Mark Moos said. "There is less structure (than during regular practices)." The wrestlers have embraced the alternative style of practicing. "The season is long, and (the light practices) don't get you into the sea- son so soon," said redshirt junior Ryan Churella. "We're still training hard, but it isn't the same intensity. These (practices) are going to help us peak at the end of the year." Although the Wolverines take the regular season seriously, ultimately, their focus is on the postseason. "We expect to be the best and we haven't reached our goals yet," McFar- land said. "The (NCAA Championship) is the ultimate goal, but to achieve that, we have to be there at the end of the sea- son. That will come down to how we finish.". Senior Ryan Bertin, redshirt junior Greg Wagner and Churella will lead the Wolverines this season. The Wolverines are also banking on some younger wres- tlers to step up this season. "(The coaching staff) is expecting some of the young guys to have a good season," McFarland said. They've been through the grind once now, so they know what to expect." The first test for the Wolverines and their new practice style comes tomorrow when Michigan competes in the Eastern Michigan University Open.