6B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - March 27, 2006
Peter tapper, Patroits
fit into Cinderella slipper
'MN' still perfect in Big
Ten
0
What a difference a couple weeks can make.
Two weeks ago, I probably still would have
told you that George Mason was some kid in
my ninth grade algebra class.
Then, after hearing the Patriots' story on Selection Sun-
day, they were now known to me as the team whose star
player peter-tapped a Hofstra player.
A few days later, after it beat Michigan State, George
Mason was then known as the team who gave me leverage
to make fun of my Sparty friends.
But now, the Patriots are simply known as everyone's
new favorite team, a squad that over the past four games
has shown us all that it's for real.
Even the most diehard of George
Mason fans (and yes, I realize how weird
it sounds to hear the phrase George
Mason fans and diehard in the same sen-
gatSId
Dance F
with Scott
tence) could not have expected this to hap-
pen. All of the analysts bragged about the parity in college
basketball, but this brings parity to a new level.
As much as this whole parity angle was stressed leading
up to the Big Dance, nearly all of the so-called experts had
very No. 1 seed-heavy Final Fours.
But the two number ones that made it to Indianapolis
for the Final Four both belong to George Mason - as in,
their No. 11 seed.
And now, with Connecticut, Duke, Memphis and Villa-
nova all watching the Final Four from home, it's anybody's
tournament to win, and that includes George Mason.
Don't be so sure that this will be like all of the other
Cinderella stories from past NCAA Tournaments.
You know the formula: The upstart mid-major gets hot
for two rounds - sometimes three, if they're lucky - but
inevitably runs out of steam and succumbs to a stronger
team in the tourney's later rounds.
But if this year's Big Dance has taught us anything, it is
to expect the unexpected.
Is it really that crazy for George Mason to pull off two
more wins?
The Patriots have already taken down arguably the
two best teams it will have to face: Connecticut and
North Carolina. Sure, the other three teams are playing
very well and deserve their spots in the Final Four, but
we're not talking about Tournament-tested foes here.
No team in the Final Four made it to the second week of
last year's NCAA Tournament. Florida was the lone team
to even win a game.
And we're not talking about veteran teams, either.
Each of the three teams standing in George Mason's
way of its improbable NCAA title hopes all boast star
players who aren't old enough to buy a sixer of Bud.
So maybe George Mason should steal the
Zui motto of Albany, Connecticut's first-round
opponent who wore shirts that stated, "Why
oor not us?"
t Bel Why not the Patriots?
They seem to have taken the torch from
Connecticut as this year's team of destiny.
The Huskies came back from deficits against Albany,
Washington and George Mason. In the latter two, it
took buzzer-beaters to bring the game to overtime.
I doubt any neutral observer of yesterday's game
between the Huskies and Patriots really thought deep
down inside that George Mason would pull it out after
Connecticut's Denham Brown made that reverse lay-in
as time expired.
But George Mason did win, and along with the game, it
took the title of team of destiny.
There are conspiracy theorists out there who thought there
would be no way that karma would allow Tony Skinn and his
happy hands to win after his past sins, but that theory seemed
to be dispelled yesterday when his missed free throw late in
the game didn't prove to be the Patriot's undoing.
So consider this your last warning: If you haven't
hopped aboard now, act soon. The George Mason band-
wagon is filling up and filling up fast. Jump on now,
because it's about ready to pull out.
And it's not stopping until it reaches Indianapolis.
By Jamie Josephson
Daily Sports Writer
The No. 30 Michigan men's tennis team
is seeing triple.
By crushing Wisconsin, 6-1, in Madison
on Saturday, the Wolverines sealed their
third consecutive win and third Big Ten
victory of the season.
It seems that Michigan (3-0 Big Ten, 9-
6 overall) has officially rebounded from its
three consecutive losses between March 2
and 11.
"I'm very pleased," Michigan coach
Bruce Berque said. "We played well and
competed well. Our guys were definitely
ready to play (on Saturday)."
The Wolverines came out of the gates
hungry against Wisconsin (1-2 Big Ten,
8-6 overall). With wins at No. 1 and No.
2 doubles, Michigan earned the doubles
point. The Wolverines' leading tandem of
junior Brian Hung and sophomore Matko
Maravic continued to dominate, serving
the Badgers' No. 1 duo of Nolan Polley and
Jeremy Sonkin their first doubles loss of the
season, 8-5.
"Wisconsin's No. 1 doubles was a good
team," Berque said. "Matko and Brian
seem to get better each time they play.
Matko volleyed at an extremely high level
(on Saturday). He's really improved his vol-
leys at the net. They both played well and
are improving all the time."
The duo improved to 11-4 on the sea-
son and jumped seven spots in the national
rankings to the eighth position.
At the No. 2 slot, junior Ryan Heller
and freshman Andrew Mazlin won their
third consecutive doubles match after tak-
ing care of Wisconsin's Gian Hodgson and
Brennen Phippen, 8-4. An 8-6 loss at the
No. 3 position served as the sole blemish on
its doubles record for the day.
In singles, Michigan stole the show, win-
ning five of its six matches. Berque said that
just about everyone on the Michigan roster
played extremely well.
Maravic was one such player. At No. 1
singles, the sophomore phenom got a sweet
taste of revenge. Last season against the
Badgers, Maravic lost to Sonkin in straight
sets. On Saturday, Maravic returned the
favor, overpowering Sonkin, 6-2, 6-3.
"Matko played extremely well," Berque
said. "He just played aggressively, consis-
tently, competitively and really strong. It
was one of the more complete matches I've
seen him play this year."
On the other end, at No.6 singles, fresh-
man Peter Aarts came through in his first
opportunity to clinch a match for Michigan.
The Wolverines led 3-1 with three matches
left, and Aarts stayed determined against
Hodgson. The rookie took him down in
three sets, 3-6,7-5,6-3.
"It was good to see Peter win his match,"
Berque said. "It was the first time he won
a clinching match. It was good to see him
play well. He's really picking it up. We've
been stressing to him to play with a con-
sistent level of intensity ... and to show a
stronger competitive presence on the court.
He's also worked on his shot selection. He's
choosing shots more wisely on the baseline
and cutting down on unforced errors. Peter
has made significant improvement"
Posting a perfect conference record
so far, Michigan looks poised to com-
pete for its first Big Ten title since the
1995-96 season. Having one of the
toughest nonconference schedules in
the NCAA, Michigan seems to have
learned from some of its tough losses
prior to the Big Ten season.
"Every time we lost a match, we were
playing a high-level opponent that made us
learn a lot to know what we need to do to
get better," Berque said. "As we start the
Big Ten season, I told the guys that if we're
playing in the NCAA Tournament, we'll
have another crack at one of these (top-10)
teams. Right now, we can't take anyone
lightly so that at the end of season, we will
have hopefully improved to the point where
we can beat one of those teams."
0 WOM EN'S TRACK A ND FIELD
Blue trio shine on West Coast
By Bryan Hamilton
Daily Sports Writer
On Saturday, it snowed in Ann Arbor.
On that same day in California, it was
partly sunny with a high of 64 degrees.
It's no wonder that the Michigan
women's track and field team chose to
open their outdoor season with a trip to
the West Coast.
Looking to escape the doldrums of the
midwestern winter and cramped indoor
tracks, the Wolverines were finally able to
stretch their legs out on a longer, outdoor
track under a warm Irvine, Calif. sun.
In the individual scoring meet, many of
the Wolverines placed high. Leading the
way was a Michigan trio that included fifth-
year seniors Katie Erdman and Stephanie
Linz, who took the 1,500-meter run and
high jump, respectively. Freshman Bettie
Wade captured the long jump title. Michi-
gan coach James Henry said he was pleased
with his team's performances.
"I thought opening up, we were pretty
good," Henry said. "Katie Erdman was
outstanding, and I was very impressed with
Bettie Wade. I thought she may be a little
flat from the indoor season, but she opened
up very well for us."
The three aforementioned runners were
not the only Wolverines to post strong show-
ings at the meet. There were five Wolver-
ines who took second-place finishes. These
included fifth-year senior Theresa Feld-
kamp in the 1,500-meter, junior Chanelle
Campbell in the 200-meter, freshman Tif-
fany Ofili in the 100-meter hurdles, fresh-
man Joi Smith in the 400-meter hurdles and
freshman Casey Taylor in the triple jump.
The meet was non-scoring, so Michi-
gan set no specific team goals. But the
lack of a goal clearly did not create a
lack of motivation.
"It was just the first meet for us," Henry
said. "I didn't have any real expectations for
the girls. I just wanted them to go out there
and perform with no pressure on them. But
I am very pleased with how they did."
Even though Henry did not have high
expectations for the meet, he certainly was
not surprised by the showing his runners
posted. Coming off of a year in which the
Wolverine runners took the Big Ten Cham-
pionship in cross country and indoor track,
the team will be looking to continue its
winning trend into the outdoor season this
spring.
"We have a great group of ladies here:'
Henry said. "They are very close, very tal-
ented, very competitive, and we have great
leadership on this team. Our goal is to go
for the triple crown."
The triple crown is an extremely rare
accomplishment in running that the Wol-
verines have the unique opportunity to
achieve this year. To obtain the crown, a
school must win the Big Ten Championship
in cross country and indoor and outdoor
track. The feat is so rare, in fact, that only
two schools in the Big Ten have ever done
it - Wisconsin three times and Michigan,
who did it most recently in the 1997-98 sea-
son.
With the first two trophies in the bag
for the Wolverines, the final and maybe
most difficult leg of the crown is all that
remains. Yet, with the makeup of this
year's team, Henry said he believes it is
a feat well within reach.
"These ladies have given us a great
opportunity to be on that track this year,"
Henry said. "And today was a good begin-
ning toward being on that track."
0
George Mason took UConn into overtime, and then beat the No. 1 seed to advance to the Final Four in Indianapolis.
'.4 4~ 44 44 44, 44 44 44 44 44 44 44 44 44 44 44 44 44 44 44 44 44 44 44 44 44 44 44 '.4~ .44 44 44 44 44 44
f r" s .c a._l '^ri ....i ..J .t...:..................,...s.,.,..s ...:.a.1f. ..1.,,.... C9:.... "'¥':...,... n""'+......Y.,#......-r....,.-..^ <...-. .-...oa. . E- ..r .,i. -...v - :. - ....,a.... a.., a .s.. .®.m... ..e... _ _ .. _ .m. _ _ ._ m.