Page 16 Saturday, May 16, 1981 The Michigan Daily 4 'M' netters face U national contenders," said Eisner "I Bru ins top seeded am hoping to take two out of the top _ne inismaceP . three singles matches a " TA 1 A and one of the bottom thr t '' R ii n tied at 3-3 going into the in ICLA A tunmn ches, we have an excelle By BARB BARKER Bruins that could help his netters: winning." By ' s The Bruins have no outstanding JUNIOR MICHAEL LE The Michigan men's tenms team, servers. in the number one s which squeezed out a tie for the title . Their singles players are all back- Wolverines against UC. with iupstart Minnesota nlast court players. Frieman. Leach has pla weekend's Big Ten Championships, is All of the - players are ap- four times before, beati slated to face top-seeded UCLA in the proximately 5'8" or 5'9". times. first round of the NCAA tournament . None of the UCLA doubles teams Michigan will also have today in Athens, Ga. The -Wolverines are outstanding. Leach and senior Matt H were paired with the Bruins in a blind "I think the fact we have had such a peting in the NCAA singl draw for the first round of the single- super season proves us to be legitimate ships, and another Woly elimination tournament. Seeded behind the Bruins are Stan- ford, Pepperdine, Southern California, Arkansas, Clemson, Houston and Southern Methodist. COMPETING IN the event, which represents the "cream of college tennis competitors" according to Michigan coach Brian Eisner; will be a total of 16 teams - eight regional champions plus eight additional top teams. The Wolverines are unseeded in the event.{ Michigan earned the bid to represent its region in the NCAA match when the Wolverines tied Minnesota for the regional championship in the conferen- . ce tournament last weekend.- The - Wolverines were chosen to go to Athens' over the Gophers because Michigan went undefeated in Big Ten dual com- petition, including a 6-3 win over Min- nesota. ~ Despite drawing powerful UCLA as its first round opponent, Eisner said that he is optimistic about Michigan's chances. "I THINK WE HAVE gained a lot of. experience in the tough team battle we had ri the Big Tens with Minnesota," he said. "Yesterday we scrimmaged second-seeded Stanford in doubles and wo five of seven.sets. Wh we Pplayphoto UCLA, we're going to cut away MICHIGAN'S MICHAEL LEACH fires a backhand in last week all the pressure of them being the first- Ten Championships in Ann Arbor. Leach will by playing first sin seeded team. We plan to' take a very when the Wolverines take on top-seeded UCLA in the NCAA tour analytical approach to the match.",thenssk s AA Eisner listed four weaknesses of the Athens, Ga. SPORTS OF THE DAILY: against UCLA Free. If we are doubles mat- ent chance of ACH will play pot for the. LA's Marcel yed Frieman ng him three two players, orwitch, com- es champion- vpin Ma- Mees, will be the region's first alter- nate. UCLA placed five players, more than any other school, in the 64-player event, which begins Thursday. Horwitch, who is four-time second singles Big Ten champion, was ranked 12th in the college ranks prior to this season. Leach was ranked 14th and was undefeated this season until he lost his Big Ten first singles crown last weekend to Ohio State's Ernie Fernan- dez. Neither Wolverine is seeded in the NCAA tournament. Ra in slows Big Tfen. basebal tourney The players were ready but Mother Nature wasn't yesterday, as the opening round of the Big Ten baseball tournament at Fisher Stadiun was postponed by rain. So with the forecast calling for sunny skies, the four-team double-elimination tournament is pushed back a day, with East Division winner Michigan scheduled to take on Illinois at 1 p.m. today, and West Division champ Minnesota slated to face Purdue at 4 p.m. Michigan, which finished the Big Ten season at 10-4, won the conference title last year. This year' marks the first time that the conference has used a tournament format to determine the 'league winner. Purdue finished in second place in the East with an 8-6-1 mark, behind the Wolverines. Illinois held on to the West lead throughout most of the season until - Minnesota swept Wisconsin last Sunday in a doubleheader, giving the Gophers a 13-3 record and the West title, while the Illini finished in second place at 11-3. y u vr t r kend's Big gles today nament in' 'M'golfers in fifth at Big Tens I Specialtothe Daily ST. PAUL - After yesterday's first round of the Big Ten Golf Championships, Michigan is in a fifth-place tie with Iowa. Both the Wolverines and the Hawkeyes shot a nine-over par 364 to trail leader Purdue by twelvestrokes. Michigan's top individual scorer is currently senior John Morse, who is in eighth place with a par 71. Steve Maddalena registered a 72 for the Wolverines,' while Ed Humenik and Tom Pursel both shot a 73. PURDUE'S ERIC DUTT and Michigan State's Dave Belen share the individual lead at 67. Two rounds will be played today, with the final on Sunday on the Minnesota Course. U.S. divers face China CLEVELAND (AP)-The best divers from the United States and China meet for the third time today and tomorrow at Cleveland State University. "This is the bulk of the Olympic teams for both countries," said Dick Kimball, coach of the U.S. team' and diving coach at Michigan. "You won't find diving better than this anywhere in the world." THE AMERICAN TEAM has not beaten tlye Chinese team in two previous meetings, one at Fuchou, China last summer and earlier in 1980 at Columbus., . Saturday's competition will consist of the standard four events including 'three-meter springboard and 10-meter platform diving for men and women. Brett denies hit KANSAS CITY (AP)-Kansas City Royals third baseman George Brett denied yesterday that he struck a photographer on the head with a crutch Thursday night while leaving to seek treatment for a sprained ankle. "I hit the camera. I didn't hit him in the forehead," Brett said of his encounter with United Press Inter- national photographer Tom Gralish. ''That seems like a minor point," Gralish respon- ded to Brett's denial. "Something hit my forehead." Pirates'Parker injured PITTSBURGH (AP)-The injury-ridden Pit- tsburgh Pirates said yesterday that outfielder Dave Parker had been placed on the 15-day disabled list with a "slight tear" of his right Achilles tendon. i Parker, troubled by the swollen heel for the past month, was examined yesterday by Dr. Jack Failla, an orthopedic specialist. THE PIRATES said they were hopeful that rest would relieve Parker's problem. Parker is batting .264 this season with four homers and 15 RBI. Despite the injury, he was hitting .347 in his last 12 games with three homers and 11 RBI. He was forced to leave Wednesday night's game in Atlanta after seven innings when he aggravated his heel problem when he lunged back into first base.