0 8A - Friday, September 18, 2009 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 0 r . r STAFF PICKS The Daily Football writers do their best to predict what happens in the 2009 football season. Michael Eisenstein Ruth Lincoln Andy Reid Courtney Ratkowiak s :;_ No. 25 Michigan (-24) vs. EMU No.1 Florida (-29.5) vs. Tennessee No. 2 Texas (-17.5) vs. Texas Tech No. 3 USC (-20) at Washington No. 4 Alabawa (-38) vs. North Texas No. 5 Mississippi (NS) vs. SE Louisiana No. 5 Penn State (-30) vs. Temple No. 7 BYU (-26.5) vs. Florida State No.8 California (-14) at Minnesota No.9 LSU (-26.5) vs Louisiana-Lafayette No.10 Boise St. (-7.5) at Fresno St No.11 Ohio State (-20.5) at Toledo No.12 Oklahoma (-17.5) vs. Tulsa No.13 VA Tech (-5) vs. No.19 Nebraska No. 14GA Tech (+5) at No. 20 Miami No.15 TCU (-33.5) vs. Texas St. No.16 Oklahoma St. (33) vs. Rice No.17 Cincinnati (-1) at Oregon St. No.18 Utah (+5) at Oregon No. 22 Kansas (-22.5) vs. Duke No. 23 Georgia (+1.5) at Arkansas No. 24 UNC (-7.5) vs. E. Carolina Last Week Overall Michigan Tennessee Texas Tech Southern Cal North Texas Mississippi Penn State Florida State California LSU Boise State Ohio State Oklahoma Nebraska Miami Texas State Rice Cincinnati Utah Duke Arkansas North Carolina 13-9-0 29-14-0 Michigan Florida Texas Tech Washington North Texas Mississippi Penn State BYU Minnesota Louisiana-Lafayette Boise State Ohio State Tulsa Nebraska Miami Texas Christian Oklahoma State Cincinnati Utah Kansas Arkansas North Carolina 13-9-0 27-16-0 Eastern Michigan Florida Texas Washington Alabama Mississippi Penn State Florida State California LSU Fresno St Ohio State Oklahoma Nebraska Georgia Tech Texas State Rice Cincinnati Oregon Duke Arkansas North Carolina 14-8-0 27-16-0 Michigan Florida Texas Southern Cal Alabama Mississippi Penn State BYU California LSU Boise State Toledo Oklahoma Nebraska Miami Texas Christian Oklahoma State Cincinnati Utah Duke Georgia North Carolina 10-12-0 21-22-0 Guest Picker: Phil Rose Eastern Michigan Florida Texas Washington North Texas Mississippi Penn State BYU Minnesota LSU Boise State Ohio State Oklahoma Virginia Tech Miami Texas State Oklahoma State Cincinnati Oregon Kansas Arkansas North Carolina 12-10-0 26-17-0 0 I _ ___I I I To apply to be a guest picker, e-mail lincolnr@umich.edu. If you're chosen and can beat at least two of us, you'll stay on for another week. The longest tenured guest picker will get a prize at the end of the season. uge, season-openng upset of Nebraska has vaulted Michigan into upper echelon Aft h bm in W tarp It v MichiE Rosen of its the be zil. Th week volleyl Junior It w verine their comin all bu second Lexi Z freshm "I ti really tations about and wl of doin "Itv else sa "Th per onet uteL Scar program to the next level," senior program history, captain Megan Bower said. The Wolverines (10-0) are cer- olverines have a tainly on that path. Michigan started the season get on their backs ranked 16th, its highest preseason ranking in program history after back-to-back trips to the Sweet 16. By RYAN KARTJE With higher national expecta- Daily Sports Writer tions, Michigan's season opener was the ultimate litmus test for was the end of May, and the upcoming season - a rematch gan volleyball coach Mark with Nebraska, the team that gathered his team outside ended the Wolverines' season in small bed and breakfast in three straight sets last December. each town of Brzios, Bra- "Going into the match against e Wolverines had spent the Nebraska, we knew from the playing the best in Brazilian beginning by how we prepared ball, including the Brazilian and how we played from point National Team. one that we had a chance to beat 'as now dusk, and the Wol- this team," Zimmerman said. s sat around the pool as Once again, the match only focus turned to the forth- lasted three sets. But this time, a g year. Michigan returned different team left the court vic- it two players, including torious, and it rocked the college i-team All-American setter volleyball landscape. immerman and All-Big Ten "The Nebraska game shined a san hitter Alex Hunt. big spotlight on us," Rosen said. hink at that point, this team "The way we won: on national TV started setting high expec- and everyone watching. You could ," Rosen said. "It was truly even hear it in the announcer's what we saw in our team voice that they thought Nebraska hat we felt we were capable was going to come back. But we 3g. just kept fighting. And then in the wasn't about what everyone third game, we completely domi- w in us." nated." is team wants to take this Bower knew that the third set was an important moment in the Wolverines' short season, say- ing it "broke a barrier" of being hesitant toward embracing high expectations. "Walking away from the win, we realized how good this team could be," Bower said. "We can beat good teams, and we can beat up on top-5 caliber teams. We could expect more out of our- selves now." Zimmerman said that last year's seniors Beth Karpiak and Kerry Hance, who played their last collegiate match in the loss to Nebraska, called her to congratu- late her on the momentous win. To receive those calls from players who tried to elevate the caliber of Michigan volleyball for so long showed Zimmerman that people truly "see where this program is going" - in the right direction. A win on the national stage noti- fied the nation that Michigan vol- leyball posed a legitimate threat. And now, the Wolverines have a target on their back. "Teams are really hungry to play a team like (us)," Rosen said. "We have something that they want. And I've seen it this season because these teams come out and play like they have nothing to lose when they come to play us." The Wolverines are now ranked sixth, the highest in school histo- ry, which makes them the second- highest ranked Big Ten school prior to the conference season, behind budding rival Penn State. The Nittany Lions currently sit atop the American Volleyball Coaches Association rankings. And it's no secret that Michigan has circled Oct. 16 on the calen- dar. Penn State comes to Cliff Keen Arena havingnotallowed the Wol- verines to steal a set all last sea- son. But the back-to-back National Champions didn't lose many sets last season. "Whenever we're in practice, we're saying things like, 'That's not good enough to beat Penn State,' " Zimmerman said. "We understand where we need to be for that, and I don't think we're even there yet." With high potential comes high expectations, but when it comes to having a target on their back, the Wolverines wouldn't have it any other way. "Everybody really wants to beat us," Bower said. "We looked at it as an opportunity instead of a burden. We want to see everyone's best-game, so we can beat them at their best." 4 SAID ALSALAH/Daily Senior Megan Bower and Michigan are ranked a program-best sixth in the nation. I Sister, sister! Bowery and Siebert sisters square off on the soccer pitch Amanda and Brianna pert. Klippert finished the play with a goal. Brianna has played in four Bowery compete games for Oakland this season. duri OaklandgameShe made her first career start d O gam Sept. 6, when the Golden Griz- zlies lost 2-0 to New Mexico. By TIM ROHAN Amanda said shehopes she and Daity Sporto Writer her sister, who are from Roches- Witer Hills, can continue the family With 19 minutes left to play, feud next year when Michigan junior forward Amanda Bow- plays Oakland again. Pvcwnfamiia far Ptr the I 4 ery saw a ramiar race enter me Michigan women's soccer game Wednesday night against Oak- land. It was her younger sister, Bri- anna Bowery. Brianna is a freshman defender for the Golden Grizzlies and was forced to defend her sister on a few occasions during the game. Michigan defeated Oakland 3-0, and although the Wolver- ines' victory was nearly in hand when the younger Bowery came into the game, it was still a spe- cial moment for the Bowery fam- ily. "I was kind of nervous,"Aman- da Bowery said. "It's just awk- ward, because I want her to look good. But I want to look good. So it's hard." Amanda assisted on the Wol- verines' third goal before her younger sister entered the game. Freshman Holly Hein chipped the ball from the left side of the field to Bowery wlI headed it to senior quad-captana Amy Klip- The sibling rivalry theme will continue when the Wolverines (4-5) take on Miami (Fla.) Sunday at 2 p.m. at the U-M Soccer Com- plex. Megan Siebert, the younger sister of Michigan sophomore Kim Siebert, is a freshman for the Hurricanes. The Sieberts hail from Troy. Michigan coach Greg Ryan was aware of Wednesday night's clash of family members and he said, "It should be fun," when he talked about how the Sieberts would be playing each other on Sunday. But Ryan knows the Wolver- ines will have their hands full with Miami. "They're going to be a really good team," Ryan said. "They're in the top conference in the coun- try, (an) AFC team. They're going to be very talented." i 4 junior Amanda Bowery can te4 sophomore Megan Siebert about sibling rivalry.