The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Wednesday, October 26, 2011 - 5A The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Wednesday, October 26, 2011 - 5A MARISSA MCCLAIN/Daily Redshirt sophomore running back Fitzgerald Toussaint is averaging 56 rushing yards per game, which is the most among Michigan running backs- Blame for lack of ound production split between backs and offensive line Bektas wins program's first-ever title at ITA Midwest Regional By ALEXA DETTELBACH 11 consecutive points against For the Daily Turvy to reach the finals. "When I was down 6-5 in Freshman Emina Bektas had the third, I started playing reason to smile Tuesday morning. more of my game, and reeled off Her singles title - the pro- 11-straight consecutive points," gram's first ever - led the Michi- Bektas said. "That gave me a lot gan women's tennis team this of confidence in my final match." weekend at the ITA Midwest Her impressive run wasn't Regional Championships in limited to singles. She is also Columbus. In their fourth non- one half of the No. 17 doubles scoring tournament of the pre- team with sophomore Brooke season, the Wolverines also put a Bolender. The pair made it to doubles team in the semifinals. But it was the play of Bektas _______ that stood out. "Emain culminated the "(Betkas) whole weekend," said Michigan coach Ronni Bernstein. "She just t the just played some really solid k p tennis, and it was good to see in pressure on the finals today (that) she played at a really high level." the girl." After a pair of close three-set- ters on Monday, Bektas didn't have much time to rest. She was back on the court early Tuesday the semifinals before falling to morning in singles, when her Northwestern's No. 3 team of serve was not broken once. She Linda Abu Mushrefova and Nida defeated Northwestern's Brit- Hamilton, 9-7. Bektas's victory tany Wowchuk in straight sets, secures her spot in the USTA/ 6-4,6-2. ITA National Indoor Intercolle- "It puts a lot more pressure giate Championships on Nov. 3 on her opponent when they are at the Billie Jean King National serving because they have to stay Tennis Center in Flushing, New with her and try and hold serve," York. She posted an impressive Bernstein said. "She just kept the 8-2 record during her rookie sea- pressure on the girl today, got a son and has four wins against couple breaks and ran away with ranked opponents. With just it in the second set." two tournaments left in the pre- Last week's Big Ten Player season, the spring cannot come of the Week, sophomore Sam soon enough. Critser, fell short on Monday "We just got to keep working in the quarterfinals against the hard," Bernstein said. "We defi- Wildcat's Kate Turvy. But later nitely have some talent on this that afternoon, Bektas, the 9th- team and good camaraderie." ranked freshman, rallied to beat Michigan also has an exciting Turvy in the semifinals. After new player in Bektas, who will droppingthe first set, Bektas won play a big role going forward. By MICHAEL FLOREK Daily Sports Editor The good news for the Michi- gan football team is that offen- sive coordinator Al Borges identified the offense's problem in its loss to Michigan State. The bad news is that he's got a lot more work than people original- ly thought. At Michigan coach Brady Hoke's radio show last week, Borges said the Wolverines' inability to run the ball was what got them into trouble. The run- ning backs have struggled for most of the season. In the past two games, three different backs have combined for just 102 yards. But both the coaching staff and the players were quick to point out it hasn't been just the run- ning backs' fault. "I think, like anything else, when you talk about a quar- terback, and talk about a line- backer not making as many tackles, sometimes that's the front," Hoke said. "(It's the) same thing with the running backs. Sometimes it's the opportunities or what we're doing up front." The offensive line is look- ing for a better way to operate. Fifth-year senior David Molk said the offensive line deserved some of the blame because it hadn't been getting to the sec- ond level in its blocking. Hoke's critique didn't get past the line of scrimmage. He said the line isn't consistent enough at the point of attack. Other than junior quarter- back Denard Robinson, there hasn't been much consistency in the backfield either. No. 18 Michigan opened the season with 147 rushing yards from its running backs against Western Michigan. The group ran for just 10 yards in the next game. Before their two poor perfor- mances against Northwestern and Michigan State, the running backs ran for 268 yards against Minnesota. "People want to blame one player or a coach or whatever and it's generally not that," Borg- es siad. "It's generally a com- bination of issues. It certainly isn't the running backs. ...When you're not playing well, usually nobody plays well." But the most inconsistent aspect has come from the per- sonnel. For most of the season, the load has been carried by redshirt sophomore Fitzgerald Toussaint and junior Vincent Smith. The two began the season locked in a position battle with a coaching staff adamant about finding a lead running back. Eight weeks later, the two are still fighting for the spot. Toussaint appeared to win the job coming out of camp, beat- ing out senior Mike Shaw. Then Toussaint didn't have a carry in Michigan's second game. Smith, originally the third-down back, vaulted himself into the lead after a 118-yard performance against Eastern Michigan. Shaw, who was the favorite coming into camp, faded out of the competi- tion early in the season before reemerging against North- western. He didn't have a carry against Michigan State. Hoke said he would like 100 yards a game from his running backs in order to feel good about their performance. Both Smith and Toussaint have done it just once this season. "No one's standing out, basi- cally," Borges said. "It's not something missing. It's just no one is standing out, and until somebody does we're going to operate the way we operate." Now Borges just has to fix all the pieces involved in the opera- LOOKING FOR HOUSING? CHECK OUT OUR SPECIAL FALL REALTY PAGE IN THIS THURSDAY'S PAPER! Do you love the Jewish people? Do you love Talmud Torah? Do you have a passion to lead? Become a RABBI. YESHIVAT fl2'W' CHOVEVEI '221fl TORAH illl Setting the standard in rabbinic education To schedule a visit to YCT, call 212-666-0036 4 1