SANDALS: STA LOCAL ON THE ROAD, PAGE 2B
The Michigan Daily I michigandaily.com I September 22, 2008
Blue spikes non-conference foes
ByRYNARE
Wolverines enter ______
- Daily Sports Writer
.BigTen season Entering Saturday
g ~nights match against
Arizona State, just two
undefeated for players on the Michigan
volleyball roster had ever suf-
dered a non-conference, regular sea-
t d r h eSeniors Beth Karpiak and Kerry
Hance are the only remaining wit-
nesses of Michigan's 0-3 start in 2005.
The rest of the Wolverines weren't
about to let their perfection slip
iaak aaway.
No. 25 Michigan rounded out its
pre-Big Ten competition Saturday
night at Cliff Keen Arena with a 3-1
victory over the Sun Devils to clinch
1,Ythe Michigan/adidas Invitational
2 title
But the match was not without its
rough spots, as the Wolverines dropped
their third game of the season.
"The Pac 10 and the Big Ten are two
very good conferences," Michigan coach
Mark Rosen said. "I think that got us a
little rattled because things that were
kills earlier in the season, they just
weren't kills (Saturday)."
With the tougher competition, the
Wolverines got off to a slow start in the
second game, missing easy digs and mak-
ing service errors before Rosen called a
timeout with Michigan down 7-1.
"I told them that they better get used
to this," Rosen said. "We're going to see
teams like them, or much better than
them, over the next 10 weeks."
After the timeout, sophomore setter
Lexi Zimmerman put the game on her
shoulders as members of the student
section, the Zone, made 'Z's' with their
hands behind her, a symbol more com-
monly seen for punter Zoltan Mesko.
Waving Z's and cheering, fans watched
as Zimmerman and the Wolverines
went on a 9-2 run to force Arizona State
to call a timeout.
The teams traded the lead throughout
the game. With the game tied 23-23,Ari-
V zona State made an apparent lift, but the
error went uncalled, givingthe Sun Dev-
ils the lead and momentum that would
down the Wolverines in the game.
"We really weren't focused," Zim-
merman said. "It was Michigan playing
Michigan out there, not Michigan play-
ing Arizona State."
Junior Julianna Paz came out with a
vengeance in the nextctwo games, notch-
ing 14 of her 18 kills as the Wolverines
prevailed, 27-25 and 25-16.
y "Whenever she was on the court, I
just felt more comfortable as setter,"
Zimmerman said. "She was huge for us
this weekend."
With Paz stepping up, Zimmerman
saw her numbers skyrocket, as she fin-
-{ 9ished the game with 52 assists and 13
digs and was one kill shy of her first
triple-double. Her dominant perfor-
mance notched her another invitational
MVP honor. Paz and Karpiak were also
named to the All-Invitational Team.
Earlier in the weekend, Michigan
skated to two convincing 3-0 victories
against Albany and Western Kentucky.
"We knew this would be a much bet-
'.< ter test than the three tournaments
we've played before," Rosen said. "And
with the success we've had, I think our
team is ready for that next challenge."
The Wolverines start Big Ten com-
JENNIFER KRON/Daly petition this Wednesday in Columbus
Above The Michigan volleyball team focuses during one of its recent non-conference games. Right: Outside hitter Veronica Rood reaches up to tap the ball over the net. against Ohio State.
Home sweet
home for Blue
FOOTBALL
Ask teexperts
By MATT JOHNSON
Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan men's golf team
doesn't get many chances to
defend its home turf. The Wol-
verines didn't even host a single
tournament in Ann Arbor last
year because of conflicts with the
football team's schedule.
But Michigan was finally able
to use its home-course advantage
* this weekend to win the 16-team
Wolverine Invitational. The
Wolverines finished two strokes
ahead of UC-Davis in the 54-hole
tournament at the U-M Golf
Course.
Michigan defeated four teams
in Golfweek's top 25, including
No. 7 Iowa and No. 9 Califor-
nia. The Wolverines, who were
ranked 26th going into the week-
end, seem poised to break into the
top 25 for the first time in recent
memory.
"It's a great start for us, but the
season's a long way from being
over," Michigan coach Andrew
Sapp said.
Michigan's excellent first
round ended up making the dif-
ference. Led by senior co-captain
Nick Pumford's five-under-par
66, Michigan got off to a three-
stroke lead early Saturday. Pum-
ford recorded seven birdies on the
day after bogeying two of the first
four holes.
UC-Davis gained a stroke on
Michigan in Saturday's second
round, through the Wolverines
shot a school-record nine-under
par.
"I was really shocked when we
shot nine-under, and UC-Davis
actually beat us and made up
some ground," Sapp said. "I knew
it was going to be a tough fight (in
the final round)."
Both teams shot even par yes-
See MEN'S GOLF, Page 3B
By IAN ROBINSON
Daily Sports Editor
In "Ask the Experts," Daily football writ-
ers will answer your questions. If you havea
questionthatcyou would like answered, send
it to varsity2k8@umich.edu.
What are the difficulties in adjusting
to the spread offense?
Everybody talks about how hard it is for
a quarterback to adjust to Michigan coach
Rich Rodriguez's spread offense, but that's
not the biggest concern on offense. The big-
gest concern is the offensive line. There are
four new starters this year. More than any
other position, experience is a huge factor in
the development of offensive linemen.
As we've seen this year, a running back-
can come in and make an instant impact.
But I've never heard of a freshman phenom
offensive lineman. It takes time. There is a
huge difference between high school and
college, and linemen need time to adjust.
It's common sense, but without a decent
line in front of him, the quarterback won't
have time to pass and the running back
won't have room to run.
Now that it's the Big Ten season, how
important is it to have one quarterback?
Very.
First off, though coaches often say oth-
erwise, it's important for the offense to
know who the quarterback is. It allows the
unit to get in a rhythm. And if the quarter-
back changes with each drive, it makes- it
more difficult for the offense to establish
a rhythm. And neither redshirt freshman
Steven Threet nor redshirt sophomore Nick
Sheridan offers a drastically different talent
set. So there isn't much of a need to put both
of them in the game.
After following college football for years
and researching this question, I can think
of just a few instances in which the platoon
quarterback system worked. And eventhose
cases were rare, because both quarterbacks
were extremely talented. There was Wally
Wooham and Jimmy Jordan at Florida State
in 1979, Joe Germaine and Stanley Jackson
at Ohio State in 1997 and Chris Leak and
Tim Tebow at Florida in 2006. I wouldn't
put Threet and Sheridan in the same cat-
egory.
How surprised are you that Ohio State
true freshman quarterback Terrelle
Pryor already has the startingjob?
Not very surprised. Considering how
See FOOTBALL, Page 2B
JEREMY CHO/Daily
Senior Nick Pumford led Michigan to its win at the Wolverine
Invitational this weekend. Pumford shot five-under par 66.
I