16 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, September 8, 2004
Even surgery
can't slow
Gandoiph
By Eric Ambinder
Daily Sports Writer
When Michigan volleyball senior Jenni-
fer Gandolph returned to Ann Arbor after last
year's winter break, her nagging right shoulder
injury had worsened. Surgery, Michigan coach
Mark Rosen and doctors
believed, was the best
available option for one
of the Wolverines' best FRIDAY
players. Easte hg
Gandolph - one of iigan
the Big Ten's most pow- Tale: 730 Pm.
erful outside hitters -
dominated the court for
three years because of CliffKeenArena
her arm's flexibility and
range of motion, which
are the ingredients for
difficult-to-return attacks. Doctors believed sur-
gery would compromise that strength. Instead, it
may have made her a better player.
Gandolph tore the labrum in her right shoulder
from excessive use. The labrum is cartilage that
acts as a shock absorber for the bones in the shoul-
der and cushions the impact as the bones grind
together.
As an outside hitter, Gandolph routinely uses
the labrum when she crushes a powerful kill. The
labrum-tear is a mysterious ailment because there
is no easy way to fix it. One method, Tommy John
surgery, is often used by professional baseball
players. Pitchers rarely regain full strength of
their throwing motion and often are forced into
retirement, but Gandolph isn't worried at all. She
hasn't had any problems, other than the minor,
expected side effects.
Some of those side effects have been beneficial.
"(Gandolph) came in and kind of had one shot
and that was hard," said Rosen about the begin-
ning of Gandolph's Michigan career. "Everything
she did was hard. She hit the ball as hard as she
could and was pretty successful at that as she
was growing up. So, as the level (of volleyball)
got higher, she had to learn more of the ins and
outs of the positions and be a more savvy player.
And really what her strengths are now, after the
surgery, she really can't hit as hard anymore, but
she is a much smarter player."
Rosen said that Gandolph has been forced to
learn more of the intricacies of the outside-hitter
position, one that largely determines the rhythm
and flow of the team.
"(Outside hitters) are going to get balls in
good situations, and you are also going to get
balls in garbage situations," Rosen said. "So as
an outside hitter, you have to make the best out
of it. You have to always center the play. They
have to be very intelligent with the choices they
make. Everybody in the gym knows the ball will
Friendly competition
is name of the game
By Jake Rosenwasser
Daily Sports Writer
The competition is just as stiff
at the top of the Michigan men's
golf team as it is on top of the PGA
these days.
This past week at the Deutsche
Bank Championship, Vijay Singh
finally passed a slumping Tiger
Woods to claim the No.
1 ranking amongst the .....
big boys. In Ann Arbor,
Christian Vozza and T)IS N
Kevin Dore should con- Michig
tend for the top spot on Fames I
Michigan all year. Both Place: R1
are hoping to avoid a col
Tiger-like drought. Aw
"They have a com-
petitive rivalry," Michi-
gan coach Andrew Sapp
said. "They spent the majority of
the spring season at No. 1 and No.
2 last year, and there is no reason
why they shouldn't be at the top
again this season."
Vozza, a junior, and Dore, a
sophomore, both made their mark
last season as underclassmen. The
two led the Wolverines in scoring
average last season and finished as
the top two Wolverines in Michi-
gan's last five tournaments in the
spring. Both went out with a bang
in the Big Ten Conference Cham-
pionships last season when Dore
fired a career-best, three-under-
par 68, and Vozza shot a one-under
70 to spur the team into a seventh-
place finish.
"The two of them practice
together," Sapp said. "They simu-
late competitions in practice and
are getting ready for this weekend
and the rest of the season."
Sapp is excited about having
his top two golfers back, but he is
equally enthusiastic about the two
Wolverine newcomers, freshmen
Tim Schaetzel and Brian Otten-
weller.
"Tim ranked very high in
the junior events he's played in
recently," Sapp said of Schaetzel,
I
i
i
i
WFEKEND
to Arbor~
a native of Georgia,
where people love
their golf.
Ottenweller is more
of a local product.
The Grand Rapids
native was a four-year
varsity letter win-
ner at Grand Rapids
Catholic Central.
With Michigan's
two top golfers return-
ing, and two newcomers poised to
make an impact, Sapp has high
expectations for his team.
"We have a really great chance
to build on all we did last sea-
son," Sapp said. "We want to get
a team title, and I think we have a
few players who have a very good
chance to win individual titles."
The Wolverines will compete
for the first time this season on
Saturday and Sunday when they
host the Michigan Radrick Farms
Invitational at Radrick Farms Golf
Course in Ann Arbor. Fourteen
teams, including Missouri, Purdue
and Wisconsin, will battle it out
for first place.
Vozza and Dore will lead the
Wolverines into the contest, and
Sapp can only hope they play more
like the steady Singh and less like
the tumultuous Tiger.
JOEL FRIEDMAN/Daily
Senior Jennifer Gandolph overcame a shoulder injury and brought her game to a new level.
eventually get to them, and they have to make
good choices."
Rosen likened the outside hitter to that of a
pitcher who can't just dominate with one pow-
erful pitch - the player must be able to show
variety of ball movement and speed. And if the
pitcher struggles, the team is apt to struggle as
well. And Gandolph, like a pitcher, must be able
to handle the spotlight.
"I like being able to change a game," Gan-
dolph said. "I'm going to change it - good or
bad. That's just what my role is, but I like having
that role. I like people focusing on me, and like I
beating them, knowing that they are focusing on
me. It's fun that way."
Rosen said that Gandolph was the impetus
for the weekend's record-setting performance
against Manhattan in the Manhattan College
Invitational, in which Michigan set a school
record .525 hitting percentage. Gandolph
appeared in top form, notching 12 kills and an
individual hitting percentage of .611. She was
named to the All-Tournament Team.
By the end of the season, Gandolph is expect-
ed to add two additional school records to her
resume. She recently broke the all-time attempts
record during last weekend's tournament and
needs just 17 digs and 113 kills to break the
school marks of 1,131 and 1,384, respectively, in
those categories.
If she remains healthy - which her doctors
and coaches expect - Rosen thinks this season
can be her best.
"As she gets back to where she can bring the
heat, she also now has this whole other side of
the game that she has had to develop," Rosen
said. "I think in some ways (the surgery) has
made her a better player."
9
0
FOREST CASEY/Daily
Junior Christian Vozza (above) will battle sophomore Kevin Dore for title of
No. 1. this season for the Wolverines.
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