8B - October 27, 2008
sMonday
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
8B - October 27, 2008 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom
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Wolverines win first weekend
series, upset No.11 Gophers
A
H
clos
deg
Lfter pounding
awkeyes, team
es out Minnesota
spite tough calls
By MARK BURNS
Daily Sports Writer
Michigan fans didn't have
many reasons to cheer this
weekend.
But that wasn't the case at
Cliff Keen Arena on Friday and
Saturday night.
The No. 20 Michigan vol-
leyball team upset No. 11 Min-
nesota 25-21 in all three sets
Saturday.
"We just focused on play-
ing our best and sticking to the
basics," junior outside hitter
Juliana Paz said.
SAuD ALSALAH/Daiy Midway through the first
Junior Juliana Paz led Michigan with 16 kills against Minnesota Saturday night in the set, the Wolverines held a com-
Wolverines upset ofnthe 11th-ranked Golden Gophers. fortable 17-10 lead and all the
momentum before two disputed
calls that brought a barrage of
boos from The Zone, the volley-
ball student section.
Both Michigan coach Mark
Rosen and his assistant coach,
Lisa Rosen, jumped out of their
chairs and voiced their displea-
sure with the referees.
"Knowing that Mark and Lisa
have our backs and are willing
to fight for calls is great," soph-
omore setter Lexi Zimmerman
said.
Some teams might have been
flustered by the turn of events,
but not the Wolverines.
"We just try not to worry
about the things we can't con-
trol," Paz said.
Despite the controversy,
Michigan continued to roll.
Zimmerman led the way with
10 assists in the frame while
Paz contributed four kills of her
own, jumping up and down with
excitement after every kill.
After taking a 24-18 lead, the
Wolverines had a difficult time
closing out Minnesota.
The Gophers fought off three
set points to cut the lead to
24-21. But the Wolverines came
through to pull out the set,
25-21.
Michigan found itself in the
same position during the sec-
ond frame.
The Wolverines had match
point, and Minnesota fought off
three set points.
A service error finally gave
Michigan the win.
Match points have been a dif-
ficult spot for the Wolverines in
the last few weeks, but Rosen
isn't concerned.
"When ateam is in that situa-
tion, they are going to play real-
ly aggressive because they are
close to losing the set," Rosen
said. "We just have to expect
that as a team."
Minnesota came out of the
locker room looking like it
meant business, practicing set-
ting and serving between the
second and third sets, while the
Wolverines looked relaxed and
confident on the bench.
But that proved to be no help,
as Michigan won the third and
final frame 25-21.
Paz had a team-high 16 kills
on the night, while Zimmerman
added 31 assists. Zimmerman
has scored at least 30 assists in
19 games this season.
On Friday night, the Wol-
verines pulled off an easy win
against an outmatched Iowa
team.
Michigan made quick work of
the Hawkeyes, winning 3-0 (27-
25, 25-18, 25-23).
Senior Beth Karpiak had 14
kills and freshman Sloane Don-
hoff had 10 digs in the win.
The Wolverines hope to con-
tinue their winning ways on the
road next weekend when they
head to Illinois and Purdue, two
teams just ahead of them in the
national rankings.
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'M' scoring woes continue with
second straight shutout defeat
By MICHAEL FLOREK
Daily Sports Writer
With just two games left in the
regular season and already out of
contention for postseason play, the
Michigan women's soccer team
headed to Indiana to gain momen-
tum for next year.
But the Wolverines' inability to
score led to a 1-0 loss, their third
in a row. The struggling offense
last scored three games ago in a
3-1 loss against Wisconsin.
The game's only goal came
two minutes into the second half,
when Indiana's Kristin Arnold
took a cross and placed a shot from
25 yards into the upper left corner
past Wolverine senior goalie Mad-
ison Gates.
"Neither team really had a " .
chance where you would say,
'That was a great chance,"' Michi-
gan coach Greg Ryan said. "Their
kid was open outside the box, but
that is still 25 yards away. She just
made a great shot. We had similar
types of chances, but we just didn't
hit them straight at the goal."
One of Michigan's best chanc- SAID ALSALAH/Daiiy
es came near the end of the first Senior goalie Madison Gates was solid in Michigan's 1-0 loss to Indiana, but the
half. Senior Katie Miler ran to a Wolverine offense continued to struggle for the third straight game.
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6
4
The victory gave Indiana (3-6-1
Big Ten, 4-10-4 overall) its third
straight 1-0 win.
Michigan (1-6-2, 4-10-4) is 2-6
in one-goal games this season.
The Wolverines have been left,
scoreless in four of their last six
games.
"We have created enough
chances to score goals, but unfor-
tunately, we are not scoring goals,"
Ryan said. "We are not hitting the
corners. We are hitting the goal
keeper, and you're just not going
to score many goals like that."
Michigan hopes the scoring
drought will end before next fall.
The Wolverines end their sea-
son with a matchup against rival
Michigan State in East Lansing.
Michigan hasn't beat the Spartans
since 2002.
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CBlue t r r e neRTS
Blue takes roller hockey to new heights
For this group of Wolverines,
strapping on their Mission HE
1500 roller skates with the newly
designed Rink Rat rubber wheels
is just a continuation of their child-
hoodhockey days.
"A lot of the members of the
team once played ice hockey in high
school," senior president Adam
Goldberg said. "In fact, a lot of the
members of the team played roller
hockey in various leagues growing
up as kids."
Founded in 1999, the Michigan
club roller hockey team competes
in the National Collegiate Roller
Hockey Association, which has 200
member universities.
With both 'A' and 'B' teams, the
10th ranked Wolverines compete
across the Midwest, playing 20-25
regular season games and often
traveling on weekends to Illinois
and Ohio.
. For practice, the team rents out
a rink at the Jewish Community
Center in West Bloomfield at least
once a week throughout the regular
season.
Unlike ice hockey, which requires
five skaters onthe ice per team, roll-
er hockey has just four players, and
no offsides or icing. But even with
the different rules, transitioning
between playing the two isn't very
difficult.
"Skill in roller hockey doesn't
necessarily correlate to how much
ice hockey experience you have,"
Goldberg said. "But it definitely
takes time to transfer from ice to
roller."
Michigan's conference, the Mid-
west Region Roller Hockey League,
includes Michigan State, Ohio State
and Eastern Michigan, all rivals that
the Wolverines can't wait to shove
into the boards.
"We have some good rivalry
games that get real intense," Gold-
berg said. "It's alot of fun to beata
team like Ohio State in the rink."
Last season, the Wolverines tal-
lied a 15-5 record in the Midwest
region and secured a Regionals
berth in Wixom for the 10th con-
secutive year. Michigan advanced
to the Sweet 16, eventually losing to
Florida.
With eight veterans lost to gradu-
ation after last season, the Wolver-
ines are a much younger team this
year. However, building on team
chemistry and leadership from the
returning players, the Wolverines
are determined to return to Region-
als, which will take place in West
Bloomfield from February 27th-
March 1st.
"We have some talented new
kids," Goldberg said. "We haven't
played in any college games yet so
we'll see how we are once the game
starts but I'm confident we'll play
well. We're building some great
chemistry and really coming togeth-
er as ateam."
Despite having classes to study
for, stepping onto the rink repre-
senting the University of Michi-
gan with a block 'M' on their chest
drives the team to compete.
"We all love the competition and
the ability to compete for the uni-
versity of Michigan against other
top schools in the country," Gold-
berg said. "You could always play in
some random Ann Arbor league, but
the ability to represent your school
is something special."
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