The Michigan Daily I michigandaily.com I December10, 2012

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olverines topple the Wolverines weren't supposed
to be this successful against
o. 2 Stanford to ranked teams.
But after winning a five-
each first-ever set thriller against Tennessee,
knocking off No. 9 Louisville and
Final Four beating in-state rival Michigan
State, Michigan capitalized on its
By GREG GARNO momentum to topple No. 2 Stan-
Dgily Sports Writer ford in four sets, 20-25, 25-20,
25-20,25-20, inBerkeley, Calif. on
s wasn't supposed to be the Saturday night to advance to Lou-
isville, Ky. for its first-ever NCAA
s wasn't supposed to be the Tournament Final Four appear-
n the Michigan volleyball ance.
advanced to its first Final Michigan moves on to play,
in program history. With Texas on Thursday.
freshmen on their roster, The Cardinal, a dominant Pac-

12team that has seen action in the
postseason every year inits histo-
ry, has had the misfortune of fac-
ing the Wolverines in three of the
last four years and was favored to
win each time. But Michigan has
opset Stanford all three times.
"I'm just very proud of our
team," said Michigan coach Mark
Rosen. "The word 'team' is really
the key. I think this group has
really come together in the past
month and a half and become one
of the best teams I've everbeen a
part of.
"I think we just approached
(the Elite Eight) like any other
match. They were just very

relaxed, very loose, very normal.
Today was completely like any
other day, they were goofy, they
were silly and they were having
fun, yet they were focused."
An offense norm lly led by two
hitters was not expected to have
four step up, but Michigan fin-
ished with four hitters in double-
digit kills. Junior outside hitter
Lexi Erwin led the way as she
has all postseason, with 23 of the
team's 69. kills, earning her the
honor of NCAA Regional MVP.
From the beginning of the first
set, it appeared as if Stanford was
finally ready for Michigan. As the
See FINAL FOUR, Page 3B

Thi
year.
Thi
season
team
Four
seven

Junior middle blocker Jennifer Cross leaps at the net to bat down a Cardinal
attempt during Michigan's four-set victory over No. 2 Stanford on Saturday.


Michigan downs Hogs
By NEAL ROTHSCHILD
Daily Sports Editor
Forty minutes of hell.
The term was coined to
describe Arkansas's up-tempo,
asthma-inducing offense, but
Saturday, No. 3 Michigan flipped
the script
and used ARKANSAS 67
its own MICHIGAN 80
distinct
style to turn Crisler Center into
the Razorbacks' inferno.
The Wolverines (9-0) coun-
tered Arkansas's up-and-down
style with a strong transition
game of its own and with supe-
rior strength inside. Both guided
them to a convincing 80-67 win.
The victory gave coach John
Beilein his 100th at Michigan.
It's the first time the Wolverines
have started the season 9-0 since *
1988-89's national championship
season. ADAM GLANZMAN/Daily
With a new player seemingly Junior Tim Hardaway Jr. tallied 14 points and added nine rebounds in Michigan's ninth win of the season.
taking charge each game, a bal- team's starters scored in double with 17 points on 11 shots. game. A 13-2 run nearly halfway
anced attack supported Michi- digits, and freshman forward it didn't take long for Michi- through the first half put Arkan-
gan on Saturday. Each of the Glenn Robinson III led the team gan to wrest control of the See MICHIGAN, Page 3B

Morgan,.forwards
add new dimension
to rebuilt offense

By COLLEEN THOMAS
Daily Sports Writer
On Friday, Michigan coach
John Beilein stressed the impor-
tance of countering 'Arkansas'
fast-paced attack - something
Michigan struggled with in a
two-point loss to the Razorbacks
last season - with a good transi-
tion game of its own.
The third-ranked Wolverines
proved their endurance in Tues-
day's win over Western Michigan,
but on Saturday, they didn't have
to rely as much on transition as
Beilein predicted. Instead, Michi-
gan outmuscled Arkansas in the
post to secure an 80-67 win.
Redshirt junior forward Jor-
dan Morgan scored six of the
Wolverines' first nine points and
finished with his second career
double-double - 12 points, 10
rebounds, both season-highs - to

lead a complete all-around game
by Michigan's big men.
Freshman forward Mitch
McGary and redshirt sophomore
Jon Horford filled in nicely off the
bench for Morgan, adding a com-
bined six points, nine rebounds
and four blocks.
Morgan, who had arguably
his best game of the season on
Saturday, had a similar perfor-
mance against Arkansas last
season, when he put up 16 points
and six rebounds. His energy
and physicality was unmatched
by the Razorback bigs. Arkansas
was outrebounded by Michigan,
42-26.
"(Jordan) was really big for us,"
Beilein said. "This has got to be
his mode of operation - a high-
energy guy who gets the garbage
buckets, defends the heck out of
(his) man and everything comes
See MORGAN, Page 3B


BEILEIN'S BLUEPRINT
U Gone is the dependance on the 3-point-
er, here is the young talent and multi-
dimensionality of John Beilein's newest
roster, the 9-0 Wolverines. Page 2B

EARLY FLASHES
The Michigan women's gymnastics
team jumped past the Spartans early in a
season-opening exhibition at Crisler
Center on Friday. Page 4B