2B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - March 14, 2005 CLUBSPORTsWEEKLY Women's hockey gets to nationals Athlete of the Week Name: Nick Willis Team: Men's Track Hometown: Lower Hutt, New Zealand Class: Junior Why: Willis claimed an NCAA title in the mile at the NCAA Championships in Fayetteville, Ark., on Saturday. He posted a time of 4:00.69 on his way to his first ever individual national championship. Willis beat Indiana junior Sean Jefferson by one second, avenging his loss to Jefferson in Big Ten Champion- ships. By Lindsey Ungar For the Daily Most teams' idea of a perfect weekend wouldn't involve Buffalo, N.Y. - a city that received more snow than Ann Arbor this year. But that's just where the women's club ice hockey team worked all season to be. "Every extra game we played at nationals was a bonus because, last year, we had a really rough season, and the fact that we qualified for nationals this year was huge," Michigan senior forward Stacey Moses said. After winning only four games last season, the icers rebounded to fin- ish 14-8-3 - including a six-game winning streak to finish the season. The Wolverines made it in to the American Collegiate Hockey Associa- tion national tournament as the lIth seed after missing nationals the past three seasons. "As an 11 seed, you pretty much go and don't have anything to lose," Moses said. The team lost 3-1 to Massachusetts-Amherst and 10-2 to Lindenwood in the round-robin round. The two losses placed the icers into a consolation game against Northern Michigan on Saturday. "The game went back and forth, and Northern played one of the best games we'd seen them play all season," Moses said. The game was tied 2-2 going into sudden-death overtime. Only 2:26 into the extra period, Northern Michigan's Lauren Markowski ended the Wolverines' dream of finishing the tournament with a victory. "It was sort of a fudged play in our end," Moses said. "(Markowski) got a good shot off, and our goalie was screened. (Michigan junior Jen Barn- hart) never saw the puck. It was unfortunate." But even though the team failed to make a statement in Buffalo, it did make the finals of its league. It lost to Western Michigan 4-1 on March 6 in the Central Collegiate Women's Hockey Association (CCWHA) cham- pionship game. The loss came after four straight wins in the tournament, including handing Western Michigan its first conference loss of the season. "We knew we could beat them, and we caught them by surprise," Michi- gan coach Adam Winters said. "I think, the second game, they were a little more ready for us." The Wolverines played five games in three days at the CCWHA tourna- ment and had a four-hour break between the last two games. But the team is used to busy schedules, practicing three times a week and playing two games every weekend. And usually, the games don't start until 10 or 11 p.m. "They have definite priorities," Michigan coach Andrea Shear said. "We all know that school comes first, but these girls have made hockey a big priority in their lives." It was an impressive finish for the squad, which started the season with two new coaches and six rookies. "It was a very rewarding experience because we really saw this team grow throughout the year," Winters said. "Our six rookies were an integral part of the team because we went through some tough times last year, and they weren't a part of it and they kind of brought a fresh start to the veteran players." But after seeing the top-ranked teams play at nationals in Buffalo, the Wolverines are inspired to build on their success next season. "One of our main goals will be making it back to the national tourna- ment," Shear said. "But at the same time, our No. 1 goal is to make sure everyone enjoys playing hockey. That's something we ended up kind of losing last year, and, this year, we were able to bring it back." 'M' SCHEDULE Date 3/14-16 3/16 Event W Golf at UNLV Invitational W Tennis vs. Western Michigan 3/17 W Swimming/Diving at NCAA Championships 3/17 Softball at KIA Classic 3/17-19 Wrestling at NCAA Championships Location Las Vegas Ann Arbor West Lafeyette, Ind. Fullerton, Calif. St. Louis s Tallahassee, Fla. Detroit East Lansing Ann Arbor Belleville Ann Arbor Athens, Ohio Baton Rouge, La. Time TBA 6 p.m. 11 a.m. 6:15 p.m. TBA 9 a.m. TBA 7 p.m. 7 p.m. TBA 9:30 a.m. 1 p.m. noon 0i 3/18-19' 3/18-191 3/18 3/18 3/19 3/19-20 3/19-201 W Track/Field at Florida State Relay Hockey at CCHA Super 6 W Gymnastics at Michigan St. Water Polo vs. Indiana W Rowing vs. Notre Dame Water Polo at Wolverine Invite Baseball at Ohio 3/20 M Tennis at Louisiana St. 'M' snaps losing streak by beating Marquette Tighe shoots low, but men's golf finishes eighth By Daniel Levy Daily Sports Writer The Michigan women's tennis team took a month's worth of frustration out on Mar- quette on Saturday at the Varsity Tennis Center in Ann Arbor. Entering the day in the middle of a three-match losing streak, the Wolverines pounced on the Golden Eagles early en route to a 6-1 victory, improving their record to 4-6 while drop- ping Marquette to 3-10 on the year. "It was a good team effort," Michigan coach Bitsy Ritt said. "It was a good oppor- tunity to get a win." Michigan came out strong, quickly tak- ing two doubles matches to earn the team point. Senior co-captain Leanne Rutherford and freshman Allie Shafner rolled to an easy 8-2 win at No. 2 doubles, while junior Debra Streifler and sophomore Elizabeth Exon cruised to a victory by the same score at No. 3 doubles. Michigan's 14th-ranked pairing of senior co-captain Michelle DaCosta and sopho- more Kara Delicata added an 8-6 win at No -Ldoubles. The Wolverines continued their domi- nance in singles, taking five of the six matches with ease. Streifler notched a 6- 2, 6-0 win over sophomore Francina Bon- nelly at No. 5 singles to give Michigan its second point of the match. Playing in her first dual match of her career, sophomore Lindsey Goldstein made the most of her opportunity with a crushing 6-0, 6-0 vic- tory over Marquette sophomore Andrea Bukacek at No. 6 singles. Delicata sealed the win for Michigan at No. 3 singles, blowing by freshman Elsemieke Dokter, 6-0, 6-1. "We had a solid' performance in sin- gles," Ritt said. "I was happy with how we played." DaCosta and Exon added 6-1, 6-1 victo- ries at No. 1 and 2 singles, respectively, and Shafner's tough three-set loss was the only blemish on a great day for Michigan. With Marquette having a down sea- son, the Wolverines took advantage of the opportunity to play around with their line- up and get some players more experience. "Marquette has been struggling this year," Ritt said. "I recognized that we have a lot of depth and people who deserve to play." Getting fresh faces into the lineup also gave Michigan a chance to rest some play- ers who are suffering from some midsea- son wear and tear. "We used this as a chance to heal nag- ging injuries,".Ritt said. "(Nina. Yaftali's) foot has been bugging her, and Leanne Rutherford hurt her back last week. So we used this as a chance to let themtest. A win as convincing as this mrhight be what Michigan needed to regain its confi- dence after suffering through some tough losses. "Our nonconference schedule has been By Randy Ip Daily Sports Writer The Michigan men's golf team placed eighth over- all at the Conrad Rehling Invitational in Alabama this past weekend, tying Ole Miss. Alabama finished first, 45 strokes ahead of the Wolverines, who shot 926 over the weekend. Fifth-year senior Rob Tighe was the most consis- tent Wolverine in the three days, shooting 76, 74 and 77, respectively, and worked his way to a 17th place finish. "He's been really a constant for us this year," Michigan coach Andrew Sapp said. "I know today he was disappointed, but it's been really good to see Rob step in as a constant on our team with all the scores that we count." On Sunday, the Wolverines ended the tournament on a high note, shaving 10 strokes from their 312 per- formance - their score from each of the two previ- ous rounds. Junior Christian Vozza was the most improved athlete for the Wolverines on Sunday, shooting a 4- under 68. Vozza struggled earlier in the tournament, shooting 81 on both Friday and Saturday before find- ing his swing. "I think, for him, it was a lot about confidence - he birdied his first three holes." Sapp said. "His confidence was really the key for him. After he got 3-under through three, he was just cruis ing a long. I think just for him getting off to a good start is why he played so well." But Vozza's 68 was one of the few bright spots for the Wolverines over the weekend. Obviously, the eighth-place finish was not what coach Sapp was looking for. "I'm not very pleased at all," Sapp said. "Unfor- tunately, we counted a lot of scores in the 80s this week. A lot of our players did not play to their potential." The Wolverines have struggled most of the season. They finished their last tournament, the Puerto Rico Classic, last in a field of 18 teams. Their best finish this season was in September at the Northern Intercollegiate, where they finished sixth out of 13. The next tournament, the Furman Intercollegiate will be important because the Wolverines have played well there in the past. "I think it has been difficult just because we haven't really gotten to play." Vozza said. "If you look at past years, we just start off slow and then we played well at Furman last year, and that has helped get us going. Hopefully, we can match that and get some of our confidence back. We need to shoot some good numbers so we can have some- thing to build on." On Saturday, the Wolverines shot 312, and fin- ished three strokes behind Memphis for eighth place. Tighe's 74 moved him up to 14th overall on the lea- derboard, while sophomore Matt McLaughlin shot a four over 76. Alabama moved into sole possession of 0 first place in the tournament after the team shot 286, giving them a 10 stroke advantage over second place Michigan State. On the first day of action, Michigan was abler to tie for eighth place in a field of 12. The.Wolverines were led by Tighe who shot a 4-over 76. McLatigltin finished the day with a 77. As a team, the Wolverines finished 24 over par, tying them with South Alabama and Mississippi State. Michigan State led the field, shooting 299 (+11). MIKE HULSEBUS/Daily Junior Debra Striefler helped lead the Wolverines to victory over Marquette, winning at No. 5 singles. very tough and competitive," Ritt said. "It was important for us to bounce back and gain confidence with a win." The Wolverines will look to build upon this win as they close out their noncon- ference schedule when they host Western Michigan on Wednesday. Duke edges out Georgia Tech WASHINGTON (AP) - New location, familiar ending. The Atlantic Coast Conference brought its annual tournament to the nation's capital for the first time, and this version had all the excitement of the 51 that preceded it. And when all 400 minutes of basketball were completed, there was Duke, cutting down the nets to celebrate another championship. Tournament MVP J.J. Redick scored 26 points, Sheldon Wil- liams had 16 points and 13 rebounds, and the Blue Devils held off a late charge to squeeze past Georgia Tech 69-64 yesterday. "I'm so proud of my team - not just for this game but for the whole season," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "They've found ways to win." Third-seeded Duke won despite making only one field goal over the final 11 minutes - a tip-in by Williams just before the final buzzer. "The key was we played really good defense," Krzyzewski said, referring to Georgia Tech's 30 percent shooting from the field. The Blue Devils (25-5) have won 15 ACC tournaments, tying archrival North Carolina for most in league history. But while the Tar Heels haven't added to their ledger since 1998, the Blue Devils have won six of seven - the lone exception being last year, when they fell in overtime to Maryland in the title game. "We've been fortunate," Krzyzewski said. "We've won a few. I'm happy that I was on the train that Daniel (Ewing), Shelden and J.J. conducted. It's been a heck of a ride this year." Duke, which never trailed, went 15-for-20 at the free throw line over the final nine minutes to fend off the pesky Yellow Jackets (19-11). Georgia Tech used an 8-0 run to close to 56-51 with 4:56 left. A 3-pointer by Anthony Morrow cut the margin to three with 1:54 left, and two free throws by teammate Will Bynum made it 64-62 with 1:27 to go. After a miss by Redick, Bynum missed a jumper in the lane and Lee Melchionni made one of two foul shots for a three-point lead. Jeremis Smith then misfired for the Yellow Jackets, but Tech got the ball back with 34 seconds remaining. A basket by Morrow got Tech within one, but Redick was fouled on the inbounds and made two free throws to make it 67-64. After Bynum was off target on a 3-pointer, Duke's David McClure missed two foul shots, but Williams tipped in the second one to preserve the win. "No one predicted we'd be sitting here today," said Redick, who went 10-for-10 at the line. Jarrett Jack scored 19 points for the Yellow Jackets, who fell short in their bid to win the ACC championship for the first time since 1993 but erased any doubt as to their worthiness in the NCAA Tournament. "I think we can take pride in this," Jack said. "We showed we won't back down from anyone, no matter who it is." Bynum, who scored a career-high 35 in Georgia Tech's semifinal win over top-seeded North Carolina, was limited to 14 points on 4-for-17 shooting. "I'm proud of our effort to battle back into the game," Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt said. "At the end of the game, we got looks, but we just didn't make them." The Blue Devils have won 19 of 20 against the Yellow Jackets, including three this season. THINK REDICK WILL TAKE DUKE TO ANOTHER FINAL FOuR? TRY THE MICHIGAN DAILY/ PAPA JOHN'S TOURNAMENT CHALLENGE ON PAGE 6B. You COULD WIN 10 PIZZAS. Vmm ... PIZZA, 0 Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski and Duke guard JJ. Redick won the ACC Tournament and are a No.Iseed in the NCAA tournament. a m V Universtyof fpan 2005 May 91 or August 22-27 At LeaderShape you wilL. Develon your leadershin 0