8 - Tuesday, October 26, 2010

The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Daily Sports Power Rankings
By Nick Spar 11 Daily Sports Editor

Lexi Zimmerman,Setter (Volleyball)
U After an unexpected three-set loss to Indiana on Friday, Zimmerman carried Michigan to a five-set
win over Purdue on Saturday. She had a season-low 23 assists against the Hoosiers but followed that
up with a whopping 58 assists against the Boilermakers. I checked to see if those 58 assists were close
to breaking any sort of NCAA record and learned two things. Zimmerman's career high in assists isn't
even Saturday's 58 - it's 75. And the NCAA record for assists in a five-set match is 109. But hey, Wilt
Chamberlain's 100 points don't make 75 points something to scoff at. With last weekend's matches,
that's eight straight for Zimmerman with at least 20 assists, five kills and five digs.
2Denise Muresan (Women's Tennis}
2 On Monday, Muresan earned a spot in Tuesday's final of the Midwest Regional Championships.
if she wins, we could very well see a new No. 1Sin these rankings next week. But as for this week, she
won four matches in the last three days to earn the No. 2 spot and, more importantly, a chance at a
title. The only set she lost was in the quarterfinals to fellow Wolverine Brooke Bolender.
Men's Golf Trio: Kim, Garber and Thompson
3 Senior Lion Kim and freshman Joey Garber are familiar names in the rankings, but the trio is com-
pleted with the addition of junior Matt Thompson. All three finished in the top eight at last weekend's
Bridgestone Intercollegiate, which helped Michigan record its third lowest 54-hole score ever. The suc-
cesses of Kim are well documented and Garber is a freshman who has wasted no time in making an
impact. But Thompson - who finished in sixth place at nine-under - very well could be the key for the
Wolverines when their season resumes in February. He helped guide Michigan to its best NCAA Finals
finish since 1952 two seasons ago asa freshman. Now a seasoned veteran, Thompson could be a part of
the formula for another deep postseason run. If only we didn't have to wait until April to find out.
4 Evan King Men's Tennis)
N Ohio State's Blaz Rola seems to be King's only nemesis. The sophomore rolled through four straight
matches at the Midwest Regional Championships in South Bend, dropping only one set on his way to the
semifinals. But he fell to Rola in the semis, the same Rola who defeated King at the ITA All-American
Championships two weeks ago. Rola was the third-ranked player at that tournament, and King took the
first set in both matches between the two, so consider both losses quality losses. But the sophomore was
just a few points away from knocking off one of the nation's elite players and advancing tothe champion-
ship round.
Alex Hunt, Outside Hitter (Volleyball)
* It is a bit odd that Zimmerman stays put at No. 1 and Hunt drops only a spot after the discouraging
loss to the Hoosiers. But the duo helped the Wolverines avoid a completely disastrous weekend with the
tight five-set win over Purdue, as Hunt contributed 26 kills and nine digs. Michigan is still among the Big
Ten's elite, dropping just two spots to No. 15 after the weekend split. And Hunt ranks 17th in the nation
in kills per set.
Bryan Hogan, Goaltender (ice Hockey)
60M Last week, Hogan and Shawn Hunwick shared a spot in the rankings after solid performances from
both. But after Hunwick's start in last weekend's home series against Nebraska-Omaha ended with a 4-2
loss and Hogan's a 6-1 win, it seems the scale has shifted in Hogan's favor. The team's quality of play was
clearly better in front of Hogan than it was in front of Hunwick. But Hunwick allowed a couple of soft
goals and Hogan made 35 saves to earn a win. So maybe the Michigan coaching staff prefers Hogan over
Hunwick for now, which yes, is a complete 180 from last week's prognosis.

- - - I I ---I j - V

MARISSA MCCLAIN/Daily
7 ScooterVaughan, Forward (Ice Hockey)
m Is it time to start the Scooter-for-Hobey discussion? Not quite, considering many fans Mightnot even
know hockey season started. And because it would be an exponentially hastier discussion than the
Denard-for-Heisman chatter, which was hasty in its own right. But Vaughan, a converted defenseman,
has had a pleasantly surprising startto the season. He is tied for the team-lead in goals (four) and helped
incite Michigan's rebound victory over Nebraska-Omaha on Saturday with two scores.
NkemrEzurike, Forward (Women's Soccer)
S EzurikeJs back in the rankings after leading Michigan to an upset road win over No. 23 Min-
nesota in dramatic fashion on Friday. She scored the game-winning goal to break a scoreless lie fi
double-overtime. The game was just 27 seconds away from ending in a tie. The Wolverines were
outshot 12-1 in the first half, so in a sense that victory was complete robbery. And if they went on to
tie or losethat game, the weekend would have been a heartbreaker since Michiganwas on the wrong
end of a 1-0 double-overtime loss two days later,
David Wohlberg, Forward (Ice Hockey)
Wohlberg set a school record by scoring eight seconds into Saturday's game against the Mavericks.
U And despite the lopsided 6-1 outcome, it was a much-needed goal. If Michigan wasn't able to gain any
early momentum on Saturday and earn a split, it would havebeen pretty reminiscentof the early-season
home struggles that plagued the team for much of last season.
10.KourtneyMoody (Women's Cross Country)
KuMoody edged outteammates Mackenzie Adams and Taylor Pogue to claim her first-ever victory at the
EMU Fall Classic. Five Wolverines finished in the top 16 and several Michigan runners recorded personal
best 5,000-meter times. No one could outdo Moody, though, as she shattered her personal bestby 41 sec-
onds - aperfect confidence booster heading into the Big Ten Championships this Sunday in Madison.

to the semifinals with a victory forward to seeing improvements
KING over Ohio State's Balazs Novak, out of some his other competitors
From Page 7 6-2, 6-2, on Sunday. as they build on this past weekend.
After combining to finish 13-9 "I'd like to take another step
in singles play, the Wolverines forward," Berque said. "I'd like
him all he could handle." have little time to rest. They trav- to see us have better results and
King began his draw with el to East Lansing this Friday to to reach for a higher level fur-
opening-round wins over Cleve- begin the weekend-long Big Ten ther in the draw. It's good to play
land State's Yannick Goossens Individuals, tournaments back to back so it's
and DePaul's Ben Hartman Though they will not send their a good opportunity to continue
before upsetting Notre Dame's top players - King and senior some of the things they got into in
No. 69 Daniel Stahl. He advanced Jason Jung - Berque is looking match play."
GIVING UP HIS
WOLVERINES
SEASON TICKETS
WAS PAINFUL .

0l

When U-M alum Jason Rockland heard that the school repeatedly
forces hard tubes down cats' delicate throats and cuts into pigs'
necks and chests for a cruel and deadly medical training
procedure even though U-M teaches the same skills using
superior humanlike
simulators elsewhere
on campus, he took
serious action- A
he sold his football
season tickets and
redirected those
funds to PETA to
support our campaign
to end these barbaric
practices.

Join Jason
and speak out
for animals at
U-M by visiting
PETA.org/UMich.
PCTA
PEOPLE FOR THE ETHICAL
TREATMENT OF ANIMALS