The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - March 20, 2006 - 5B 'M' stumbles in tight match at Alabama By Katie Field Daily Sports Writer In the final match of the afternoon, with Michigan and Alabama tied 3-3, there was an enormous weight resting on sophomore Allie Shafner's shoulders. But she fought hard not to buckle under the pressure. Scoring a win in the first set against Ala- bama's Natalie McElveen, Shafner put the 22nd-ranked Wolverines in sight of a final nonconference victory over No. 35 Alabama at the UA Tennis Complex Sunday. In the sec- ond set, Shafner tried to put the match away, but McElveen came back to win in a tiebreak- er and send the match into a third set. The final frame posed greater problems for Shafner. Unable to rebound from the second-set loss, she struggled as McElveen climbed to a 4-3 lead. McElveen held serve twice more and granted the Crimson Tide an upset victory. The close 4-3 loss was not as tough a pill to swallow as one might think. Michigan women's tennis coach Bitsy Ritt was proud of Shafner's performance. "Allie Shafner played a great match," Ritt said. "The match didn't go our way, but I thought it was a great college match. It obvi- ously would have been great to win, but this motivates us to continue to work hard." A close finish looked far off after Michigan saw the Tide jump to an early 3-0 lead. But three Wolverines brought the team back to life. In her 76th career victory, senior Debra Strei- fler earned Michigan's first point and kept the Wolverines in the game by defeating Shelley Godwin, 6-1, 6-4. Junior Elizabeth Exon con- tinued the trend by bettering Mari Muller 6-3, 6-1. A final victory came from freshman Chi- sako Sugiyama, who defeated Andrea Brenes, 6-4, 6-4. The combined effort pushed Michi- gan into a 3-3 tie with Alabama. After losing the doubles point, Michigan looked for wins in the singles matches to make up the loss. "It's tough going into the singles when you need to win four out of six against a good team on the road," Ritt said. "That's chal- CAITLIN KLEIBOER/Daily Junior Lindsey Smith was one of a number of Wolverines to garner All-America honors at the NCAA Championships in Athens, Ga. Quic start not enough at NCAAs FILE PHOTO Sophomore Allie Shafner dropped the deciding match in Michigan's 4-3 loss at Alabama. By Jessica Asbill For the Daily The Michigan women's swimming and diving team started the NCAA Champion- ships on Thursday with solid performances, putting the Wolverines in excellent posi- tion to advance in the standings on Friday. As the tournament progressed, the team advanced as high as 13th place, only to fall to 17th after failing to qualify anyone for the final day's events. Auburn won with a total of 518.5 points, and Michigan finished with a total of 67.5 points. The Wolverines' 17th-place result represented a step back from their tie for 14th place at last season's NCAA meet. The 200-yard freestyle relay team of juniors Kaitlyn Brady and Lindsey Smith, freshman Hannah Smith and senior Abby Seskevics kicked off the weekend by fin- ishing in eighth place. The squad attained Michigan's first All-American honor of the championships and its third All-American honor in this event in four years. "I thought they swam well ... they fin- - ished eighth and they're All-Americans," Michigan coach Jim Richardson told MGoBlue.com. "That is something to be really proud of." The 400-yard medley relay team of Brady, Lindsey Smith, sophomore Jus- tine Mueller and freshman Payton John- son carried Michigan's momentum into its performance with a 12th-place finish, which garnered an All-America honorable mention. Brady and Lindsey Smith won the only individual honors of the day after their fin- ishes in the 50-yard freestyle earned them each All-America honorable mentions. But Brady's fifth-place finish in the event ended her 20-race winning streak. Elyse Lee - the only Michigan diver competing - finished 25th out of 40 com- petitors in the one-meter springboard pre- liminaries. It was quite an accomplishment, considering Lee was the first Michigan diver to compete in the tournament in two seasons. "I am really proud of the girls," Richard- son said after the team's day-one finishes. On the second day, the team gained even more ground with outstanding performanc- es in the 100-yard butterfly, the 200-yard medley relay team and the 400-yard indi- vidual medley relay. Brady finished fifth in the 100-yard indi- vidual butterfly, adding a third career and first individual All-American honor to her career totals. Brady attacked the start and led for the first 50 yards, but the even- tual champion, Georgia's Mary Descenza, passed Brady to win the event for the sec- ond year in a row. Richardson told MGoBlue.com he was satisfied with Brady's effort in the 100-yard butterfly. "For somebody who didn't even place in the top 16 in the event last year, (Brady's performance) is a tremendous accomplish- ment," Richardson said. "She did a great job. That is the second-best time and the second-fastest time in the history of the conference. It was just a really good per- formance." Brady and the 200-yard medley relay team of Mueller, Lindsey Smith, and Car- olina Sierra finished 10th overall, but in the consolation round, the team set a new school record of 1:40.02. Mueller also finished with a strong perfor- mance in the 400-yard individual medley. She finished 16th overall with a time of 4:24.34 in the consolation final after finishing 14th in the preliminary with a time of 4:17.23. The per- formance was her second career All-America honorable mention in the event. On the final day of the championships, the Wolverines failed to advance past the preliminaries, terminating any hopes of a top-14 finish. lenging." It proved to be difficult, but Michigan (7-3) still managed to win three of the six needed. "We performed well, and, unfortunately, we came up short," Ritt said. "We're on a roll now. We've had a couple of good wins. I'm proud of the team. It didn't go our way, but I'm proud of how we fought and competed. Next time we're in this situation, I believe we'll be able to come through." Heading into the Big Ten season, the loss at Alabama could prove to be valuable experience. Michigan heads to East Lansing Wednesday looking to keep the momentum gained from the singles victories for an early season Big Ten win. 0 WOMEN'S TENNIS Succesful Streifler leads by example By Ian Robinson Daily Sports Writer Some people love the thrill of competi- tion, and Debra Streifler is one of them. The senior captain of the women's tennis team spends as much time on the court as possible. Of her 10 singles matches in the dual sea- son, six have gone to a decisive third set. That doesn't seem to bother her. She has won five three-set matches. "If one set doesn't go my way, I just try to fight back," Streifler said. "I just mentally prepare myself to be out there as long as I possibly have to be out there." In addition to a 5-1 record in three-set matches, the senior is in the midst of seven- match winning streak. But after she won her fifth-straight set she wasn't aware of the fact. She doesn't revel in her past accomplish- ments. Instead, she prefers to look ahead to her next opponent. "I prepare for every match the same way, whether it's a top-10 team or someone who is not ranked," Streifler said. "Every match for me is another way for me to go out there and have a good time." It isn't surprising that the Highland Park, Ill. native, who moved into eighth place in school history with her 75th career singles win on Thursday, doesn't pay attention to her spot in the record books. "When I'm done with my career here, I am not going to remember what number I am in Michigan history, which is such an honor," Streifler said. "It is going to be how the team does. I could be winning matches but if the team isn't winning, it doesn't mean anything to me." Although Streifler prefers not to talk about her achievements, Michigan coach Bitsy Ritt believes Streifler is currently playing the best tennis of her career. Streifler hasn't been a mainstay in the starting lineup for her entire Michigan career. Before this year, she never played above No. 5 singles, but her recent play has made her a fixture in the rotation and a force at No. 3 and 4 spot. "She's a smart competitor, and she is good at picking apart her opponents' weakness- es," Ritt said. "She knows how to win and play a lot of different styles." Junior Elizabeth Exon points to Strei- fler's mental toughness as the source of the senior's success. "She is such a fighter," Exon said. "She is intense and never gives her opponent any- thing." Combining that fighting spirit with a potent forehand, a backhand to set up said forehand and the ability to move up to the net to attack has translated into success in both singles and doubles for the right-hand- er. Before this season, Streifler didn't com- pete in No. 1 doubles, but it appears she has found a suitable partner. After debuting at No. 1 doubles with junior Kara Delicata against UNLV on March 3, the duo has compiled a 3-2 record in its last five matches. "I am more of a laid-back person on the court, and she is going (and) going all the time, and it really helps me to get my energy up," Delicata said. Whether it's singles or doubles, Streifler has shown that she is prepared to do any- thing she can to lead her team to victory. Streifler and her teammates will start their Big Ten season when they travel to East Lansing on Wednesday. Green sweep, red win for Netters By Jamie Josephson Daily Sports Writer In the spirit of St. Patrick's Day weekend, the No.29 Michigan men's tennis team left their opponents a bit green. Green with envy, that is. To begin the weekend, Michigan slaughtered intrastate rival Mich- igan State in a 7-0 sweep Friday at the Varsity Tennis Center. Then the Wolverines kept the ball rolling in their contest against Harvard in Cambridge, Mass. yesterday. After jumping out to an early 3-0 lead, Michigan nearly squandered it. But in nail-biting fashion, Michigan squeaked by the Crimson, 4-3. "Once again, we did a great job competing under pressure," Michigan coach Bruce Berque said. "Harvard is not ranked very high, but this is still a good win. They definitely are a good and dangerous team." With the win against Harvard (3-6), Michigan (2-0 Big Ten, 8-6 over- all) improved its record in 4-3 matches this year to a perfect 3-0. Fresh- man Andrew Mazlin proved once again to be the Wolverines' hero, repeating his clutch performance from Michigan's 4-3 victory against Western Michigan on Jan. 21. The rookie demonstrated his maturity in a tight three-set match against Harvard's Sasha Ermakov, defeating him, 6-3,3-6,6-3, to secure the win for Michigan. "Once again, the match was on the line," Berque said. "Just like in the Western Michigan match, Andrew had great composure, played smart, and played aggressively." Michigan jumped out to an early lead by winning the doubles point, 2-1. The No. 2 duo of Mazlin and junior Ryan Heller hardly broke a sweat in their match, crushing the Crimson's Dan Nguyen and Brian Wan, 8-2. But after the tandem of freshman Scott Bruckmann and junior Steve Peretz fell to Harvard's No. 3 doubles team, the double's point rested on the shoulders of the Wolverines' dynamic duo at the No. E WATER POLO Closed door at close range key to rivalry loss By Eileen Hengel Junior Ryan Heller and doubles partner Andrew Mazlin helped get Michigan off to a hot start when they cruised to an 8-2 victory. an's second honor of the season. The co-captain was recognized for tallying victories in three of his four matches against No. 10 Texas and Texas A&M. Yesterday against Wan, Hung handled the No.2 Harvard player, 6-4, 6-4. "For a brief time, Brian was making too many errors at the net," Berque said. "But I think overall this year versus last year, he's better at playing through his strengths at singles, which makes it easier for him to come to the net. Last year, he was a little hesitant to do that. But now, he's more focused within a match. He's so much better this year that when he gets up on someone, he continues to stay focused and stick to his gameplan." Daily Sports Writer The scenario was the same each time: The Michigan guards fed the ball into the drivers located five feet from the net; the drives rotated their arms back and took the shot. But shot after shot failed to break the goal line, bouncing off the palm of the Indiana goalie or the goal post. "I'm flabbergasted we lost that game," Michi- gan coach Matt Anderson said. "It's the same as the basketball team going to the charity stripe and shooting 20 percent. (The team) had open cages that they should be able to make with their eyes closed." Playing in front of a crowd filled with St. Pat- rick's Day cheer on Friday, the No. 15 Michi- gan water polo team (15-7) lost to regional rival No. 19 Indiana 6-4 at Canham Natatorium. The loss was just the second in history for the Wol- verines against the Hoosiers. The Wolverines defeated the Hoosiers 11-7 in the teams' first meeting this season on Feb. 4. Despite freshman Julie Hyrne's hat trick and a lob over the head of Indiana goalie Jackie Pyrz by junior Shana Welch to start the game, Michi- gan failed to penetrate the goal line in both the third and the fourth quarters. Welch attributed the loss to the offense. Leading the Wolverines with four goals, Welch started Michigan off with a lob shot that was quickly followed by another goal into the right corner of the Matadors' cage. Welch fin- ished the tournament with 13 goals, including four goals in the California Lutheran win and three in the win over Slippery Rock. The Wol- .erines defeated the Kingsmen, 14-4, and the Rocks, 15-6. The second loss of the weekend for Michigan came in the early morning match against No. 7 San Diego State, 13-0. During the San Diego game, the Wolverines faced many of the same problems as they did in the Indiana game such as breaking through the defense and finding the right opportunities to score. Michigan failed to notch a single goal against Aztec junior goalie Sarah Kilgore. "In the first half, we only gave up four goals," Anderson. "Defensively, giving up four goals to a top-10 team, I'll take. Offensively, we were struggling again." Playing behind sophomore Sally Stone for most of the season, freshman goalie Kristen Davis was forced to the front after Stone got hurt during the UCSB Gaucho Invite Feb. 25 and 26. After putting on what Anderson described