2B - March 2, 2009

The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

2B - March 2, 2009 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycam

Senior Nights
need students

W' drops seventh straight

f you're like most students on
this campus, you missed two
Senior Nights in the past few
days.
On Thursday, the Michigan
men's basketball team honored its
three seniors and shocked the Cris-
ler Arena crowd with an upset win
over Purdue. On TV, it didn't look
like more than
100 students
attended the
game.
T wo days
later, the hockey
team's sixr
seniors went
through their NATE
Senior Night SANDALS ^
festivities.
A few stu-
dents were scat-
tered around Yost Ice Arena. They
paid full price for their tickets,
since the game wasn't included in
student season ticket packages.
A Senior Night without stu-
dents is becoming commonplace at
Michigan.
In five of the last six years,
hockey's Senior Night occurred
over springbreak. (The 2006-07
Senior Night was on Feb. 3 because
the Wolverines played their last six
regular season games on the road.)
Sometimes there's no way to
avoid having Senior Night over
spring break, especially for the
basketball team, whose conference
schedule is controlled by the Big
Ten.
But there was no reason to
exclude students from this year's
hockey Senior Night. In fact, this
year's last regular-season home
game fell on the best possible night,
considering the CCHA regular sea-
son always ends during Michigan's
spring break.
Students who bought season
tickets were alerted that Satur-
day's game was not included in
the package because it technically
took place during break. They were
given the option to purchase a
ticket for the game at an additional
cost. By the looks of the diminished
(though still boisterous) student
section Saturday, few did.
The Athletic Department had it
backwards in making Senior Night

tickets an add-in to the season
ticket package. Instead, students
should have had the option to opt
out of the game if they knew they
wouldn't be back in Ann Arbor:
Students not only should have
been included so they could enjoy
another game at Yost but so they
could also celebrate the accom-
plishments of the senior class. The
student section is one of the key
dlements of playing at Yost, and
on Saturday the seniors on the
hockey team were deprived of the
well-earned appreciation of their
peers. (Plus, students missed out on
Detroit Red Wings legend Gordie
Howe droppingthe puck at cen-
ter ice before the game. That was
pretty cool.)
It's true that the students will
have at least two more games to
applaud the seniors at Yost this
season, since Michigan will host a
playoff series in two weeks.
But the importance of the Senior
Night ceremonies shouldn't be
understated. It's easy to congratu-
late someone for a strong effort
duringthe game, but there's no
other time dedicated to celebrating
four years of hard work.
Michigan doesn't have complete
control over its CCHA schedule,
but it can request certain dates to
be home, away or open, associate
coach Mel Pearson said Thursday
after practice.
Usually, the biggest concern is
avoiding long road trips around
exam time and home games on
football weekends. But since the
CCHA season always ends during
the last weekend of spring break,
Michigan could request to be home
on the final night of the season.
With many students already back
on campus, Senior Night could rea-
sonably be included in their season
ticket packages.
It may seem like a big hassle just
to get the students there for one
inre game atYost. But ifs player
has worked hard for four years, he
deserves to be recognized.
And the students want to recog-
nize the effort at Senior Night. They
just need tobe given the chance.
- Sandals can be reached
at nsandals()umich.edu.

Benson reaches
1,000-point
milestone in loss to
Indiana
By JOE STAPLETON
Daily Sports Writer
How, did Michigan women's
basketball coach Kevin Borseth
feel after yesterday's 67-61loss to
Indiana?
"Terrible."
Which is fitting, because that's
exactly how the Wolverines
played - at least for the last 10
minutes.
* After dominating the majority
of the game, Michigan followed
the blueprint it had established
throughout the season by failing
to finish.
The Wolverines went into half-
time up six and came out of the
locker room seeing red - or, in
this case, Hoosier crimson. They
went on an 11-2 run to push their
lead to 14 at the 15:40 mark.
"We were playing to win,"
Borseth said. "We played like we
knew we were capable of playing
all season."
Just two minutes later, Michi-
gan started to let the game slip
away. A free throw and two
straight jumpers, one a 3-pointer
by Hoosier junior Jamie Braun,
cut the lead to eight.
Indiana forced Michigan turn-
overs that led to fast-break oppor-
tunities. They scored 22 points off
giveaways, most of them late in
the game.
"We had some critical
turnovers and it seemed like
we lost our wits down the
stretch," Borseth said. "It was
unacceptable."

Indiana did what Michigan
could not - close out the game.
The loss was especially heart-
breaking for the Wolverines
because the first 25 minutes fea-
tured some of their best basket-
ball of the season against one of
the top teams in the conference.
Their ball movement was
impeccable and the emphasis on
passing came from an unlikely
source: senior forward Carly Ben-
son. She is known more for her
draining than dishing, but she
notched a career-high six assists
and only one turnover yesterday
along with a team-high 13 points.
Though it was Senior Night
for Indiana, it was also a special
night for Benson, who scored her
1,000th point on an old-fashioned
three-point play shortly before
halftime.
She became the 19th player in
Michigan history to reach the
milestone.
During their dominant stretch,
the Wolverines put emphasis on
getting points down. low. They
ended the game with 32 points in
the paint, thanks largely to junior
Krista Phillips and senior Steph-
any Skrba, who combined for 22
of them.
Even 5-foot-8 freshman guard
Courtney Boylan got in on the
act, cashing a few floaters inside
on her way to 12 points.
But it was all for naught and
Michigan.lost its seventh straight
game to close out the regular sea-
son.
It was certainly not the end
this team was hoping for, but the
Wolverines won't have to wait
long for revenge - they will be
taking on the Hoosiers again
in four days in the first round
of the Big Ten tournament in
Indianapolis.

WILL uMtLLER/Daily
Senior Carly Benson notched a career-high six assists in the 67-61 loss to Indiana.

I

After fast start, three-week slump
continues in road loss to Washington

The
tennis
define


By MARK BURNS After starting the season an
Daily Sports Writer impressive 5-0, the Wolverines
have lost six matches in the past
No. 18 Michigan men's three weeks.
team's season still can be And Michigan's most recent
d in one word: inconsistent. setback came Friday, thanks to a
4-2 loss to No. 41 Washington in
Malibu, Calif.
This year, Michigan hasn't
yet proven it can compete with
the best. It has faced five ranked
teams in the past month, los-
ing against four. The Wolver-
ines' lone win came against No.
25 California. At this time last
season, Michigan was 7-2 and
went.500 against the four ranked
opponents it faced.
Because the Wolverines
returned most of their roster, this.
season's disparity is surprising.
'Losing is definitely not some-
thing you want to get used to,"

Michigan coach Bruce Berque
said. "Everyone just needs to get
back to practice, work on their
game, and we'll be fine."
After struggling with the per-
formance of his doubles teams
earlier in the season, Berque has
recently shuffled the pairings
to give the Wolverines a boost.
Michigan has responded by win-
ning the doubles point in two of
its last three matches.
Berque consistently empha-
sizes the importance of grabbing
that point and getting the match
off to a good start. Against the
Huskies (8-3), the Wolverines won
all three doubles matches.
Michigan (6-6) then won its
first singles match as junior
George Navas defeated his oppo-
nent at the No. 6 position (6-4,
6-2) to give the Wolverines a quick

2-0 start.
"I noticed that my opponent
was lacking a little confidence
with his game, so I just wanted to
jump on him early," Navas said.
But the strong start didn't
translate into overall team suc-
cess. Navas's win ended up being
the lone singles victory for Michi-
gan, as Washington won the next
four matches.
"Obviously, we wanted to come
out here and get (a) win," Berque
said. "But unfortunately, that
didn't happen."
The Wolverines will play three
more . matches before gearing
up for Big Ten play at the end of
March. Berque said he believes
the Wolverines have the athletic
ability and talent to earn the wins,
if they stay confident and practice
more efficiently.

4

IJI

Chidester's clutch hitting leads
Michigan to extra-inning victory

9

Bad weather cuts
southern trip against
top-25 teams short
ByROGER SAUERHAFT
DailySports Writer
Freshman Amanda Chidester
may not yet have a specific position
to call her own on the Michigan
softball team, but she's clearly mak-
ing a name for herself as the Queen
of Clutch.
With five game-winning hits
already under her belt through the
first fourteen games of the season,
Chidester was exactly who No. 6
Michigan wanted at the plate in
the 13th inningof last Tuesday's 1-0
win against Florida State in Talla-
hassee.
With the score tied at zero, one
out and junior Maggie Viefhaus on
second base, Chidester lined a dou-
ble just over the head of the Semi-
nole third baseman and Viefhaus
sprinted home for the first run of
the extra-inning affair.
Chidester, who played right field
in the game,- said there isn't any-
thing special about her clutch hit-
ting this season. She just tries her

hardest to keep the same approach
in every single at-bat - see the ball
and hit it hard.
Despite some early struggles
hitting. off Florida State's Sarah
Hamilton, her foolproof approach
eventually worked.
"(Hamilton) kept the hitters
thinking, which is what a pitcher
is supposed to do," Chidester said.
"It got me out of my hitting game
because I was thinking the whole
time instead of going up and seeing
the ball and hitting it. In the 13th
inning, to finally get a hit off her,
that was exciting."
Tuesday's win was emblematic
of the rest of the Wolverines' eight
spring break games, Michigan fin-
ished the week with a 5-3 record
The pitchers consistently turned
in stellar performances, but hit-
ting was at a premium in a series
of pitchers' duels. Michigan scored
two runs or less in four of its eight
games, and in two of Michigan's
losses, the Wolverines lost by just
one run.
"We're not hitting as well as we
can, and I don't think we're clicking
as well as a team as we're going to,"
Michigan coach Carol Hutchins
said. "That's what the early season
is for. The offense needs to step up.

Our pitchers have carried their fair
share of the load."
The Wolverines should have
ample time to work out the kinks
on offense. Theyhave 14 roadgames
remainingbeforethefBigTenopener
on March 21 against Northwestern.
"It was a good experience to
see where we actually are," junior
pitcher Nikki Nemitz said. "They
were all close games, and having
that energy and effort there the
entire game helps for getting a feel
for what it's going to be like in the
postseason:"
This past weekend should have
provided one of the biggest early
tests of the season for the Wolver-
ines. They were slated to face off
against four top-25 teams in seven
games at the NFCA Leadoff Classic
in Columbus, Ga. But bad weather
wiped out five of the team's games,
and even the team's flight back to
Ann Arbor was scratched in favor
of a long bus ride.
"One thing you learn when you
coach in softball is that you just
worry about the teams you play,"
Hutchins said. "We can't control
the weather and obviously not the
airline. We're just a team that's try-
ing to evolve and get better every
game."

M


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