8A - Thursday, November 19, 2009
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Paz's 19 kills help.
'M' in five-set win
AARON AWGSBURGER/Daly
Junior Veronica Hicks will be key if the Wolverines hope to hold off the Lady Eagles.
Blue hopes t build
on fast start tonight
By MARK BURNS
Daily Sports Writer
Mark Rosen had never recruit-
ed a junior college volleyball
player before - until Juliana Paz.
Last year, Terry Gamble, then-
coach of Iowa Western Com-
munity College, pestered Rosen
to take a look at the standout
Paz. Despite the risk, Rosen still
decided to take a chance on the
outside hitter from Porto Alegre,
Brazil. The decision has paid div-
idends - maybe even more than
Rosen initially anticipated.
Last night, Paz showed why
she's fifth in the Big Ten in kills,
grabbing a team-high 19 in Mich-
igan's five-set win over Michigan
State at Cliff Keen Arena.
"She had a great match, and
she's a great competitor," Rosen
said. "She played great last year
but has elevated her level even,
more this year. She's playing her
best volleyball right now."
The victory gave the 14th-
ranked Wolverines (11-6 Big Ten,
23-7 overall) a season sweep over
the Spartans and the State Pride
flag for the third consecutive
year. The flag flew in Lansing
in 1990 over the Capitol Build-
ing, and the winner of the series
claims the flag after each year.
After leading the match 2-1,
Michigan State took much of
the momentum in the fourth
frame due to Michigan's ineffi-
cient passing and serving, as well
as five attack errors in the set.
Rosen called a timeout with the
score at 17-13, hoping to swing
that momentum in the Wolver-
ines' direction.
But the effort backfired, as
Michigan State (5-12, 17-12)
pushed the match to a fifth and
final frame.
Southern Mississippi
returns to Crisler for
first time since
2007 WNIT
percent from the perimeter, which
led to the Lady Eagles' demise.
That gives the Wolverines, who
made 53 percent of their 3-point-
ers in their home opener against
Ball State, an advantage.
In Borseth's last battle with the
Conference USA
By ZAK PYZIK foe,hedidn'thave So&h.JMiss.
Daily Sports Writer to worry about
any aggressive at Michigan
The last time the Michigan perimeter shoot- Matchup:
women's basketball team won a ing approach. SMU 2-1
postseason game was on March "We're used Michigan 2-0
26, 2008, head coach in Kevin to a faster pace," When: Today,
Borseth's first year at the helm. Borseth said after 6 p.m.
Their opponent that game - the NIT third- Where:
Southern Mississippi - will make round game. Crisler Arena
a familiar visit tonight to Ann "They play such
Arbor. The Lady Eagles made the a slow pace. They
same trip more than a year ago for come up and dribble, dribble and
the National Invitational Tourna- wait for that ball screen, forever
ment, and theyleftAnn Arbor with and ever, amen."
their hopes of an upset dashed. In order to succeed, the Wol-
The setting is the same: Crisler verines need to be effective at the
Arena, a 7:00 p.m. start. arc. They also will attempt to take
The Wolverines (2-0) hope to advantage of the boards against a
make their first 3-0 start since Southern Mississippi squad that
2007, and the odds are certainly in had just 19 defensive rebounds in
Michigan's favor. its last game, compared to Michi-
Southern Mississippi (1-1) is gan's 31 against Marquette.
coming off a loss to Southeast Mis- The Wolverines can also expect
souri. The Redhawks shot near 50 to see another lopsided turnover
ratio. They are averaging 25 forced
turnovers through two games, and
are ranked fourth in the confer-
ence for steals, averaging 13 per
game.
Last time the two teams met,
Michigan forced 22 turnovers
while snatching 11 steals.
"If you aren't hitting shots,
you've got to get stops and we
have to slow down the ball," junior
guard Veronica Hicks said. "It's
great that we were able to get some
steals. We do a great job of picking
the ball up and applying a lot of
pressure."
Michigan has relied on Hicks
often in the last two games. Hicks
has been patient and allowed plays
to develop. She leads the teamwith
eight assists and 28 points.
Against Marquette, Hicks
limped off of the court late in the
second half, but the team did not
release an injury report this week-
end. Hicks had her leg wrapped
and examined.
After the game, Hicks said it
was just a cramp.
With Hicks healthy for game
play, she and the rest of the
Wolverines ran spark offensive
magic.
"We always talk about how
the aggressive team has the best
chance in a fifth set," Rosen said.
"It's a sprint. You don't want to
be tentative, and the last mes-
sage we give them as they go out
on the floor is to be aggressive."
According to Rosen, the fifth
set is a "roll of the dice," where
anything can happen. Since the
set is only to 15, ateam has a huge
advantage if it grabs a few quick
points.
In the final set, Michigan
never trailed after racing out
to an early 4-1 lead. Sophomore
Alex Hunt and senior Megan
Bower each posted two kills in
the final frame to give the Wol-
verines the victory. Even though
Michigan wasn't necessarily at
its best tonight, the Wolverines
found a way to win, and that's
what has Rosen especially satis-
fied with his team this late in the
season.
"We struggled a little bit pass-
ing tonight and part of that is
on Michigan State," Rosen said.
"They are very physical and
run a very tight offense. When
they're in system, they are really
hard to stop.... We found ways to
compete even though we weren't
passing that great and that was
good for us."
- JAKE FROMM/Daily
Senior Juliana Paz was a junior college player before coming to Michigan.
0
0
Michigan not focused on record
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By CHARLES LILLY
For The Daily
The Michigan women's swim-
ming and diving is not too wor-
ried about wins and losses at this
point of the season. After the
Wolverines won their first four
matches, they faltered in their
next four with three of those
losses coming to top swimming
programs-Texas, Stanford and
Florida. But Michigan coach Jim
Richardson isn't worried about
the .500 record.
"Swimming is a funny sport,"
Richardson said. "It's not all about
wins and losses all the time. Right
now it's all about performance and
improvement. A meet in October
doesn't matter when February
rolls around."
With NCAA qualifiers selected
based on individual performanc-
es, a team's overall record takes a
backseat.
"I want each swimmer to have
the best opportunity to qualify
(for NCAA nationals)," Richardson
said.
The Wolverines have a young
squad featuring 11 freshmen, who
are still developing stroke and
strength.
"Even though we are young, I
am very proud of the maturity of
our swimmers," Richardson said.
"One of the things I look for when
recruiting is self-discipline. I am
not here to babysit. I want ath-
letes that have an inner-drive. My
swimmers know what they have to
do and they do it."
This Friday, the Wolverines
will get a chance to exhibit their
maturity, as they travel to West
Lafayette to compete in the Pur-
due Invitational. Richardson said
he wasn't as concerned about the
outcome of the match as he is his
team's continued growth.
"Our primary goal is to develop
ourskillsand haveeachswimmer's
performances reflect their train-
ing," Richardson said. "Especially
this early in the season, it is impor-
tant to train, compete, reflect, and
then make the necessary adjust-
ments to enhance our skills."
Even though the team is young,
they are led by senior Emily Han-
son, who competes in the distance
freestyle.
"I think we are a very tightknit-
squad," Hanson said. "Everyone is
committed to training hard every-
day."
And Hanson knows something
about dedicated training. This past
summer, she represented the Unit-
ed States National Swim Team in
Rome, swimming the five kilome-
ter and the 25-kilometer in open
water.
"It was an unbelievable experi-
ence," Hanson said. "I learned alot
and I believe it helped me grow as
a person and a swimmer."
Despite the team's .500 record,
Hanson and her teammates believe
this season can be a success. Senior
Margaret Kelly, who competes
in the 200-meter and 400-meter
individual medley, is also very
optimistic about the upcoming
season.
"This is my fourth year on the
team and I can honestly say this is
the hardest working team I've ever
been a part of," Kelly said.
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Three sisters thrive on golf team
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By MICHAEL LAURILA
For TheDaily
Senior Ashley Bauer, captain of
the women's golf team, is one of a
kind.
Sort of.
If you take a second to look
at the Michigan women's golf
team roster, she's really one of
three.
Ashley has two sisters on the
team - Meagan, a sophomore,
and Shana, a freshman. The three
have been competing with and
against each other in a variety of
sports since a very young age, and
all three graduated from Grand
Blanc High School.
But there is a difference
between then and now.
"We were all on the same high
school team and there were only
six of us, so we took up half the
team in high school. But coming
here in college, you don't really
expect that," Ashley said. "There
are not too many situations
where there are three of us are all
together. College golf takes it to
another level."
And Ashley's job may be the
most difficult. As a captain, she
has to make sure that there is a
clear line between treating her
sisters as teammates and as fam-
ily.
"She has to have talks with us
as a captain and then as a sister,
so I think that puts her in a tough
position," Shana said. "But she
does fine, and we all knew coming
into it what we were going to have
to do. So far, it hasn't caused any
problems."
Added Ashley: "It's a tough
thing to balance. I think I need
to talk to them more as team-
mates and not so much as sisters,
because it's easier to get mad at
sisters."
The Bauers have the usual sib-
ling rivalries, but since they are
on the same team, they have a
common interest - winning.
"We always want to beat
everybody out there," Meagan
said. "We want to win, but we're
always rooting for each other,
especially since we're on the
same team."
With the conclusion of their
fall season two weeks ago, the
sisters have been taking a short
break from golf.
They will soon begin winter
training sessions as a team, and
the sisters also hit balls togeth-
er.
on the course, the sisters' dif-
ferences show - though whether
their favorite golf club is a sign
of their personality is still up in
the air. Ashley's favorite club is
an eight-iron, Meagan's a seven-
iron and Shana's the three-wood,
a more aggressive choice.
Ashley will be graduating with
a degree in business, whereas
Meagan isworkingtoward a nurs-
ing degree.
As a freshman, Shana is in the
LSA program and still isn't sure
what she will pursue.
"As far as what we're doing
here at school, there are differ-
ent types of things, but all very
similar," Ashley said. "Golf kind
of brings it all together."