18 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, May 4, 1994 'M' netters best ILU, OSU, Brakus picks up 100th career win against Hoosiers By Darren Everson DAILY SPORTS WRITER Victories over conference foes are becoming routine for the Michigan men's tennis team as it head towards the Big Ten Championships. The lat- est victims are Ohio State and Indiana, and the latest accomplishments are a shutoutfortheteam andamilestonefor its top player. In defeating the Hoosiers and Buckeyes, the Wolverines won 10 of 12 singles matches, including all six against Indiana. Of those six was Dan Brakus' 100th career victory, a 4-6, 6-1,6-4 victory over Johan Landsberg. The 18th-ranked player in college tennis raised his season record to 34- 9 and his career mark to 100-45 with the victory. "He has been a very consistent performer for us,' Michigan head coach Brian Eisner said. "And he con- tinues to get better." Easy victories such as these should be unexpected for a team that finished eighth in the conference last season. However, these Wolverines seem to be taking all of their success in stride. "We had some injury problems last year and they really held us back from doing as well as we could," Eisner said. "I have a lot of confi- dence in the group that we put on the court, and I think we can do very well." The win over the Hoosiers marked the end of the regular season for the Wolverines (9-1 Big Ten, 13-6 over- all), who finished with their best record since winning the Big Ten in 1988 following a 26-5 season. Sophomore Geoff Prentice at- tributes the team's success to tough competition in the pre-conference season. "When it comes to the Big Ten season," he said, "no matter who (we) playagainst,wedon'tfeelovermatched because we've already played against that kind of competition." Michigan will enter this weekend's Big Ten Championships at the Uni- versity of Minnesota as the second "I have a lot of confidence in the group that we put on the court, and I thinlh we can do very well." -- Brian Eisner Michigan tennis coach seed. The host Golden Gophers ar the top seed and defeated the Wolvet ines in their only meeting this seasor 5-2 in Ann Arbor. Despite being under .500 as a three of the past four years, Michiga was picked at the season's outset t challenge Minnesota for the confet ence championship. Such a predic tion comes as no surprise to Prentics "They based it solely on our tal ent," he said. "What they expect us t do this year, now that we're mor experienced as a team." Dan Brakus and the Wolverines finished with their best record in five years. Women golfers win first tourney in 'two years, look toward Big Tens By Darren Everson DAILY SPORTS WRITER It's been a season of firsts for the UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN MEDICAL CENTER Michigan women's golf team, and ,- -- the trend continued last weekend at the Lady Eagle Invitational. The team captured its first tourna- * ''~ ment title in two years, carding a two- round total of 668. The Wolverines virtually had the victory in hand after the opening round, leading then sec- ond-place Rutgers by 15 strokes. Junior Jenny Zimmerman led Michigan with a second place finish, two strokes shy of Harrd's Robin TaLewis, who shot 164 for the tourna-( ment. The reason for the improve- met in Zimmerman's play has come as no surprise to coach Kathy Teichert. I wkin ea-ng Grnare one+o To fingout ho g jut Like To fnd ut ow you can help, attend one I 9.>ke of the foll owing Information Sessions: 1. LfhPiqD Thursday, May 5, 7-8 p.m. ' Ford Theatre : e ship anywhere in Monday, May 9, 4-5 p.m. 1 715 N. University Room 2C108 University Hospital Mon-F618:3- : For more information, please call 936-4327 i "Jenny's been improving each week ... she's a very capable player," said Teichert. "I look for continued improvement from her. The key for her is to continue being confident." The team's consistent improve- ment is most evident in the play of Zimmerman, freshman Wendy Westfall and sophomore Shannon McDonald. Last week, they all placed in the top 20 for the first time this year. This time, the trio shot 80 or under in the first round and finished in the top five overall. The tournament was played at two courses in Boston, and the different sites brought about quite different scores. Each team's tally for Monday's round rose considerably, as the venue f a kind, our Mom )&y, May 8 i the continental'US Q 781-CHIP K3 10 Sat 10 - 5:30 <3 I changed and the winds picked up. "The second course was muc more difficult," said Teichert. "(Th course) played a lot longer, it more windy and the tee times we lot earlier than the first round. "That last round wasn't like us and you won't see that kind of perfor mance from us again." Freshman Ashley Williams, whose scores didn't count toward the team's total, also stood out for Michigan, tying McDonald and Westfall for fifth place. She and Zimmerman hadk& team's best second round scores, bMl tallying an 86. Hartford was Michigan's closest competitor, tying the Wolverines' second round total of 352 and finish- ing 20 strokes back in second place. Rutgers slipped to third, with Boston College, Dartmouth, Harvard and Mount Holyoke rounding out the field. The victory was the first at Michi- gan for Teichert, a Michigan St graduate in her first season in A Arbor. Teichert and her team look to continue the string of firsts this week- end at the Big Ten Championships, as they hope to finish in the top half of the conference for the first time ever. Realistically, though, Teichert knows her team's limitations. "I don't think we're capable of winning," she said, "but we've bean some of those teams already this yA Northwestern, Purdue and the rest (of the conference) are going to be tough, but I think we're going in the right direction."