The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Thursday, January 20, 2011 - 7A The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Thursday, January 20, 2011 - 7A Blue looking to live up to higher expectations Michigan coach Kevin Borseth has guided the Wolverines to a 3-2 Big Ten record this season, including wins over No. 12 Ohio State and No, 14 Iowa. 'M'takes on pesky Wildcats By CAITLIN SMITH Daily Sports Writer Coach Kevin Borseth has con- tinuously emphasized that the mentality of the Michigan women's basketball team is to take the sea- son one game at a time. "One play at a EI O time, that's how at North- you do it," Bors- wem eth said after practice last Matchup: week. "We don't Northwestern go to streaks and -5 chi- we don't go to gan1-7 records, we go to When: Thurs- the next play and day 9 P.M. the next game. Where: Every team pres- Welsh-Ryan ents a different Arena set of challenges, so we've got to be able to prepare, on both sides of those court, for those challenges." But after yet another defining win this past weekend against a Big Ten opponent, Wisconsin, it's hard not to look at Thursday's game against Northwestern as a pivotal moment for the Wolverines in conference play. Michigan (3-2, 10-7) started off its Big Ten season with consecutive wins over conference frontrunners No. 14 Iowa. and No. 12 Ohio State contesting its reputation as a weak team in the competitive league. Coming into January, the Wolver- ines stepped up their defensive pressure early and were executing shots at over 40 percent in both games. Michigan followed a hot start withtwohard-foughtlosses to Pur- due and Michigan State, leading up to Sunday's 75-59 win against Wis- consin. With the win, the Wolver- ines have returned to above-.500 in conference play and have an oppor- tunity to prove against Northwest- ern that their successful start in the Big Ten was no fluke. "Right now, we're on the fence," senior guard Veronica Hicks said last week after practice. "We know that we started off on the top, and now we are neck-and-neck with a lot of teams, so this is kind of where ... you start to realize if you're going to be at the top or the bottom." But Northwestern will not be an easy stepping stone for Michigan, who is looking to launch its season into an upward swing. The Wild- cats (3-3 Big Ten, 14-5 overall) have been positioned as the surprise team of the Big Ten since the pre- season. "It is no surprise to us coaches, but Northwestern is going to be a great team this year," Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said in October. "The perception is still that they are toward the bottom of the Big Ten, but they are a very good basketball team, and they are well coached. I think they are going to shock everybody else." And Northwestern has come close, notching two conference wins againstIllinois and Ohio State and splitting two games against Purdue. But even the Wildcats' losses have been notable - com- ing against Penn State, who is cur- rently tied for the Big Ten lead, and Indiana who sealed its two-point win by finishing a layup with just three seconds left in the game. Northwestern is led by 6-foot- 5 senior center Amy Jaeschke, who averages 22.8 points and 9.2 rebounds per game. Jaeschke is a three-time All-Big Ten selec- tion and is currently fifth in the nation in blocked shots, with four per game. Jaeschke is paired with junior forward Brittany Orban, who averages 12.4 shots and 6.9 rebounds a game and shoots just under 50 percent from behind the arc. But on Thursday, the Wolverines will not focus all their efforts on defending Jaeschke. Rather, Mich- igan will emphasize offensive pro- duction of its own, having finished 0-6 this season when scoring less than 60 points in a game. So that's the plan: Put the ball in the basket. "(Scoring is) being able to finish on the block, penetrating and fin- ishing around the basket," junior guard Courtney Boylan said last week. "It seems like we can really get threes at any point, it's just tak- ing good shots and getting the ball around the rim to get easy shots." If Michigan can successfully execute on the offensive end of the court, then the matchup against Northwestern may prove to be more than another game - it could be another push in the right direc- tion for the Wolverines' confer- ence play., After impressive 2010 season, team strives to earn Big Ten title By EMILY O'DONNELL For the Daily Boasting an overall 61-18 record, Michigan coach Ronni Bernstein - the 2010 Big Ten Coach of the Year - has set the bar high for her fourth season at the helm of the No. 8 Michigan women's tennis team. In just one year, Michigan's preseason ranking has gone from No. 19 to No. 8 in Division I. As a result of having an out- standing 2010 season, "the bar has definitelybeen raised and the expectations are greater," fresh- man Sam Critser said. Preparing to live up to these expectations, the team is focused and determined to perform well. "We are pushing ourselves harder," senior Rika Tatsuno said. "We're doing everything hard in training and practice." But the team has already start- ed off the season well. This past weekend at the Mich- igan Invitational, senior Denise Muresan, 2010 Big Ten Player of the Year, won the singles' title. "We played well against some great teams, but there is still room for improvement," Bern- stein said. Last season, the team hit a peak in rankings at No. 3 and went into the NCAA Champion- ships in May ranked No. 4. It also defeated some of the top schools in the nation in dual matches, including wins against No. 4 Northwestern and No. S Baylor. In the coming months, the Wolverines will compete in matches against other top- ranked tennis programs like No. 4 Notre Dame in early Febru- ary and No. 6 North Carolina in March. But the highlight match- up will, once again, be against the Wildcats in late April. "There's going tobe some good teams this season," Critser said of this season's matchups. "Our biggest rivalry is Northwestern, along with Notre Dame." In order to succeed as much as they did last year, the Wolverines must use their team chemistry to their advantage. "We push each other ... We have no weaknesses this year." "Team chemistry is our big- gest strength," Tatsuno said. "We push each other, on and off the court. We have no weakness- es this year." When deciding to come to Ann Arbor this year, Critser said that she loved the atmosphere around the tennis program, along with everything the University had to offer. And for Critser, adjust- ing to Michigan has been so easy because of the team. The team's ultimate goal for the season is to make the NCAA tournament and win Big Ten. With how it played last year combined with their determina- tion to win this year, those goals appear to be well within reach. Taking its first step toward' their goal, Michigan will play Western Michigan this Sunday UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Sophomore Evan King lost in a preseason doubles match against Texas along with senior Jason Jung. Michigan tries to upset * No. 5 Texas in rematch WHAT DO IHODES/MARSHALL/MITCHELL SCHOLARS DO AFTER THEIR STUDIES Well, this guy became president. What will you do? Anything you want. You've written your own game plan so far in life. Why not take r. it one step further and become a Rhodes, Marshall, or Mitchell Scholar? William Jefferson Clinton, President of the United States of America, 1992-2000 Come to a Rhodes/Marshall/Mitchell Orientation Session: Monday, January 24, 2011 " 5:00-6:OOpm Koessler Room, Michigan League, 3rd Floor Thursday, January 27, 2011 " 5:00-6:00pm Pendleton Room, Michigan Union, 2nd Floor Tuesday, February 1, 2011 " 5:00-6:00pm Pierpont Commons, East Room SPECIAL SESSION: How to Write a Rhodes, Marshall, or Mitchell Essay Monday, March 14, 2011 * 5:00-7:30pm Vandenberg Room, Michigan League, 2nd Floor To learn more, please contact the Provost's Council on Student Honors at 734-763-8123 or visit the Website at www.provost.umich.edu/scholars/ By ALEX STEINHOFF Daily Sports Writer The Michigan men's tennis team faces a familiar foe on Sat- urday though the Wolverines hope to have better results this time around. After cruising past Western Michigan, 7-0, in the first scoring match of the season last weekend, the Wolverines will host No.5 Texas this weekend. Earlier this month, Michigan saw the Longhorns in a non-scor- ilg tournament in Key Biscayne, Florida. In its final preseason test, Texas did not surrender a single match to the Wolverines. Michigan was swept in singles by the Longhorns, with their closest matches endingin tough losses for sophomores Chris Cha 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4) and Evan King 7-6 (5), 6-4. Along with six other Wolverine singles players, King was unable to win a set against a tough Texas squad. Senior Jason Jung was the only player to take a set in singles. Though it appeared that Texas trounced the Wolverines, some of the scores were close. "In the last match, we had our chances," King said Tuesday. "There were a lot ofgreat matches." After being swept on day one of the tournament, the Wolver- ines looked to avenge their singles defeats against the Longhorns in doubles on the final day. Michigan was unable to do so as they were swept once again. The freshmen pair of Alex Buzzi and Justin Rossi and the doubles team of King and Jung were the only two teams to keep it close, but both lost their matches 8-6 in the pro-set. Despite losing the first time around to the Longhorns, Michi- gan - especially the doubles team of King and Jung - is looking for- ward to the rematch. King and Jung are slated to be Michigan's top tandem in 2011. Their lead- ership on and off the court will play a big role in Michigan's suc- cess, and the chance to knock off a highly-ranked team like Texas is an opportunity for the Wolverines early in the season. "We're familiar with all the players, we know what to expect, we know their tendencies and we are really looking forward to the match," King said. "I think we have a good chance." But for Michigan to win, it will need heavy contributions from its freshman class. "Even though we didn't do so well last time we played Texas, we took some important information from those matches," freshman Shaun Bernstein said. "It's up to us to shake off the early nerves of playing dual matches as freshmen and step up and play our game." Having already played Texas, Michigan now knows the tenden- cies and styles of play in each posi- tion on the Longhorn roster. Even though the Wolverines cruised over the Broncos last Saturday, this weekend's match against a tough Texas team will notbe as easy. However, this weekend will offer Michigan an opportunity to see some of the best competition in the country, while also making a statement early in the season. "For us, this match is both a learning experience and a chance to upset a top team," Michigan coach Bruce Berque said. "We really believe we can do it; we are going into this match to win it. "We are going to have to win the closer matches and raise our level to do it, but we believe we can do it."