The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Monday, December 4, 2006 - 3B Tankers topple top talent By CHRIS MESZAROS Daily Sports Writer After Michigan coach Bob Bowman won a Coach of the Year award, brought in a top preseason recruiting class and coached an overall solid month in the pool, it was starting to seem like things couldn't get better for the men's swimming and diving team. This weekend, they most cer- tainly did. In an event littered with the world's top swimming talent, the Wolverines showed why they deserve to be near the top of the collegiate ranks. Michigan won the college division at the U. S. Open, as its 293 points handily defeated competition that included the likes of No. 1 Auburn (91.5 points) and No. 9 Northwestern (118 points). The Wolverines putup solid num- bers across the board while achiev- ing some personal bests and several NCAA "B" times, attained by break- ing a certain time set at the event. Freshman Scott Span captured NCAA "B" times finishing fifth in the 200-meter breaststroke (2:17.91) and seventh in the 100- meter breaststroke (1:03.67). "Scott Span's breaststroke and Matt Patton's freestyle per- formances were really impres- sive," Bowman said. "They swam extremely hard today and did great jobs in each of their events." Patton recorded a personal best in the 1,500-meter freestyle, fin- ishing fourth overall with a time of 15:30.64. He also picked up a NCAA "B" time (3:56.13) in the 400-meter freestyle to cap off a notable weekend. Juniors Alex Vanderkaay and Dane Grenda added to the rout; both recorded multiple NCAA "B" times, finishing first and fourth in the 200-meter butterfly and first and seventh in the 400-meter indi- vidual medley. "Our guys were able to step up and swim tough against excellent international competition," Bow- man said. "They were very pre- pared for the challenge." The Wolverines were also impressive in the 4x100-medley relay. Span, Patton, sophomore Bobby Savulich and freshman Chris Brady garnered an NCAA "B" time in the event. The quar- tet was just one-hundredth of a second behind the Club Wolverine team that included former Wolver- ine stars Davis Tarwater and Peter Vanderkaay, along with Michigan assistant coach Michael Phelps. Bowman was thrilled with his team's performance, especially since the event was filled with some of the top teams. Bowman is even more pleased with Michigan's showing given that Michigan is in the heart of its training regimen. "We have trained extremely hard recently," Bowman said. "It is great to have our guys go out and swim like they did at the peak of their training." Bowman was recently named National Coach of the Year at USA Swimming's Golden Goggle Awards. Assistant coach Michael Phelps, who also received two awards, accompanied him at the podium. Bowman attributed the award to his team's hard work over the past several years. "It was the swimmers who real- ly worked hard, and it was simply though their work and dedication that I received this award," Bow- man said. Michigan will look to carry its momentum into its next match against the Mexican National Team on Jan. 2. Co-captain Ryan Churella was one of two wrestlers to win individual titles at the Cliff Keen Invitational in Las Vegas. The team finished second. Bluefnishes second out west Season over: Spikers fall short in upset attempt By ANDY REID Daily Sports Writer Last year, the Michigan vol- leyball team experienced a sea- son-long theme of frustration and heartache. A losing record, no tournament bid and an overall bad taste in their mouths led the Wolverines to set one goal for the 2006 sea- son: Play in December. The team accomplished that goal by the slimmest of margins, losing in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to Cal Poly 3- 1 on Dec. 1. But before they played the match, the Wolverines had to play the waiting game. The days prior to it seemed to go by slower and slower. "We got out (to San Luis Obispo, Calif.) pretty early on Wednes- day," junior Lyndsay Miller said. "I was so excited to play. I spent the whole time just itching to get - out there on the court." Finally, on Friday night, in front of nearly 3,000 energized Cal Poly fans - the largest crowd ever to watch a volleyball game in Mott Gym - the Wolverines took the court for their first NCAA ' Tournament match since 2004. Game one showcased a high level of play from both sides of the net, but the Mustangs strung together four small runs that the Wolverines couldn't find answers to, and Cal Poly took the game 30- 23. "We came out in game one pretty timid," freshman Megan Bower said. "We didn't really know what to expect (from Cal Poly), and they just played much steadier than us." Like its play during the Big Ten season, Michigan started slowly but soon regained its composure. The Wolverines came out swing- ing in game two, dedicated to put- ting themselves back into position to upset Cal Poly (13-1 Big West, 23-5 overall). All year, Michigan has thrived when playing the role of the aggressor. Friday night was no different. With their backs against the wall, the Wolverines went on a killing spree, recording 21 of their 58 total kills in the sec- ond game. Along with the forceful offen- sive play, Michigan's defense set- tled down and played a steadier game. Cal Poly couldn't penetrate the stout Wolverine defense, tal- lying just 10 kills in the 30-26 Michigan win. "I was impressed by our team's ability to respond to Cal Poly's start," Michigan coach Mark Rosen said. "After a tough first game, we were able to find a way to fight back." Michigan had Cal Poly on its toes, but wasn't able to capitalize on the momentum gained in game two. The Mustangs followed a com- mon strategy in game three that Michigan was forced to deal with often toward the end of the sea- son: key on junior Katie Bruzdz- inski. Cal Poly began to set up triple blocks on the left side of the net in an attempt to slow down the All- Big Ten first teamer's offensive output. The strategy worked, and Bru- zdzinski, who broke the Michi- gan single-season kill record with By ALEX PROSPERI Daily Sports Writer Two stars were shining for the Wolverines this past weekend as Josh Churella and Eric Tannen- baum each placed first in their respective weight classes. The Star of the Desert Arena was the host for the No. 8 Michigan wrestling team as they finished second at the Cliff Keen Invitational in Primm, Nev. At 149 pounds, Churella is now one of just five Wolverine wres- tlers ever to have won two Cliff Keen Invitational individual titles. Churella also improved his Cliff Keen Invitational record to 10-0. "Josh Churella made great adjustments with Cornell's Jordan Leen," Michigan coach Joe McFar- land said. "He really wrestled a per- feet match today in the semifinals. He's really paying attention." Churella's semi-final match with Leen was more than just a match; it was a second chance. Leen beat him in the previous match between the two. After that, Churella spent time working to correct his mistakes. Luckily for Churella, he got anoth- er opportunity to wrestle Leen and took full advantage of it. "I think I did a good job correct- ing those mistakes," Churella said, "I used a different strategy, and it worked in this tournament. So hopefully I'm on the righttrack." Churella used the momen- tum from the win against Leen in the finals against Harvard's J.P. O'Conner. In the first half of the match, Churella's single-leg shots were not working, which forced him to make some adjustments. So Churella used his double-leg take- down, which helped him enough to take the match and the title. At 165 pounds, Tannenbaumwas in complete control throughout the majority of his final match and eventually took down Missouri's top-seeded Matt Pell. The match did tighten up toward the end when Tannenbaum had difficulty getting up off the mat. But Tannenbaum found a way to escape just as time was expiring. "The biggest accomplishment, I always think, is beating people ranked above me," Tannenbaum said. "But here this weekend there really wasn't anyone ranked above me. It justified that my placing should be above (Matt) Pell. Rank- ings don't matter, but for NCAA seeding they obviously do matter at the end of the year. So it's definitely, good to knock off the guys ranked above you." Missouri went on to win the tournament by an astounding 48 points over Michigan, but the Naperville, Ill.native Tannenbaum beat Missouri's top wrestler. Other Wolverines had successas well. Red-shirt sophomore Tyrel Todd finished second in the 184- pound weight class, and fifth-year senior Mark Moos took fifth in the 125-pound weight class. Also fin- ishing well was fifth-year. senior Nick Roy, who finished sixth in the 197-pound weight class, and red- shirt sophomore Steve Luke, who finished eight in the 174-pound weight class. The Wolverines' success this sea- son is partly because of their perfor- mance in this type of tournament. "I think from an individual standpoint it gives us a much bet- ter picture of what each wrestler needs to work on, and that varies from person to person," McFarland said. "We as a coaching staff will sit down with each of the guys who were out here this weekend and go over some things that we think they need to work on. We definitely made some good improvements from a couple weeks ago. I think these individual tournaments are going to be really important for us this year." Churella and Tannenbaum will try to follow McFarland's lead and continue their success. Junior Lyndsay Miller couldn't wait to get out on the court on Friday, but her excite- ment couldn't help the Wolverines defeat Cal Poly 537, was limited to five kills in the last two games combined. She recorded 11 in the games prior to intermission. While Cal Poly's defense found a way to stunt Michigan's best offensive player, the Wolverines' defense had no answer for the Mustang's star, sophomore sensa- tion Kylie Atherstone. The 2006 Big West Co-Player of the Year showed why she was given the accolade, recording 24 kills in the match. Michigan attempted several strategies to slow her down, but was unsuc- cessful in each attempt. "(Atherstone) was like a kid that gets a hot hand in basketball," Rosen said. "He keeps making shots and you can't do anything to stop him." Bruzdzinksi's absence on offense and the overwhelming power of Atherstone's blazing the tournament in the opening round. "Unfortunately, we couldn't pull one out tonight," Miller said. "I know we're going to go into next year with a pretty big chip on our shoulder, though." Although the Wolverines proved they could compete with top-tier teams at points through- out the season, Rosen said they often lacked the consistency that makes good teams great. That consistencycould improve immensely next season with the amount of talent returning and the chip on their collective shoul- der. "We're going to work our butts off in the offseason," Bower said. "We're not coming to this tour- nament next year and losing like this again." I I 'M' enjoys dominating win over EMU By DAVID RUSSELL 400-yard medley relays. by Brunemann and sophomore Hannah Smith, Daily Sports Writer Sophomore Emily Brunemann was another respectively. key contributor for the Wolverines. She won One Wolverine was busier than her team- The No. 10 Michigan Women's Swimming the 400-yard individual medley and the 500- mates this weekend. Junior Valeria Silva and Diving team took advantage of some yard freestyle and swam the third leg of the competed at the U.S. Open in West Lafay- weaker opponents this weekend. winning 800-yard freestyle team. ette. She missed making the finals of the The Wolverines won 16 of 18 races to earn But Michigan was not able to extend its 100-meter breaststroke by two tenths of a a total of 1,192 points, easily besting second- winning ways to the two diving events. Soph- second. Silva was the only Michigan swim- place Eastern Michigan (879) at the Eastern omore Colleen Emaus finished fifth in the mer to go to West Lafayette, but she rejoined Michigan Invitational this weekend. three-meter dive and came in sixth in the one- the team for the weekend to compete in the Michigan won 11 of 13 events on Saturday. meter dive on Friday. Both finishes were team invitational. Kaitlyn Brady led the way for the Wolver- highs. The Wolverines get to enjoy the rest of the ines. The senior finished first in the 100-yard The Wolverines won five of six races and holiday season over the next six weeks before butterfly and the 50-yard freestyle. She also swept the top three spots in the 1,650-yard they host the Michigan Invitational at Can- swam on winning teams in the 200-yard and freestyle and the 200-yard backstroke, won ham Natatorium on Jan. 12 and 13. FOR MORE COVERAGE OF - THIS WEEKEND'S WOMEN'S BASKETBALL GAME, CHECK OUT MICHIGANDAILY.COM. Get above the crowd. SUBURBAN HUMMER 1 .86.385.888 C 3iliJaaoo~d. Iwn~n a t dk Sinienis Fld Cheaier Sample Roundtrip Airfares From Detroit to: New York $151 London $302 Philadelphia $151 Paris $377 Boston $216 Rome $430 terms: All fares are based on roundtap travel and include a StudentUnierse sevce fee of $5. Domestc fares incude a 396% U' _.asportation tax Other taxes and fees vary, depending on the itinerary and are not indluded. Fares are subject to availabiiy and change without notk. Domestkc flghts vald Manhuwith an day advane pur hase, 2 da in ay incuding a Sat n ei t ed,max staiay sa intemara aii gis valid Mon-Wed with a 8 day advance purhase. Europe/Asia fares valid for departures between January 5th 2007 and Mah 31st 2007. Latin Amera fares valid for dertrs beweeniaa aMay mn7wthMaStatur dmy maiatsaymeuineydemastayi30paystdaitesiand other restrkctions may apply. |* tudentUniverse.com If so, then apply to be an Online Sales Account Executive with The Michigan Daily! This is a greatjob with commission pay and an awesome resume builder!