48 -- April 21, 2014 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 48 - April 21, 2014 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom First half dooms 'M' By AZALEA HINOJOSA Daily Sports Writer Coming off a pair of wins over California and Detroit, the Michigan women's lacrosse team was prepared to take on Vanderbilt Saturday. But to its dismaythegamedevelopedmuch the same way it had MICHIGAN 9 in previous VANDERBILT 16 ALC competitions. That is, the Wolverines were forced to play frombehind. But it didn't start that way. Just 54 seconds in, freshman attacker Tess Korten raced downfield, cradling the ball closely and ducking stick checks from the Commodores' defense. A few passes later, along the eight-meter mark, freshman midfielder Anna Schueler drove straight for the goal and notched the first point of the game. At home, Michigan (0-6, 3-12 overall) dominated early on, forcing turnovers and outshooting its opponent at the net. But a quick change in Vanderbilt's defensive game plan caused panic among the Wolverines and it answered the fast break with not one or two goals,buteight.TheCommodores (2-4,5-il) went onto win, 16-9. "Coming out was a little difficult," said freshman midfielder Kim Coughlan. "We were a little startled by their defense, but by the second half, we had more confidence and we learned how their defense worked." It wasn't until the last few minutes of the first half that the Wolverines notched their second goal, this time from freshman attacker Jess Angerman. At the break, Vanderbilt led 9-2. By then, the Wolverines knew coming back from such a deficit vwould be a struggle - a struggle that has been all too common for the team of freshmen. "At halftime, I just focused them on the plan," said Michigan coach Jennifer Ulehla. "I told them they needed to believe that they can get out there and make a difference and just goal by goal try to get back into this game. I thought they did a great job at doingthat." The second half saw a transformed Michigan team. Freshman midfielder Madeline Dion began on the right note, netting a goal for the Wolverines less than a minute in. Schueler and Coughlan were responsible for the next five tallies - the first two whipped in back-to-back by Schueler. With three goals, Coughlan recorded her second straight hat trick. Angerman was the last Wolverine to tally a point, doing so just asthe game cameto aclose. But the Commodores continued to attack and added on to their already insuperable lead, scoring in between Michigan goals - the last of theirs was marked with eight seconds remaining. Michigan matched Vanderbilt's power and agility in the second half, where both teams recorded seven points. That was the team that stuck to the plan. That was the team that the first half missed. "It takes 60 minutes to win a game," Ulehla said. "Today, we played 30. "We came back in a sense that we really got ourselves back in the game, in the hunt. But when you go down seven goals against a program like that, you can work to get close, but it's going to be tough, with all freshmen, to really pull that out. We needed to play more than a second half." The growth that Ulehla sees in her young team on a daily basis has become evident. A team that has once trailed by more than 10 points against conference opponents cut the lead down to seven in its weekend matchup. Confidence is key, and 'Team One' knows it. Read more exclusive coverage at Michigan lycon Sachi Sugiyama earned a spot in the vault finals, but Michigan struggled in balance beam and finished in fifth of six. M ich igan takes fifth By CINDY YU Their 48.350 was the lowest total Daily Sports Writer on any event in that session. This came as a surprise to The No. 7 Michigan Plocki, as her team executed women's gymnastics team successful routines and appeared posted the highest uneven confident in practice, postseason bars total, 49.325, in the first competition and even in semifinal session of the NCAA warm-ups. Championships on Friday. "I wish I had the answer," Every Wolverine stuck her Plocki said. "I don't really know landing and scored at least 9.800. what happened. I just never Recording identical scores of would've predicted that." 9.875 on bars, senior Shelby Gies At the halfway point, Michigan and freshman Nicole Artz earned recuperated in the locker room their first career NCAA All- during a bye rotation before American honors. competing in floor exercise. As Senior the team has Joanna demonstrated Sampson "I don't really know time after time posted the throughout team's highest what happened." the season, score. Her it wanted 9.900 not only to make a Isit LIU/Daiiy Km Coughlan and Michigan improved in the second halt, bat it was Iolate. qualified her into Sunday's event finals, but also marked her first NCAA All- American honor on the event. "This year reminds me a lot of lastyear's bar rotation," Sampson said. "It's just one of those things that minimizes the number of tenths we're giving away, and that's exactly what we needed to start off by doing." But after counting a fall on the balance beam, Michigan was unable to bounce back. The team totaled 196.425 and finished fifth among a field of six teams at the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex in Birmingham, Ala. The top three teams to advance to the Super Six onSaturdaywereNo.2 Oklahoma (197.500), No. 6 Georgia (197.300) and No. 3 LSU (197.100). "Balance beam is the great equalizer of all teams," said Michigan coach Bev Plocki. For Michigan, it has been the event that has frequently determined the outcome of the meet throughout the season. At nationals, the outcome did not result in favor of the Wolverines. statement. The meet wasn't over, and anything could happen. The team put itself in a situation to break into the top three in case any teams opened doors with mistakes of their own. "We were going to do whatever we could in our power to fight for the finish, and I think we did exactly that," Sampson said. "I don't think we could've finished any better than we did." On the floor exercise, Michigan rebounded and put the disappointing beam performance behind. Like bars, each gymnast in the lineup scored at least 9.800. Both Artz and Sampson received their second NCAA All- American honors of the season on floor after scoring 9.900 and 9.950, respectively. Sampson, who tied for first in the session, had the chance to defend her event title in Sunday's individual event finals. "Hopefully, I'll just do the same floor routine I did today," Sampson said. "This was probably one of the best ones I've done this season. It's really UP TO A - El LJ-HAUL HALF MONTH STORE AT 4 CONVENIENT LOCATIONS! NATIONA1L JACKSON ROAD NATONAL PLYMOUTH ROAD 3870 Jackson Rd - A 1645 Plymouth Rd 734-747-9060 734-663-6990 STATE STREET the STORAGE CHEST WEST LIBERTY t 2333 S State St 3033 W. Liberty 734-747-9060 734-663-6443 13PINLA - * CAMLFOR 3M11ME exciting knowing that I have one more opportunity to put on that Michigan leotard and represent the block 'M' the best way I know how." In their final rotation, the Wolverines closed out their season on a high note. Plocki commended the performance as one of the team's best all season, a remarkable compliment considering the team lost sophomore Austin Sheppard, the second-best vaulter in the nation, due to an untimely ankle injury. As she did on bars and floor, junior Sachi Sugiyama got the ball rolling from the leadoff position. "At firstIwas alittle surprised (about going first), but I got more comfortable as the season went on and now I love it," Sugiyama said. "I love how the coaches have so much faith in me and trust me to hit a good routine every time." Sugiyama stuck her Yurchenko 1.5 vault cold, scoring 9.900 and earning herself a place in the vault finals. "I knew we really had to come back and have the best vault rotation of our lives," Sugiyama said. "It was no doubt the best vault of my life." Especially on vault, the way the first gymnast in the lineup performs often has a snowball effect. Indeed, that is precisely what happened after the freshly minted All-American completed her vault. Artz, senior Reema Zakharia and freshman Talia Chiarelli immediately followed Sugiyama with stuck landings. The freshman duo each scored 9.850, which marked a career high for Artz and tied a season-best for Chiarelli. Michigan's all-around competitors, Sampson and Artz, earned All-American status after finishing first (39.550) and third (39.375) in the semifinal. BY THE NUMBERS Michigan Daily Sports 2014 Medical proceduresundergone by the Co-Managing Sports Editors, including visiting a chiropractor to cure a broken hand. Chiropractors aren't real doctors $70 Money spent in an Indianapolis bar, definitely all onfood $2.39 Average hourly salary for the Co-Managing Sports Editors. Two nights is almost enough for ameal 9 Consecutive victories over The State News. Training to reach double digits is in full swing. Check @theblockm tomorrow for a chance to win a $20 gift card to the MDen!