The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Monday, September 10, 2007 - 3B Blue finds stroke, wins Wolverines take fourth By ANDY REID Wolverines couldn't overcome their which was certainly not enough Daily Sports Writer sub-par performance in round one, time to work fix everything in order finishing fourth overall with a final to compete for a win. The Michigan women's golf score of 916. The host Spartans fin- While more practice is neces By MATT JOHNSON Daily Sports Writer At the end of last season, the Michigan men's golf team almost turned the corner. But a tie for ninth at the Big Ten champion- ships left it wanting more. So the Wolverines hit the links this summer and worked hard to improve. Senior Tim Schaetzel, junior Bill Rankin, sophomore Billy McKay and freshman Lion Kim all played in the prestigious U.S. Amateur in late August. Rankin won the Eastern Amateur in July and Kim tied for third at the FootJoy Boy's Invitational, one of junior golf's major tourna- ments. l Michigan coach Andrew Sapp said most of the players worked on their own, with some trips to Ann Arbor for an occasional lesson. VOLLEYBALL From page 1B Game five was even more lopsid- ed as Michigan won 15-6, securing their eighth win of the season and remaining the only unbeaten team in the Big Ten. "I'mjust really proud of how our kids fought back," Rosen said. "If you look at the numbers, our last three game we got better every game. So it wasn't like they kind of went away, we just kept finding a way to get better." In a match that lasted nearly three hours and featured count- less wipe ups on the slippery floor, Michigan persevered like a great team does. With their backs against the "They had a lot of motivation based on how we finished in the spring," Sapp said. "The whole team played well over the summer and came back ready to go." The preparation paid off last weekend. The Wolverines took first place out of 16 teams at the Purdue Midwest Shootout, their first tournament win since the Wolverine Intercollegiate in Sept. 2005. Schaetzel and Rankin tied for first, shooting 1-under par for the tournament. It was the first time either one has taken home an individual victory in their time at Michigan. "They played really good golf," Sapp said. "They didn't make many mistakes on a golf course that's very penal if you drive the ball poorly." Kim tied for10th and just missed wall in game three, even Rosen admitted to the team panicking a little, but that's the advantage of having a two-time All-Big Ten team player in Bruzdzinski. "I knew she was going to be on fire," Rosen said. "Just the first swing you were like 'Wow, Katie's feeling it tonight', its special when you get a kid like that who can do that." The same can't be said for Fri- day's morning match against East- ern Michigan. The Wolverines prevailed in three sets but Bru- zdzinski tallied just 13 kills and committed five errors. Luckily for Michigan, her game against Xavi- er made up for it, as she tallied 32 kills, her second-best career tally and the fourth highest single- match kills in Michigan program history. an even-par round with bogeys on the final two holes. Poor conditions couldn't even slow the Wolverines down. Rain made the rough very thick, and wet fairways didn't allow the ball to roll. The tournament was sup- posed to be 36 holes, but rain and lightening delays shortened it to 18. Even after a season-opening victory, Michigan's first since 1987, Sapp put things in perspective. "It's something that helps the guys believe they can continue to have this kind of success," Sapp said. "But everybody at dinner last night said there's a lot of room to improve. We need to keep getting better." The Wolverines will look to build upon their success today at the Inverness Intercollegiate in Toledo, Ohio. "Thefirstmatch (Friday) I didn't think I had my best game," Bru- zdzinski said, "I was kind of strug- gling with having too many errors in hitting. I was thinking about it, and I was just said 'Whatever, I'm just going to come out and hit the ball, don't think about it, I know I can do it', so that's what I did and I guess it worked." When asked what the team will work on before Big Ten play begins, both Bruzdzinski and senior Stesha Selsky, who tallied a career-best 41 digs, echoed the same thought. "Definitely becoming more con- sistent," Selsky said. "Tonight we were up and down. We were down the first 2 games then we were great the last three. We have a tendency to be like that, so I think that's our main goal." r team didn't let the first round of the 54-hole Mary Fossum Invitational dictate the rest of its weekend. Fortunately for the Wolver- ines, they forgot a rough opening round of 313 and stood to bounce back and finish fourth out of 10 teams in the tournament, which was held at Michigan State's For- est Akers West Course. Michigan stormed out in Satur- day's second round, shedding 10 strokes from its first-round score and notching the sixth slot in the overall standings after two rounds. The Wolverines bettered their position in the final round, scor- ing a 300. Junior co-captain Lydia Benitez Colon paced Michigan with an even-par 72, a career-best. Even with Colon's inspired per- formance in the third round, the ished in first place with 896 strokes, and Indiana and Kent State tied for second, each with an even 900. Colon finished as Michigan's top individual performer with a 14-over par, while Michigan State's Laura Kueny had the top individual score, 2-under. "It's disappointing from the standpoint that we didn't get a win, but it's still very early in the season," Michigan coach Kathy Teichert said. "I think this is a good indication as to where our team is and what we need to do to get better as the season pro- gresses." It's very early in the season, indeed. The Wolverines had just two days of course play and one prac- tice to get ready for last weekend, sary, Teichert was impressed by what she saw over the weekend, especially that the team's scores improved every round. "It was great to see the improve- ment from round to round," Tei- chert said. "After the first round, some of team was disappointed, but one of the things about continu- ous play is that it's easy to turn it around." Even though Michigan's overall play improved, Teichert still wants to see the team improve shot-mak- ing skills and take advantage of opportunities on the course. Luckily, the Wolverines will have plenty of time to prepare for its next task. Michigan's next tour- nament, in two weeks, is the Lady Northern Invitational at State Col- lege. M' sets sights on national title By JOHN JUNCAJ For the Daily Junior Eddie Schehr knew he made one of the best decisions of his life the momenthe stepped onto the pitch for the first time. It was the season opener against Bowling Green. Under the stadium lights, the Wolverines and Falcons tore each other apart for two halves. After the dust settled and the game was decided, the aches Schehr felt were nothing compared to the euphoria he relished throughout that particular contest. "It was unlike any high school experience I've ever had," the Downington, Penn., native said. No, this wasn't football. Though there was a sizeable turnout, it wasn't played before 110,000 maize-clad students, alumni and the clusters of middle-aged, Sun- day-morning quarterbacks. This was Schehr's college debut on Michigan's Club Rugby team. Armed with only a mouth guard and a pair of cleats, he and 14 other teammates simultaneously battled for points, trading tackles with Bowling Green for 80 minutes of sport's ultimate war of attrition. Fast forward to fall of 2007, Schehr is now the forward and club president of a team with high expectations heading into the sea- son. Coming off a 10-3 campaign in 2006, senior captain Aaron "Tex" Dodd has his sights set on a return to California for a shot at the national title where the Wolverines wound up semi-finalists in 2005. "No one's setting our goals any lower than that," Dodd said. Before a national title, the team must make its way through the Midwest playoffs, a place where the Wolverines feel right at home. They've gone to the tournament each of the last three years, includ- ing winning the Midwest title in 2004. Dodd said this current group is more than willing to face the daunt- ing yet attainable task of maintain- ing success at the highest level. "We spend every weekend together getting bloody, getting muddy, getting in the dirt, so you respect the guy next to you and begin to trust them," Dodd said. Senior assistant captain Jake Leedekerken was a freshman on the squad that earned the trip to California, an event that christened his arrival into the so-called "ruffi- an's game." "Definitely an eye-opener," Lee- dekerken said. "And an amazing one at that." One of the biggest reasons for the prolonged success of Wolver- ine Rugby is the role the alumni play in curating the program they helped found years ago. Leede- kerken said that aside from peeling back the clock to relive their past glories through an alumni game, the grizzled old veterans who still reside near campus make trips out to practices to coach the players of today. Not only do the ex-rugby play- ers of Wolverine Nation come back to Ann Arbor to participate in the "Old Boys' Game, " as Leedekerken called it, but the men who exhaust- ed their bodies and tested their lim- its on the same pitches generations ago seem to step out of their way to take a personal interest into the current team. ."They ask questions about you," Leedekerken said. "They give a See RUGBY, Page 6B SNOT E Michigan masters Indiana meet The Michigan women's cross ished in the top 17 of the field of Tauro, redshirt sophomore Geena country team had seven of the 37. Gall, senior Lisa Uible, redshirt top 10 finishers at the non-scoring Fifth-year senior Erin Webster sophomore Kelly Sampson and Indiana open, its second event of won the 5,000-meter race and red- redshirt freshman Rachel Severin the year. shirt junior Nicole Edwards fin- also finished in the top for Michi- All 12 Wolverine runners fin- ished second. Freshman Danielle gan. Last chance - offer expires end of this week! 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