The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com SPOT S N N
Holding court: Netters stay
undefeated in dual matches
Monday, February 5, 2007 - 3B
By ANTHONY OLIVEIRA
Daily Sports Writer
Last season against Western Michigan and
Harvard, all eyes were on sophomore Andrew
Mazlin. With the overall score knotted at 3 and
the dual-match on the line, Mazlin snagged
each match for Michigan with a three-set vic-
tory.
But last weekend at the Varsity Tennis Cen-
ter, he was the center of attention for different
reasons.
On Friday, he capped off a 7-0 Michigan
sweep of the Broncos and was barely seen Sat-
urday night. He quickly finished off Crimson
senior Gideon Valkin in straight sets (6-4, 6-3).
The 24th-ranked Wolverines went on to defeat
Harvard, 5-2.
Unable to put together a winning dual-
match singles record in 2006, Mazlin is out
to a 4-0 start this season, taking the first set
in each match. The Alamonte Springs, Fla.,
0 native's consistent play has paid off as three of
these matches have gone on to be straight set
wins.
"Andrew played extremely well," Michigan
coach Bruce Berque said. "Ever since he lost
that doubles match in Butler, there's a different
look in his eye. He was just really focused, and
that's the thing we've been working on with
him since he's gotten here."
Although the Wolverines (5-0) may have
won by the same margin against then-No. 12
Texas just a week ago, it had a tougher time
fending off Harvard's singles.
After Michigan easily took the doubles
matches, the crowd was convinced the Wol-
verines were going to dominate the night.
As the nation's second-ranked duo of senior
Brian Hung and junior Matko Maravic put on a
clinic, the pair of freshmen, George Navas and
Mike Sroczynski, overpowered their oppo-
nents, too.
But Michigan couldn't carry the dominance
over to singles, dropping three of its six first
sets.
Maravic and Navas both got their swagger
back, winning in three sets, but the woes con-
tinued for Hung.
With six Michigan fans heckling Harvard
sophomore Chris Clayton about his "guns,"
Hung took full advantage. He claimed the first
three games.
But once those fans left, Clayton stormed
back to take the first set. In a match with 10
service breaks, Clayton and Hung exchanged
four in the last five games. Clayton would even-
tually get the best of Hung (7-5, 7-5). Unforced
errors and an inconsistent forehand plagued
Hung for his first straight-set loss since Oct. 9,
2006.
Sophomore Peter Aarts was in perfect posi-
tion to win his match - taking the first set and
serving 5-4 in the second. But his forehand
proved inconsistent, and Aarts suddenly found
himself at the losing end of the tiebreak. The
sophomore wouldn't recover, losing the match
in the super-tiebreak.
"(Harvard) is a good team," Mazlin said.
"We weren't expecting as tough as they played
but they're definitely - a good singles team.
Everyone had a pretty tight match. I knew it
was going to be a battle."
Sophomore Scott Bruckmann made his
2007 singles debut Saturday. Finishing just 3-7
last year, Bruckmann started the year well and
kept his composure in the second set to win (6-
1,7-6(2)).
The tiebreak was one of six tiebreaks on
the day. Excluding super-tiebreaks, Saturday
marked the highest number of tiebreaks since
March 24,2002.
After a solid home stand, the Wolverineswill
fly to Virginia to face William & Mary and No.
5 Virginia. in Charlottesville, Michigan will
have its hands full with the seventh-ranked
pair of Treat Huey and Somdev Dewarman.
"It's going to be tough," Sroczynski said.
"(George and I) have never really experienced
a match like that in our careers, and it's going
to be different. I think we'll definitely come out
with the same energy, same intensity and same
focus no matter what."
Sophomore Andrew Mazlin once again went 2-O against Harvard and Western Michigan.
NITTANY LIONS
From page 1B
higher, hut Penn State had the
advantages.
In Recreation Hall, one of the
toughest environments in col-
legiate gymnastics, a vociferous
crowd was on hand to support
their Nittany Lions.
And one more thing: The home
team chooses the judges.
For the first time this season,
the Wolverines failed to take a
lead and hold it from the first
rotation. But they proved they
have that essential, intangible
asset of all champions: heart.
Going into the final rotation,
Michigan trailed Penn State by
just one point. The Wolverines
took to the parallel bars, one of
four events in which they came
into the meet ranked first in the
country, while the Nittany Lions
swung onto the high bar.
Desperately needing big hits,
Michigan got them. The Penn
State gymnasts thumped to the
mat falling off of the high bar,
and the Wolverines continued to
roll.
The event culminated with
stellar -sets from the senior co-
captains, Andrew Elkind and
Justin Laury. Elkind posted a
9.45 to win the event, and Laury
capped off Michigan's comeback
victory with a 9.2.
"I felt like the turning point
was on (parallel) bars, when we
nailed our first routine and they
missed," Michigan coach Kurt
Golder said. "And then we hit,
and then they missed. We were
putting the pressure on them.
When I started seeing that hap-
pen, that was the first time I got
the feeling that we were going to
win."
A relatively large Michigan
cheering section turned one block
of the arena bright maize, bang-
ing a cowbell and engaging in
responsive chants with the team.
But the gymnasts got almost as
much motivation from the roar-
ing Penn State fans.
From start to finish, the home
crowd filled the arena with noise.
It bellowed for every hit Penn
State routine and tried to throw
the Wolverines off their game.
"It's like a football game when
BRONCOS
From page 1B
we look ahead, the games are
going to get tighter and tighter,"
Berenson said. I
Unlike Saturday's four-goal
game that could have gone either
way, Michigan's 7-4 win on Fri-
day night in Kalamazoo featured
a clear Wolverine advantage
throughout.
Hensick led the way for the
Wolverines in Kalamazoo with a
four-point night (two goals and
there's taunting," Elkind said.
"I was getting really mad, but
I just transferred that anger to
positive energy to use when I'm
competing. When I was ahout to
go on high har, they conveniently
decided to start up the 'We are!
Penn State!' chant. I was getting
so mad, and after (the routine),
I'm sure I was giving them the
evil eye, running back."
The Wolverines entered the
meet knowing they'd likely have
to come from behind. As the visi-
tors, Michigan started the night
on pommel horse with Penn State
on floor - a near guarantee for
an early Wolverine deficit.
And Michigan couldn't have
started much worse. Three of the
six gymnasts came off the horse.
But after movingto floor exercise,
a historic Wolverine strength, the
team got back on track.
Even the notoriously harsh
Penn State judges could find few
deductions in sophomores Scott
Bregman and Kent Caldwell's
routines. The duo is currently
ranked No. 2 and No. 3 in the
nation on that event. Along with
fellow sophomore Ralph Rosso,
the three posted much-needed
scores above 9.0, with Caldwell
notching a 9.65 for first place.
"After floor, we said, 'This is
going to be our meet,' " Rosso
said. "This is going to be a battle
to the end, and we're going to
fight until the last dismount."
They were right.
On the still rings, Michigan
finally turned it all around. The
Penn State fans made the arena
literally shake every time a Nit-
tany Lion stuck a landing, as if
a freight train was approaching.
Little did they know, the unstop-
pable force was Michigan.
With senior Aaron Rakes's 9.35
routine, the string of hit routines
characteristic of this year's team
began. Freshman Torrance Laury,
Rosso and Elkind all scored in the
9.0 range; Rosso tied for second
on the event with a 9.6.
"We knew that going horse
then floor, we were going to be
down," Rakes said. "And then
going vault then rings, we were
probably going to be down a little
bit, so we knew the last two events
we needed 12 hits to seal the deal.
We did our thing, and I'm so glad
we came out with a win."
two assists). His assist on Travis
Turnbull's first period goal was
his 200th career point.
"It's a special moment when
I got that point," Hensick said.
"It's that I'll remember when I get
older."
The Howell native is the NCAA
leader with 50 points (14-36), fol-
lowed by linemate Kevin Porter,
who has 18 goals and 30 assists.
Whereas those linemates nor-
mally get the spotlight, it was
their other linemate, Rohlfs,
whose star shone the brightest on
Saturday.
New offense nets win for Blue
By DAN FELDMAN
Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan women's bas-
ketball team's loss at Illinois last
Thursday was enough for Michi-
gan coach Cheryl Burnett.
The Wolverines scored 44
points againstthe Illini, tyingtheir
second-lowest total of the season,
and had
just 13 NORTHWESTERN 49
points at MICHIGAN 61
halftime.
So Burnett made the logical
move to adjust the offense. Her
new scheme emphasizes ball
control and spacing, but Burnett
declined to give specific details.
"The changes that we've made,
as soon as we made them, the
players were going'We really like
that,' " said Burnett, who admit-
ted she considered making the
change for a while. "I wish I made
the change a long time ago."
And the immediate results were
positive.
SENIORSS
From page 1B
~---~-- - ---------
tant, and I can see that with ouro
team." s
Berenson is right: things are L
getting more important. Six
games remain in the season, s
and CCHA-leading Notre Dame,a
four points ahead of Michigan, t
isn't showing any signs of falter-
ing.
The media picked the Wolver-
ines to finish atop the CCHA at t
the beginning of the season, ando
Michigan and its star-studded f
lineup should have been able to s
live up to that.y
The Wolverines are taking the
right steps toward at least com- C
ing close to that prediction. It all-
depends on if they can keep this N
hot streak up when they actually
face a ranked opponent, and of
course on how the Irish play.
But for now, Michigan can
bask in the happy ending to its
SUPERBOWL
From page 1B s
Hester sped downfield for 92n
yards. r
And not since the Buffalo Billsd
self-destructed with nine turn- 1
overs in losing to Dallas 14 years
ago had therebeen so much mess- fi
iness. The first half was marred a
by six turnovers, three for eachg
team. Even football's most clutch
kicker, Adam Vinatieri, missed a lI
chip-shot field goal, and an extrad
Playing the unusual role of
clear favorite in a Big Ten game,
Michigan rolled past Northwest-
ern yesterday, 61-49. It was the
Wolverines' second win in three
games.
The last time Michigan (3-8
Big Ten, 10-14 overall) had won
two-of-three regular-season con-
ference games came when they
closed out the '2003-04 season
with back-to-back wins.
Everything suggested this
game would be ugly offensively.
Michigan and Northwestern (0-
11, 6-18) entered the game at the
bottom of the Big Ten in scoring
and 3-point field goal percentage,
and the bottom three in field goal
percentage.
Both teams were closer to the
middle of the pack in defensive
categories.
But Michigan's offense actually
looked fluid to start the game. The
Wolverines scored 24 points in
the first 13 minutes.
"I was a lot more comfortable
Senior Night. I doubt it would
have been so sweet if it weren't
for the difficult journey the
Wolverines took to get there,
overcoming the disappointment
urrounding the program for the
ast year and a half.
Thanks to that hard work, the
eniors were able to sigh with
a smile as they said goodbye to
heir home arena.
Just how much will they miss
Yost?
"Quite a bit," alternate cap-
ai, Jason Dest said as he stared
off at the ice he called home for
our years. "This place is awe-
some. You never want to play
your last game here."
Fortunately for Dest and his
classmates, their last game at
Yost was worth celebrating.
What a difference a year makes.
- Colvir wishes the luck
of the Irish would just run out
already. She can be reached
at ambermco@umich.edu.
point attempt was botched, too.
The second half wasn't quite
so ugly, but when much-maligned
Bears quarterback Rex Gross-
man's wobbler was picked off and
eturned 56 yards for a touch-
down by Kelvin Hayden with
1:44 remaining, it was over.
Manning ended up 25-for-38
or247yards, with one touchdown
nd one interception, and was the
game's most valuable player.
It was confirmation of his bril-
liance, even if he didn't need to be
dynamic.
(in the new offense) because we
knew exactly where we needed
to be once we got out of our base
sets," said sophomore forward
Carly Benson, who led the Wol-
verines with nine first-half points.
"Things ran a lot smoother than
they had in the past. It was more
comfortable."
But then all the rhythm disap-
peared. The Wolverines scored
just one more basket the rest of
the frame - a twisting Jessica
Minnfield 3-pointer to beat the
shot clock with 39 seconds left in
the half.
And Michigan's defense let up
to close the half, too.
The Wildcats pushed theballup
court and took advantage of sev-
eral Wolverine defensive break-
downs. They scored 14 points in
the last six minutes of the frame
to cut Michigan's lead to two.
"We got a little too comfortable
with our lead," Benson said. "We
kind of relaxed a little bit. We got
a little tired."
But the Wolverines discovered
their passion at halftime, and the
second half started similar to the
first, as Michigan scored on its
first four possessions.
"We just made sure that we
came out fired up," said Benson,
who paired her stellar first half
with an even better second period
to finish with a career-high 22
points on 9-of-14 shooting. "We
didn't relax at all. We didn't let
down at all. We didn't underes-
timate them at all. We just made
sure we came out and played as
hard as we could."
The offense kept clicking in the
second half. Michigan shot 45 per-
cent, including 50 percent from
beyond the arc, to build a lead as
big as 19.
On the defensive end, Michi-
gan held Northwestern to just 24
points, including eight in the last
two-plus minutes of garbage time
in the second half and made the
Wildcats work primarily out of a
half-court offense.
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