2B - September 15, 2008
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com a
28 - September iS, 2008 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com *
,w
'M' wins
third
straight
tourney
By MARK BURNS
Daily Sports Writer
According to Chinese culture, three is
a lucky number.
It's been good fortune for the Michi-
gan volleyball team this year as well.
The Wolverines grabbed their third
tournament of the year this weekend,
winning 3-0 at the Pepsi Challenge in
Ann Arbor.
The team improved to 9-0--its third
consecutive season with that starting
mark.
"We just played well enough to win
this weekend," Michigan coach Mark
Rosen said. "At times we played very
well, but sometimes we just gave away
too many points."
Two kills from senior middle back
Beth Karpiak helped the Wolverines
jump out to a quick 5-1 lead against
Auburn Saturday night.
Karpiak had a stellar weekend, earn-
ing All-Tournament honors with sopho-
more setter Lexi Zimmerman for the
third straight invitational.,
"I just tried to maximize my kills this
weekend and limit my errors," she said.
The Tigers held it close for a while in
the first frame, but the Michigan offen-
sive attack proved to be too much as the
Wolverines won, 25-17.
Sophomore setter Lexi Zimmerman
led the way with four kills and 11 assists.
The Wolverines found themselves in
a dogfight in the second set. They strug-
gled to get into a rhythm, exchanging
points with the Tigers throughout the
game. Auburn won the set 25-22.
Conditions inside Cliff Keen Arena
were extremely humid Saturday night,
MEN'S SOCCER
From Page 1B
The Wolverines rebounded well
against a tough Buffalo squad Sunday.
The Big
playin(
week ago today, the Big Ten trum-
peted a historic event on the front
page of its weekly release. On Sept.
6, the Big Ten went
11-0, marking the first
time every team won a
game on the same day.
Never mind that
just two of those wins
came against BCS
teams - Penn State
beat Oregon'State and
Northwestern toppled' NATE
a powerhouse Duke SANDALS
squad - this was a big
deal for the Big Ten.
But fast-forwarding just one week
paints a more realistic picture of the Big
Ten, a storied conference in the midst of a
significant downturn.
The Big Ten went 7-3 two days ago, but
the losses spoke louder than the wins.
In his teleconference last week, Michi-
gan coach Rich Rodriguez said he didn't
agree with the perception that the confer-
ence is weakening,but acknowledged that
the only way to change peoples' opinion is
to win big games.
This week, that burden fell on the Big
Ten's "Big Two," Ohio State and Michi-
gan.
The Buckeyes traveled to California
to take on Southern Cal in a matchup
that received almost as much hype as a
National Championship Game.
The Wolverines went down to South
Bend to play a game that has more histori-
cal significance than current ramifica-
tions.
Ohio State and Michigan won't be com-
pared often this season, but both flopped
on a big stage and further sullied the Big
Ten's tarnished image.
The Buckeyes were supposed to pres-
ent a big test for Pete Carroll and his
pack of five-star recruits. Sure, Beanie
Wells didn't play, but Ohio State got flat-
out trounced in a way that one key injury
can't excuse.
"I can't believe we screwed up so
badly," Ohio State senior left tackle Alex
Boone told USA Today after the game. "I
feel like this is the national championship
all over again: stupid penalties, stupid
mistakes, roughing the passer, holding,
offsides, personal fouls."
Ten keeps
j small
Following blowout losses to South-
eastern Conference teams in the last
two National Championship games, that
makes three straight choke jobs for the
Buckeyes. Not exactly the best way to help
out your conference.
But the Big Ten didn't get any help from
its other traditional power either.
Sure Notre Dame isn't a powerhouse
program anymore, but if Michigan had
taken a win in South Bend, it would have
marked a very visible victory for the Big
Ten. Notre Dame is still a significantteam
on the national stage, if for no reason
other than its history. A road win in the
shadow of Touchdown Jesus is still a big
deal.
Now it's not like the Big Ten was with-
out some bright moments this weekend.
Wisconsin picked up a nice win at Fresno
State and Purdue put a scare into a tal-
ented Oregon squad, taking the Ducks to
double overtime.
Despite the two bright spots, the Big
Ten is in the midst of a crisis of confi-
dence.
What was once a perennial top-two
conference is now perhaps the fourth
best, behind the SEC, Big 12 and Pac 10.
The Big Ten went 3-5 in bowl games
last year. The SEC was 7-2, including Lou-
isiana State's thrashing of Ohio State in
the BCS Championship Game. The Big 12
was 5-3, and the Pac 10 went 4-2.
Why does the Big Ten struggle so much
against the other BCS conferences?
Last bowl season, there was a lot of
talk about the Big Ten being at a disad-
vantage because of the rule against games
after Thanksgiving. And it's true that the
nation's best high school talent isn't in
the Midwest anymore, making recruit-
ing more difficult. But those factors don't
combine to explain what happened at the
Los Angeles Coliseum two days ago.
The Big Ten doesn't have the talent to
stack up against top teams from other
conferences right now.
Until its talent-level rises, the Big Ten
will be perceived as a second-rate confer-
ence. And it's hard to argue that's unfair.
- Sandals likes the hidden '11" in the
Big Ten logo, but still thinks the entire
conference needs to step up its game. He
can be reached at nsandals@umich.edu.
Senior Beth Karpiak prepares to spike the ball, leading Michigan to a win against Auburn.
which seemed to be an issue for both
teams, especially the Wolverines.
Michigan came out of the locker room
sporting their white tops instead of their
normal blue jerseys before the third set.
"In the second set, I think we were
a little distracted by the floor," Rosen
said. "Football teams sometimes have to
play in a driving rainstorm. We needed
to just play through a little dampness on
the floor."
Michigan controlled much of the
third set, forcing the Tigers into a tim-
eout at 21-13. Auburn pulled back within
one point, but then Michigan outside
hitter Veronica Rood capped off the set
with a monster kill from the right side of
the court.
Zimmerman blasted 12 kills and
dished out 45 assists to help lead the
Michigan charge past the Auburn
They moved the ball quickly through
the midfield and looked to create scoring
opportunities early and often.
Senior forward Jake Stacy connected
14 minutes into the game to give Michi-
gan an early lead - and some of the confi-
dence it had lacked in the previous game.
Tigers, 3-1.
Michigan convincingly swept its other
two matches this past weekend, against
Toledo and Oakland.
Michigan needs three more wins to
start the season 12-0 for the third con-
secutive year, but those victories won't
come easy.
With Big Ten competition less than
two weeks away, Rosen said the upcom-
ing weekend's games against Albany and
Arizona State will be a great warm up
for his young Wolverine squad.
"Western Kentucky is as good as
any team we have played so far," Rosen
said. "Albany plays more of a defensive
style and they, too, have some legitimate
athletes. And then, Arizona State has a
new coach and they're alwa'ys lookingto
knock off a Big Ten school so it should be
a good weekend."
"Itwas agreattestofourmentaltough-
ness," said redshirt sophomore defender
Matt Schmitt, who tallied two assists
Sunday. "We played with a lot of inten-
sity. It wasn't the best conditions, but we
toughed it out...It shows we're definitely
moving in the right direction."
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