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September 8, 2014 -- 38"
S September 8, 2014 - 38
'M' wins home opener
Freshman Mueller
tops at tournament
ByBRANDON HANDELSMAN
Daily Sports Writer
Coming home to the newly
renovated Phyllis Ocker Field
proved to be well worth the wait.
After delayed construction left
the Michigan field hockey team
on an extended road trip to start
the season,
it wasted CMU 0
no time MICHIGAN 6
breaking in
its new home stadium.
The 17th-ranked Wolverines
were flat-out dominant in
their return to Ann Arbor this
weekend, posting back-to-
back shutouts on their way to
completing a home sweep.
Michigan followed its victory
over William & Mary in the
home opener with Sunday's 6-0
drubbing of Central Michigan.
The Wolverines' offense was
firing on all cylinders against
the overmatched Chippewas,
outshooting them 16-2 and
outcornering them, 5-2.
"It was a good weekend,"
said Michigan coach Marcia
Pankratz. "We were on the road
a long time. They love playing
at home. This is a phenomenal
facility and a phenomenal
homecourt advantage."
Michigan (2-2) stormed out of
the gates Sunday with three goals
in the opening six minutes of the
match, the first coming at the
2:14 mark when junior forward
Shannon Scavelli redirected a
shot from freshmen forward
Courtney Enge. While Central
Michigan's goalkeeper Sadie
Reynolds managed to save Enge's
initial attempt, a diving Scavelli
was there to tip the ball past her
off the rebound.
Just three minutes later,junior
back Jaime Dean received the ball
in the circle and lobbed it over
Reynolds to give the Wolverines
a 2-0 edge. Michigan tacked on
another just 36 seconds later off
of Enge's effort. The freshman
saved the ball from going out
By SAMANTHA LEN
Daily Sports Write
Kyle Mueller arrived
Arbor just two weeks
the sole freshman on M
men's golf team. Satu
made his career deb
Wolverine.
And after register
birdies over a six-hole
his first round of colleg
it was safe to say Muelle
comfortable at his new
"Through his first 12
was doing well and mak
of pars, but he felt like
playing a little bit te
said Michigan coach
Whitten. "And so we
talked about
trying to*
birdie every c"i
hole for
the rest of
that round
- which is
not really a
realistic thing most of ti
But for Mueller, it was
The freshman ended
round with a score of 67,
four under par. Muelle
consistent as he followed
a one-under 70 in his
round. He shot five un
was tied for second plac
behind junior Chris
Mueller exited Saturda
contributed heftily to h
16-stroke lead.
Mueller had played h
course just four time
teeing off at his first
Michigan's only home
the season.
"It was kind of an ac
... going to the golf co
the first time you just ki
out your spots and hi
don't really pick out the,
Mueller said. "That help
(my) mind a little bit."
Despite limited exp
collegiate golf, the f
WMEN carried his high-caliber play intb
r Sunday, shooting one-under on
the front nine and a birdie on the
I in Ann first hole of the back nine, tying
ago as himself for first place with San
Michigan Jose State junior CodyfBlick.
rday, he After 15 holes and a Blick
ut as a bogey, Mueller stood alone on
the leaderboard - two-under
ing five par for the day and three holes
span in away from winning an 11-team,
late golf, 66-player invitational in his first
r looked event with Michigan.
home. Again, Mueller proved
holes he consistent as he shot par on his
ing a lot last three holes, saving the 18th
he was with an eight-foot sinker. The
ntative," freshman ended the day two
Chris under par with a score of 69.
actually Through three rounds, he shot a
collectivescore
of 206 and
really hasn't seven under
par for the
ink in yet." tournament.
*Sitting in
first place,
Mueller could
he time." only wait as Blick rounded out his
s. play, birdying the first two of his
the first last three holes and positioning
shooting himself one stroke ahead of
r stayed Mueller. Blick then proceeded
lup with to double-bogey his last hole,
second finishing one stroke behind
ider and Mueller forthe weekend.
e overall "I think for him to start in this
O'Neill. first event was a confidence boost
y having forhim,"Whittensaid."Andthen
is team's to play as well as he did here ...
more than anything I think we'll
tis home just stay focused on his process
s before and keep playing well, and we'll
event - let the results and the scores take
event of care of themselves."
Not only did Mueller win
dvantage the individual field, but he also
urse for propelled the Wolverines to a
nda pick team victory.
t it, you "It really hasn't sunk in yet,
trouble," it's still kind of a shock to me,"
ted clear Mueller said. "It definitely feels
good to get the first tournament
osure to under my belt ... but it hasn't
reshman sunk in."
Shannon Scavelli and the Michigan field hockey team scored early and often in Sunday's blowout of Central Michitan.
of bounds by centering it off of shutout," Pankratz said. "They're
a Central. Michigan defender doing a great job communicating
and into the back of the net. The and controlling the defense. I'm
fortuitous bounce capped the pleased with their performance."
Wolverines' offensive flurry. The Wolverines' offense
"We came out hard, just exploded again early in the
with the mentality of putting second half, capitalizing on two of
everything their four total
out there on penalty corner
the field," opportunities.
said senior "They love Fifth-year
midfielder senior back
Ainsley playing at home." Leslie Smith
McCallister. hammered
"We just really home both
wanted to set penalties from
the tone early." the top of the circle on assists
While Michigan's goal-scoring from freshman midfielder Veerle
opportunities were not as fruitful Lubbers and McCallister.
as the half wore on, the defense "We've been working on
held Central scoreless to take a (penalty corners), we've been
3-0 lead into the half. practicing them a lot," Pankratz
"It's a confidence booster for said. "Leslie, she's really been
our goalkeepers to get another piping them in practice, so we've
been calling her number because
she's been scoring. She's very
talented."
The win was punctuated by
a fast-break goal at the 56:13
mark from sophomore Sina
Lampe, who carried the ball from
Michigan's side all the way into
the Chippewas' circle. Reynolds
came out of goal inan attempt to
stop Lampe, but the sophomore
beat the goalie and crossed the
ball from the left side into the
right corner of the net.
"Getting a good win under
your belt is always a confidence
booster," McCallister said.
"Taking it forward, we're just
going to continue finishing.
That's the biggest thing. We
know that when we get into the
circle, we've got to get corners
and finish. We know we can do
that now."
Youth, inexperience
doom Wolverines
By RAJAT KHARE
Daily Sports Editor
Down 17-21 in the third set,
it was the Michigan volleyball
team's last chance for a late push
to keep its chance intact to sweep
in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.
And it obliged.
After a long exchange between
the 20th-ranked Tar Heels and
Wolverines, the rally ended with
an emphatic block by freshman
outside hitter Adeja Lambert,
bringing the dormant crowd at
Cliff Keen Arena back to life.
"I loved the way Adeja came in
and was aggressive," said coach
Mark Rosen. "Late in the match,
we decided to make that change
and she was ready. She came in
right off the bat and had a great
block, two great kills and that
was a great sign for her. She really
created some great momentum."
The Wolverines (3-2) rode the
momentum, tallying four straight
points, tying up the game at 21
and forcing a North Carolina
timeout.
After the break, the Tar Heels
(4-1) scored two points before
Michigan answered back with
three of its own, taking a 25-24
lead and earning the opportunity
to push the match to a fourth set.
The comeback was not to be
though. A net violation against
the Wolverines tied the score
before the Tar Heels scored the
final two points on a kill and a
hitting error.
"I loved the fact that our team
has come back and after the first
set, has been better," Rosen said.
"They've continually gotten bet-
ter as the match has gone on."
The Wolverines got off to a
-ockluster start, falling behind
7-2 and forcing themselves into
an uphill battle for much of the
first set.
"I didn't think we were com-
municating as well in the begin-
ning as well as we did yesterday
(against Duke)," said junior out-
side hitter Ally Davis. "It could
have been better by just talking
to each other and keeping up the
energy."
The Tar Heels pressed their
advantage, never allowing Michi-
gan to eliminate their lead and
won the first set, 25-16.
Michigan bounced back in the
second set, exchanging the lead
five times with North Carolina.
The Wolverines got off to a
quick start and took a 6-2 lead
early on. North Carolina battled
back, though, tying the game at
eight before Michigan began to
pull away, tallying four straight
points at 14-12, the last on a
Davis kill.
North Carolina staged a run
of their own, though, trimming
Michigan's lead to two at 19-17,
forcing a Michigan timeout. The
Tar Heels won the next point,
cutting the lead to one, before
freshman right side hitter Kath-
erine Mahlke brought the lead
back up to two with a kill. Along
with Davis, she led Michigan
with nine for the match.
The Tar Heels and Wolverines
went back and forth until, tied
at 24, Michigan committed two
hitting errors, giving the set to
North Carolina, 26-24.
"When the game gets close, a
lot of the hitters just go up and
try and bang the ball," Davis said.
"And it's a good thing to learn
from because, in the heat of the
moment, we need to know that,
that's not always going to be the
best decision and we were trying
to crush the ball to end the game
and that's something that we
need to work on."
Just five games into the season
and playing without their lone
senior setter Lexi Dannemiller
and a recuperating junior outside
hitter in Kelly Murphy, the ACC/
Big Ten Challenge allowed this
young Michigan team to gain
experience against a seasoned
North Carolina squad. Early on,
the Wolverines decision-making
highlighted their inexperience
but the team continued
to compete and created
opportunities in both the second
and third set to extend the match.
As the season continues
to mature and the team gets
healthy, this young team could
surprise come Big Ten play.
Though this weekend provided a
good measure of where the team
currently stands, ultimately it's
the last game of the season that
truly matters, as Rosen put it.
Michigan coach Greg Ryan has allowed freshman Megan Hinz to compete for a startingjob over Taylor Bucklin.
Hinz earns twoshutouts
By BRAD WHIPPLE
Daily Sports Writer
Last year, Taylor Bucklin
made a name for herself as
the most successful rookie
goalkeeper in Michigan women's
soccer history.
But that doesn't guarantee her
a starting spot this year.
"If you perform well, you
get to play," said Michigan
coach Greg Ryan. "If you're
off, somebody else is playing.
Nobody has a spot."
On a roster with five talented
goalkeepers, the competition is
fiercer than before. Ryan - who
has stressed the irrelevance
of past seasons - is keeping
things simple.
And Bucklin learned that the
hard way, when she gave up five
goals during the Wolverines' trip
to California last weekend. The
poor performance landed her a
spot on the bench this weekend.
Bucklin's replacement, Megan
Hinz, is a freshman now taking
the reigns of a defense still in its
developing stages. Hinz played
all 180 minutes this weekend and
posted consecutive shutouts to
help her team rebound from two
blowout losses.
"They're competing, and that's,
the way it's goingto be this year,"
Ryan said. "They're competing
every time they step on this field.
... (Hinz) had a good weekend, she
getsthenextstart. If she cankeep
putting these games together,
she'll keep playing. Taylor'sgot to
wait (for) her chance."
Friday against Toledo (3-2-
1), Hinz made just two saves
in Michigan's 4-0 victory. Her
performance didn't waver in
the slightest Sunday, when her
two saves were good enough
for a 3-0 shutout over Central
Michigan (1-3-1).
The pair of shutouts comes
after the Wolverines gave up
eight goals through two games
last weekend, two of which were
allowed by Hinz. Nonetheless,
she got the starting nod over
Bucklin. -
Now, with three starts this
season, Hinz will be in the net for
the Wolverines' (4-2) opening Big
Ten homestand, assuming the
trend continues. Up to this point,
though, Hinz hasn't felt much
intimidation.
"Being able to play behind such
a great team helps, and I didn't
really have to do all that much
this weekend," Hinz said. "Com-
inginto itwith such astrongteam
really helps my confidence."
Within the final minutes of
Sunday's game against Central
Michigan, though, the back line
broke down and Hinz was tested.
In the 81st minute, Chippewa
midfielder Emily Cooksey snuck
past Michigan's right back, and
crashed the net. Instead of wait-
ing for a shot, Hinz charged
from the net and struck the ball
away from Cooksey inside the
penalty box.
Had Hinz mishandled the
shot, it would've resulted in a
goal. But she looked confident
enough to ensure that wouldn't
happen, which is why she made
the same play a minute later.
"Dealing with balls coming in
behind, it's always nice to have
an aggressive person that's going
to come up and get the ball that
the defense can't," Hinz said. "I
try to provide that, so that way
they're notalways sprintingback
while I hold my line, because if
they geta shot off that close, you
never know."
According to Ryan, Hinz's
aggressiveness is her biggest
strength and the main reason she
was recruited.
"Being that aggressive can be
good or bad," Ryan said. "If you
use it at the right time, it's great.
If you're overaggressive, you can
beat yourself ... If (Hinz) can use
that aggression effectively and
not give away anything, she's
going to do really well."
In the five games Hinz has
played this season, she has given
up just two goals, better than
Bucklin's three during the first
six games of 2013.
But that doesn't mean much,
because, as Bucklin learned, good
things can come to a quick end.
MCKENZIE BEREZIN/Daily
Caroline Knop transitioned to the outside, but Michigan fell in straight sets.
I