MEN's TENNIS: Tennis team cannot keep up with the Texas two-step. PAGE 3B THE SPORTSMONDAY COLUMN: The world of sports offers highs and lows. Just ask Matt Venegoni. PAGE 3B GYMNASTICS: Despite high team score, Michigan falls to nation's best. PAGE 5B SPORTS AYu iuU I Friday's Game MICHIGAN 6, Ferris State 4 Saturday's Game MICHIGAN 3, Ferris State 2 S .m g lea I g' Blue sweeps ICers advance to semis Buodogs By Mark Glannotto Daily Sports Writer It was as if time slowed down in the final 3.6 seconds of the game. Ferris State defenseman Adam Welch received the puck off 'the final faceoff and unleashed a slap shot at the Michi- gan net. All Michigan senior captain Andrew Ebbett could do was watch from his knees. "I was thinking 'This can't happen in my last game at Yost,' " Ebbett said. And luckily for Michigan, it didn't. Welch's shot went wide of the net, and the Wolverines escaped with a 3-2 ,win and a two-game sweep of Ferris State to advance to the CCHA semifinals. The sweep was Michigan's first since the weekend of Dec. 9 against Nebraska- Omaha. It sets up a matchup with Michi- gan State next Friday at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. In addition, the victory likely assured the Wolverines a spot in their 16th consecutive NCAA Tournament. A loss in this second-round series would have put Michigan's chances in serious doubt. Since beginning the season 9-1-1, the Wolverines had struggled with consisten- cy, going 11-12-4 to close the year. But the sweep showed that, when they want to, the Wolverines are capable of piecing together more than one win in a row. "I really think our team was more focused tonight on doing the team things," Michigan coach Red Berenson said. "We were better on faceoffs, we had fewer turnovers, we had more hits, we forechecked better. ... We got stron- ger as the game went on, and I think our team got a lot of confidence from this." The Wolverines (13-10-5 CCHA, 20- 13-5 overall) jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the first period Saturday when senior alternate-captain - Brandon Kaleniecki notched his 17th goal of the season. The tally came at an unusual time for Michigan: during the power play. In recent months Michigan had been woeful with the man advantage (one for its last 26), but Saturday it proved to be a difference-maker. "The power play looked good tonight," Berenson said. "It's good to score early. We scored on one of our early power plays, and that got us going." The Wolverines' second goal also came courtesy of the power play when junior T.J. Hensick used a nice feed from sophomore Chad Kolarik to tally his 16th goal of the season and tie the game at two. "We focused a lot during the week off (on the power play)," Hensick said. "The guys stepped up on the power play. It's See BULLDOGS, page 4B Bidless M has nobody to blame The hopes and dreams for the seniors' last chance Tat March Madness came crashing down Sunday night when Wisconsin-Milwaukee became the final team announced to the NCAA Tournament's field of 65. But even though the team convened together to watch the Tournament selection show last night, its dancing plans were ruined long before Jim Nantz failed to call its name. So who crushed these hopes? Who ended the goal this veteran-laden team seemed so focused on achiev- ing? Who derailed the Wolver- ine team that looked so poised to make noise in March when it started the season 16-3? A biased selection commit- tee? Hardly. Teams with better SCOTT BELL resum6(Cincinnati) were left out Too Soon? as well. An increasing trend of smaller conferences stealing bids from the power conferences? Wrong again. The "big six" conferences gobbled up 26 of the 34 at-large bids. Bad luck and injuries? Even though they may have been present, good teams know how to fight through those obstacles. Michigan has nobody to blame but itself for a return trip to the NIT. Wolverine fans should look no further than the uninspired and disappointing performances that closed Michigan's basketball season. After beating defending national runner-up Illinois as the end of Michigan's season came closer to reality, the Wolverines were listed as locks by most prognosti- cators. But the bid that was labeled a lock ended up just being a crock. In my dealings with locks, though, I have found that they can be damaged or picked. If you try hard enough to get out of a locked area, you can probably get out. The Wolverines proved this theory to be true. They seemingly were trying harder to get out of their lock status than some teams try to get in the tournament. Ohio State played undoubtedly its worst game of the conference season when it hosted Michigan at Value City Arena. But the Wolverines responded to Ohio State's 39-percent shooting performance with an even worse 37-percent showing. Still, Michigan was in the driver's seat to March Madness. All it had to do was beat, at home, an Indiana team struggling to find its identity. But the combination of Tommy Amaker being out- coached by Mike Davis - who was deemed worthless by his own fans - and none other than Daniel Horton stepping up to make plays, brought Michigan even closer to the dreaded bubble status. Even after failing their first two tests, the Wolverines just needed to beat a Minnesota team that they had .beaten twice before. Both of those times, Michigan was shorthanded. This time, it had its entire team. But just like the prior two games, Michigan seemed inspired to prove to people that it could, in fact, throw away a season that looked so promising just weeks before. It did just that. And Sunday, Michigan paid the consequences. Anyone pointing a finger at anything not associated with the Michigan men's basketball team is just wrong. Are there at-large teams that got in that Michigan is better than? Definitely. I nearly soiled myself in shock when I saw the words Air and Force pop up during the selection show. And the announcement of Utah State just seconds later almost.caused an encore performance. But as I left Conseco Fieldhouse on Thursday follow- ing Michigan's completion of the year-end meltdown hat trick, I told myself that no matter what, I wouldn't complain. The Wolverines had a plethora of chances to make See BELL, page 5B Wolverines finally play with their heads up It's been a long time coming, but Michigan finally did it - a win by playing the ultimate team game. So many times during the Wolverines' funk - which has lasted since early December - the team hasn't played on the same page. Passes went awry, the forwards didn't covert the defenseman's backs, the defense couldn't keep the puck in the offensive zone - the list of gaffes was end- less. But during Saturday night's JAM playoff game against Ferris D State, the Wolverines lookedJ up for their teammates rather Ja than putting their heads down and try- ing to win the series on their own. And with the depth of talent on Michigan's roster, once the Wolverines start playing together, it can be downright scary for opponents. All three of Michigan's goals Satur- day were the result of playing heads up hockey. Freshman Jack Johnson's game- winning goal came off of a pass from ME )o; nes junior T.J. Hensick, giving him a wide- open shot on Bulldogs' goaltender Mitch O'Keefe. In recent months, both Johnson and Hensick helped to keep the Wolver- ines afloat with a perpetual slideshow of their individual talents. They have a tendency to try to win games solo, but once Hensick looked up and saw Johnson streaking down the ice to his left, his "eyes lit up," and he fed the defenseman for his 10th goal of the season and Hensick's S V. 34th assist. WD Even the power play finally clicked with the Wolverines' On... newfound sense of team. Looking back at the two earlier goals, both scored on the power play, they were created by pinpoint passing and hustle in front of the net. It was the first time in 2006 that I actually had hope for the Wolverines' power play success. But this teamwork extends beyond the offensive end of the ice. One of Michi- gan's biggest problems has been covering See DOWD, page 4B RODRIGO GAYA/Daily Captain Andrew Ebbett celebrates after a goal during Friday night's game against Ferris State. Looking back The last time the Michigan hockey team swept a weekend series: The Michigan basketball team-was 7-0 and a lock for the NCAA Tournament. Jim Herrmann was still the defensive coordinator for the football team. Skier Bode Miller had as many medals as tie does now. 0 The Detroit Pistons were on pace to win 72 games. 8 Billy Sauer and Tyler Swystun were stil 17 years old. Individual runners shine brighter than team finish 0 MEN'S GYMNASTICS Seniors end careers on high and low note By Colt Rosensweig sad at the same time, ... I think everyone Daily Sports Writer felt that and fed off it, this being Senior By Chris Herring Daily Sports Writer FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Going into the NCAA Indoor Championships, Michigan women's track and field coach James Henry said he didn't expect the Wol- verines to win the national title, but rather "expecting to do well." Henry can't be too upset with the results his team put up over the weekend in Arkansas. jneet, you need outstanding performances." The distance medley relay provided the team's highest finish. Erdman, Edward and freshmen Amber Hay and Geena Hall finished 11:14.47, barely holding off Baylor and Villanova for fourth place. The relay came after Erdman, Gall and Edwards had already run in preliminary events, possibly tiring them for the DMR. "We rolled the dice a little bit by using people in the medley that had run in previous performances," Senior Night for the Michigan men's gymnastics team was picture perfect in everything but the final score. Despite Michigan's second-highest team score of the season,the eighth-ranked Wolverines lost to No.3 Ohio State, 214.3- C (Night) and our last home meet. I had a bunch of guys come up to me and say, 'That was for you,' after a hit set. That felt good and definitely motivated me, because I wanted to be at my best and do well." After a typically strong perfor- i I