The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - April 17, 2006 - 7B

0 WOMENSWIN

ME' TNNIPS

Despite close loss, Blue prevails

Lesson learned as
Netters blanked

By Jessica Asbill
Daily Sports Writer

On Saturday, the No. 9 Michigan
women's rowing team competed on
Lake Wingra in Madison to finish
the regular season.
It was the squad's final meet
before conference championships,
and Michigan managed key vic-
tories against both Wisconsin and
Iowa to solidify its position for
postseason play.
The Wolverines' first varsity
eight clinched wins in both of its
races, finishing 4.7 seconds ahead
of Iowa in the first session and 7.6
seconds ahead of No. 15 Wisconsin
in the second. The finish of each
race was strong, which was neces-
sary since Wisconsin and Iowa both
fielded quick teams.
The second varsity eight failed to
follow the first team's undefeated
day. The team left Iowa in its mist,
winning by 23.6 seconds in the

morning session. But the Wolver-
ines fell to Wisconsin by just one
second in the afternoon.
"Our second varsity eight raced
well, but we need to start winning
those close races," Michigan coach
Mark Rothstein said. "We need to
find a way to win them."
The team has struggled this sea-
son in tight races, and the close loss
against Wisconsin followed a close
loss last weekend against Southern
Cal.
Michigan's first varsity four
squad finished second, behind
Michigan State and ahead of Wis-
consin in the first session. But the
Wolverines didn't measure up to
their morning performance later.
They finished third in the after-
noon.
The second varsity four defeated
the Wisconsin lightweight team by
eight seconds in the morning ses-
sion, then finished second in the
afternoon behind the Wisconsin A

team and ahead of the Wisconsin B
team.
At this time last year,-the varsity
eight completed a perfect season
with a sweep of Iowa and Wiscon-
sin. But after returning just four of
its rowers from the 2005 final crew,
the varsity eight failed to capture
its first win until April, against
Duke and then-No.13 Michigan
State.
"I think that we are moving in
a good direction, and I think that
we have improved quite a bit this
month," Rothstein said. "And we
need to continue to improve over
the next two weeks for the Big Ten
Championships."
The team will look to improve
upon its fourth-place Big Ten fin-
ish from last season. It has won the
title four out of six years since the
sport was recognized by the NCAA
in 2001.
"We need to have very good focus
for the next two weeks, and I think

we have an added challenge of final
exams for our athletes," Rothstein
said. "And it is important for them
to focus on rowing at practice and
on their school work when they are
studying."
The team would like to continue
its traditional conference domi-
nance and extend its NCAA Cham-
pionship-bid streak with a ninth
consecutive appearance. But the
team's immediate focus isn't on the
NCAA Championships. Instead, the
squad will attempt to finish strong
at the Big Ten Championships.
"At this point, we are just focused
on continuing to improve and get-
ting ready for the Big Tens," Roth-
stein said. "We are not worried
at this point about regionals and
nationals, but just (continuing) to
improve."
The Wolverines have an off
we-kend before heading to the
2006 Big Ten Championships in
Minneapolis on April 29.

By Jamie Josephson
Daily Sports Writer

Weather, fortune change for M'

By Lisa Gentile
Daily Sports Writer

The sun was shining, and there was
a light breeze at Stone Creek Golf
Course in Champaign on Saturday.
It was the perfect day for a round
of golf.
And senior Kelly Easton took
full advantage of the nearly perfect
weather, tying her career-best with
a 2-over-par in the final round.
Easton's final score (153) was
good enough to tie her for 10th
place.
Easton led the Wolverines for the
first time in her career. The team
finished in second place (615) at the
Illini Spring Classic on Friday and
Saturday. Oregon won the match
with a final score of 610.
"(Saturday) was not very windy -
it was actually quite perfect," Easton
said. "So I just got off to a decent
start and made some shots and ended
up shooting pretty well."
But the weather wasn't as condu-
cive to low scores on Friday. The
Wolverines got off to a rocky start
due to harsh winds and difficult
weather. The team finished the day
in fourth place.
"The first day, the conditions
weren't perfect and the wind was
blowing the most it's ever blown
when I have played in college,"

Easton said. "You never know how
the weather might be, (so it was
good to have that experience)."
After the disappointing start,
the team worked Friday night to
improve for the next day's round.
"(Friday night), we made a pact
that we would each beat our girl
(that we were playing with) by
three," Easton said. "Not everybody
did that, but that's what I really
focused on. ... I got my girl at least
by three."
Senior Amy Schmucker and
sophomore Lindsay Davis tied for
13th place, scoring 154 in 36 holes.
Junior Ali Stinson was the final
Wolverine to place in the top 20,
tying for 19th with a score of 156.
All six Michigan golfers shot in the
70s both days.
The finish capped off the team's
regular season on a high note.
Michigan will head to Blooming-
ton on April 28-30 for the Big Ten
Championships.
"What we really want to do is
stay sharp and still compete at the
highest level we can," Michigan
coach Kathy Teichert said. "Our
goal is going to obviously be to
win the Big Ten Championship.
There is no question about that,
and that's why we're going down
(to Bloomington). That's what we
compete for."

Just as the sun kept trying to peek
through the cloudy sky yesterday at
the Varsity Tennis Center, the No. 36
Michigan men's tennis team struggled
to find a glimmer of hope amidst a
blanketing fog of Ohio State firepower.
Taking on the
current Big Ten-
leading, No. 8 M 1 AN 0
Buckeyes in its final
home match of the season, Michigan
failed to deliver the upset. Ohio State
blanked the Wolverines, 7-0.
"To some extent, we were out-
matched," said Michigan coach Bruce
Berque. "Talent-wise, I was surprised
that we didn't have a chance to win the
match. This is the worst we've been
beaten all year. ... But Ohio State is a
very competitive team and a little more
experienced than we are. They were
stronger physically, too."
In addition to facing extremely tough
competition, the Wolverines (5-3 Big
Ten, 11-9 overall) found themselves a
bit shorthanded, with several players
battling minor injuries.
Sophomore Matko Maravic had been
nursing a sore back all week. Although
he didn't practice leading up to the
weekend, Maravic still played in his
matches against Ohio State (8-0, 20-1).
But the only signs of pain Mara-
vic showed in his doubles match with
junior Brian Hung were emotional.
Playing against No. 2 Scott Green and
Ross Wilson for the third time ever, the
No. 11 Michigan duo hoped to get its
first career win against the Ohio State
pair.
Initially, Michigan struggled to get
on the scoreboard. Down 3-0, the Wol-
verines bounced back with a surge of
energy and hustle. Accurate shot place-
ment and patience allowed the Michi-
gan tandem to send the match into a
tiebreaker.
"We've always been positive through-
out the matches this year, even when
we're down," Hung said. "We know we
can always come back, especially (dur-
ing break opportunities) . That's one of
our strengths."
Up 3-1 in the seven-point match tie-
breaker, Maravic and Hung looked to
be on the verge of an upset. But the
Ohio State duo won five straight points
to pull the rug out from underneath the
Wolverines' feet and steal the match,
8-7 (5).
"This was definitely the closest match
we've played against them," Maravic
said. "Their level isn't that much higher

than ours. ... But they're a little more
experienced than we are, both being
seniors."
Neither Michigan's No. 2 nor No. 3
doubles pairings could salvage a victo-
ry either, giving Ohio State the doubles
point and the momentum.
On the singles end, Michigan's strug-
gles continued. The team failed to win
a single set across all six courts. But
even this statistic is misleading, since
several Wolverines fought hard and had
several opportunities to stop the Buck-
eyes' onslaught.
At No. 1 singles, Maravic broke Ohio
State's Bryan Koniecko to go up 5-3 in
the first set. Serving for the frame, the
sophomore phenom struggled in his
service game, allowing Koniecko to
break right back and eventually take
the first set.
In the second frame, Maravic was
faced with an identical situation. After
breaking Koniecko's serve, Maravic
had a 5-3 lead and was serving to send
the match into a third set. But once
again, Koniecko capitalized on Mara-
vic's struggling serves and sent the set
into a tiebreaker.
Although he fought through every
point with a competitive fire, Maravic
failed to edge out Koniecko in the tie-
breaker. The second set and the match
slipped right through Maravic's fingers
in heartbreaking fashion, 7-5, 7-6 (4).
"I thought I played reasonably well
and competed well," Maravic said.
"But I wasn't moving too well and
played crafty (instead). ... It was a
very close match, with (the difference
being) a few points here and there. If I
served better during both sets, maybe I
would've closed it out."
At the No. 2 position, junior Ryan
Heller looked poised to send his match
into a third set as well. After Ohio
State's Chris Klingemann cruised by
Heller in the first set without losing
a single game, Heller bounced back
in the second frame. After going
down 3-0, Heller evened the score at
five games apiece. But the story for
Michigan remained the same, and
the co-captain failed to complete the
comeback, dropping the match to
Klingemann, 6-0, 7-5.
Though Michigan failed to tally a
single "W" against the only undefeated
team in the Big Ten, Berque hopes that
his team can learn to grow from this
experience.
"I think we competed well in some
spots, and we saw what the best team in
the Big Ten is doing right now," Berque
said. "So hopefully it can be a learning
experience."

JASON COOPER/Daily
Senior Kelly Easton posted a team-best'score for the first time in her career.

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