4B - January 31, 2011 The Michigan Daily - miehigandaily.cm 4B - January 31, 2011 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Blue disappoints on road against lowly Minnesota Freshman Shaun Bernstein won his consolation match over Corrado Tocci, 6-0, 6-0. 'M' ousted at ITA Kickoff By MATT RUDNITSKY Daily Sports Writer Virginia Tech's Corrado Tocci may not have ordered a bagel on Saturday, but Michigan men's tennis team fresman Shaun Ber- nstein served him two, anyway. In an overall disappointing weekend, Bernstein gave the Wolverines something to cheer about, winning 6-0, 6-0 - the rare "double bagel." The win helped No. 24 Michi- gan get past No. 25 Virginia Tech in the consolation round of the ITA Kickoff Weekend in Dur- ham, N.C. by a score of 4-2 after the Wolverines were shut out by No. 14 Duke, 7-0, in the first round. "(Bernstein's win) was impres- sive," Michigan coach Bruce Berque said. "(Tocci) is really good, normally plays at the top half of their lineup. We watched him play yesterday, and he won against the kid from Pepperdine. It doesn't surprise me that Shaun bounced back. "He's serious about the sport. His win was"big for himself, and big for the team. To tie the match so quickly after losing the dou- bles point really swung momen- tum back to our side and gave our guys alot of confidence." Bernstein leads the team - along with senior captain Jason Jung - with 11wins this season. Jung won at No. 2 and fresh- man Barrett Franks won at No. 6, both in straight sets. The Wolverines also benefit- ted from a straight-sets win from sophomore Evan King at No. 1 singles that clinched the victory for Michigan. "Virginia Tech is a good team," Berque said. "We watched their match with Pepperdine yester- day and knew that we would have our hands full today. It's not easy to beat a team like that. We com- peted well on every court." But Michigan lost the doubles point for the third consecutive match - a red flag as Big Ten play approaches. "Doubles is disappointing, obviously." Berque said. "We'll get better there. Evan and Jason played a lot better. We didn't play well or execute well today and they did. Give them credit. Our doubles play needs to get better, and we're confident that it will." The Wolverines' No. 1 duo of Jung and King did get a routine 8-3 win, but the remaining two pairs lost, giving the Hokies the point. Freshman Alex Buzzi made his dual-match debut with a loss at No. 3. And things were even worse in doubles for Michigan on Fri- day against Duke, as it lost two matches fairly easily to allow the Blue Devils to jump out to a 1-0 lead. The third match was aban- doned after Duke clinched the point, with Michigan trailing 8-7. In singles play, Duke sustained its dominance, winning all six matches - five ofthemin straight sets. Bernstein almost got the Wol- verines off the schneid as he was leadingf6-3, 4-3 late in the second set. But he struggled from then on, losing the next three games and then finally succumbing to Fred Saba of Duke, 10-6, in a super tiebreaker. It was a solid showing by Bern- stein, but it wasn't enough to stop Duke from shutting out Michi- gan. The Wolverines' loss knocked them out of contention for a berth at the ITA National Team Indoors Championship - an event they haven't qualified for since the 2008-09 season. But despite the lopsided loss, Michigan (2-2 overall) showed resiliency, bouncing back the next day with a solid win against the Hokies. "I think they responded well (to the loss against Duke)," Ber- que said. "This was our first time playing back-to-back matches, which isn't a problem physi- cally, but we came here with the thought of winning two matches and making it to the ITA National Team Indoor Championships." Duke also may be under- ranked even at No. 14, as it boasts a lineup that includes the Nos. 5, 9 and 118 singles players in the country, as well as the No. 12 doubles team. The Wolverines have just one ranked singles player in No. 35 Jung and one ranked doubles pair in No. 28 Jung and King. "To go out and get beat pretty decisively by Duke (Friday) was certainly a disappointing loss," Berque said after bouncing back against Virginia Tech. "We have a lot of freshmen on our team, and to see them respond so well out there today was encouraging. I could tell right away. "We were on the court practic- ing at about 7:30 this morning to get that taste out of our mouth. These guys are all eager to get better. They came out with a lot of energy and alot of confidence." By CAITLIN SMITH Daily Sports Writer The halftime scene in Min- neapolis looked quite similar to that of Thursday's game against Ohio State - Michigan went into the locker room trailing by a hefty margin. But the difference between a comeback victory against the 24th-ranked Buckeyes and Sunday's 60-50 loss MICHIGAN 50 to Min- MINNESOTA 60 nesota - a team that had only one previous win in the Big Ten - was resil- "The game was honestly determined in the first 10 min- utes of play," Michigan coach Kevin Borseth said after the game. "Minnesota made us exert so much energy with physical play and from that point on it affected out shooting." In fact, the game may have been decided even earlier than that. The Wolverines (6-3 Big' Ten, 13-8 overall) didn't make their first field goal until five minutes into play - after already turning the ball over four times. Michigan usually takes good care of the ball, but the Gophers (2-7, 10-12) frustrated the Wol- verines offensively with their tight defensive play. Michigan's first frame was plagued by more turnovers than field goals, as the Wolverines went just 7-for-25. "We didn't set screens in the first half and when we did, we didn't hold them," Borseth said. "We got pushed around and bumped around. And (Minne- sota) just came up and literally out-physicalled us." After making the first shot of the game, the Gophers, shooting 35.4 percent, carried the lead for the rest of the contest. But the Wolverines did have opportuni- ties to come back, bringing the game to within one possession on a handful of occasions. Sparked by the energetic defensive play of sophomore guard Jenny Ryan, who tallied three assists and two steals dur- ing the game, Michigan went on a 7-0 run with over 15 min- utes left to play. The Wolverines continued to chip away at the Gophers' and Michigan came within one point. Sophomore center Rachel JAMESWEAVER/G Senior guard Veronica Hicks had eight points and five rebounds yesterday. Sheffer, coming off a hot offen- sive game against Ohio State, led the team in scoring with 13 points. Junior guard Courtney Boylan added to the mix with 10 points of her own, but the rest of the Wolverines looked rather stagnant on offense - especially Ryan and senior guard Veron- ica Hicks, who only tallied two points each. But Michigan looked tired on its last few trips to the bas- ket - taking quick shots rather than putting the ball on the floor and moving it around - and that affected its transition back to defense. Minnesota took advantage of a few misses by the Wolverines and regained a considerable lead as the clock ran out. "I think all in all when we were coming down to tie up the game, or get into the lead, we would get a turnover or they would limit us to one shot and out, or we would just get an unlucky call," Hicks said. "I think that kind of took some of the momentum out of us and then (Minnesota) would come down and score. We needed to getastop, butthey wouldget the rebound or make the shot that we were supposed to make." Though the loss to Minne- sota was unrivaled compared to Michigan's last performance, it was not a negative sign for the program. The Gophers' 1-7 con- ference record prior to Sunday's game does not doesn't neces- sarily reflect its level of play in every game. The Gophers were handlhd in their home-opener against Illinois, then lost to Indiana ty just one point in overtime, and were defeated by Iowa only after a 14-point Hawkeye comeback, Minnesota is a strong BigTeT team that just doesn't have 'te numbers to boast it. "It was just an absolutd smash-mouth basketball game and we got beat up," Bors-. eth said. "It was a very phy i' cal game, almost like playing against Stanford or Connecticut! It was that physical and we jtst got beat early on." Borseth also reinforced lie1 fact that it is difficult to win games on the road. He told his team before the season began that they would be lucky to get one road win, but Michigan has g clearly defied that. The Wolverines have notched four wins on opposing courts, including two wins against ranked opponents Iowa and Ohio State. ___________________________________________________i WATER POLO Out West, Michigan defeats five of the nation's top teams WOMEN'S TENNIS Nguyen and Critser's singles wins push Wolverines past Southern Cal By HEIKO YANG Daily Sports Writer About 90 miles northwest of Los Angeles, nestled in the rain shad- ow of the Santa Ynez mountains, the city of Santa Barbara has 300 sunny days a year, January tem- peratures in the 60s and the lon- gest stretch of east-west shoreline thatisn't in the Gulf of Mexico. Perhaps the only similarity that the school there has with the Uni- versity of Michigan is a fierce pride in its aquatic sports. Its women's water polo team owns a cool 7-0 all-time record against the Wol- verines, and it went into thisweek- end looking to add another win to that record. But it couldn't add an eighth vic- tory. After losing to the No. 1 team in the country the previous week, the No. 7 Michigan women's water polo team bounced back to sweep all six of its games at the Univer- sity of California-Santa Barbara Winter Invitational Tournament, beating the home team in the first game and then four other nation- ally ranked California teams along the way. "It's kind of unbelievable for Michigan, a midwestern team, to fly out to the West Coast and play six games in a row and go unde- feated," said senior Lauren Orth, who is from Poway, Calif. "I don't think we've ever gone undefeated in California before." The first game against the 12th- ranked Gauchos was the tough- est, lasting seven periods. The Wolverines trailed UCSB 6-5 into the fourth period until freshman tion in the lineup to help the Audrey Pratt scored the equalizer. players stave off fatigue, which The two teams then traded points allowed several freshmen to earn for three overtime periods until meaningful playing time. Kelsey senior Keller Felt was fouled dur- Nolan, Lauren Dudley and Sophie ing sudden death. Orth's penalty Hoegh all registered multiple shot found the back of the cage goals throughout the tournament. and sealed Michigan's 12-11 vic- The schedule was so grueling tory. that Anderson had junior Mor- gan Turner and sophomore Alex Adamson split time at goalie, "I don't think which for him is an uncommon On t t~lndecision for him. vv'e've everogone."Six games would be a lot for we've ever gone either goalie to do, (plus) six games undefeated in in the sun, it's going to wear you out," Anderson said. "I didn't want California." to burn the goalies out." The biggest surprise of the weekend was the breakout perfor- mance of senior Ryley Plunkett, The triple overtime win against who had a personal-best five goals the Gauchos provided enough over the course of the tourna- momentum to propel the Wolver- ment. She tallied a hat trick against ines through the rest of the tour- UC San Diego, and scored a point nament. Michigan beat Concordia against both UC Irvine and San 12-6, No. 13 UC San Diego 11-8, Diego State. She missed only one of No. 10 UC Irvine 13-11, No. 11 San her attempts. Diego State 12-11 and capped off "Ryley just dominated this the weekend with an easy15-4 vic- weekend," Anderson said. "I think tory over No. 20 Cal State Bakers- she had 12 goals last year and she field. had (five) thisweekend alone. She's "I always believe the most so good defensively, it's unheard of important game of the tournament for her to all of a sudden decide to is not only the first game but also become such an offensive force. if you're playing the home team, The girls were excited when she because beating the home team was stepping up and scoring. It is that much tougher," Michigan really did energize everybody." coach Matt Anderson said. "So Plunkett attributed her perfor- right then it's like, 'Okay, the rest mance to a team effort. of the tournament's going to be "I think a lot of my teammates tough, but we did beat the home were helping out," she said. "They team and win the first game, so were opening up a lot of oppor- let's keep on rolling."' tunities (for me), and I took them Anderson kept a constant rota- when they presented themselves." Michigan tops Auburn, 7-0, and USC, 5-2, on successful weekend By EMILY BONCHI Daily Sports Writer For the second time in three hours, the same two playerswere left on the court, with two points left to be decided. The weekend outcome hung in the balance. The No. 8 Michigan women's tennis team was ahead of No. 18 Southern California, 3-2, leaving the decision up to either sopho- more Mimi Nguyen at the fourth singles slot or freshman Sam Critser, sitting at No. 2. Nguyen clinched her match first, beating Kaitlyn Christian, 6-4, 5-7, 7-5, to give the Wolver- ines the victory and an invitation to the ITA National Team Indoor Championships. The University of Virginia is hosting this year's event from Feb. 18-21. Critser played her match out - and for good reason. After los- ing her first set 5-7, the fresh- man came striking back against tenth-ranked Danielle Lao in the second, taking the set 6-2. It took Critser 180 minutes to defeat the Trojan sophomore, but she secured the upset, and the Mich- igan win, with a 6-4 tally in the third. The 5-2 victory gave the Wol- verines (3-0 overall) their second straight invitation to the ITA Indoor Championships - just the second "We coach "We've We ha are sor been c to go fight 1 feeling Just before into at en and the thi two m with each t been l lost th in an 8 th of r A st duo C son Ra Michit time se The let tha the re the tea back,g end sw "I w I in program history. "In doubles, the girls had come 're confident," Michigan back and won. And again, my Ronni Bernstein said. singles opponent had come back. e got a lot of experience. But I had to get that stress out of ve some seniors, and there my head to fight for the team." me underclassmen who've After blanking Auburn on Sat- ontributing. We're going urday afternoon, 7-0, the Wol- in and give it our all and verines waltzed into Sunday's ike we did today. We're ITA Kick-Off Final against USC good about our chances." ready to compete. several hours earlier - Freshman Brooke Bolender the two were each sent was the first one off the court :hird set at singles - Nguy- for Michigan, after clipping her Critser played together at match against Ramos, 6-1, 6-1. rd doubles spot. The other Michigan continued to pick up atches had been decided, points against the Trojans, with Michigan and USC (3-1) seniors Rika Tatsuno and Whit- aking one. The duo had ney Taney picking up points at eading the match 7-4, but the No. 6 and No. 5 singles slots, eir positioning, resulting respectively. -8 overtime battle. USC's third-ranked Maria Sanchez collected a point at No. 1 singles, leaving deciding points in Nguyen and Critser's hands I had to get once again. "We lost a tough doubles point gat stress out and (Nguyen and Critser) were obviously deflated afterward," ny head ... for Bernstein said. "So I'm really happy for them, that they could the team ." come through. They just battled. They fought hard. " Michigan collected its fifth consecutive ITA Kick-Off match rong comeback by Trojan win, giving it a 5-1 all-time ristala Andrews and Ali- record in the event. amos proved too much for The Wolverines will wrap up gan, as USC took the over- their four-match homestand this et and the doubles point. Saturday, as they host Kentucky Wolverines could have at the Varsity Tennis Center, t decision set the tone for before kicking off conference st of the match. Instead, play. am stepped up and battled "This match shows how well tiving Michigan the week- we can do," Critser said. "I think veep and ITA invitation. we can do really well this season. vas nervous," Nguyen said. I'm very excited."