14 - The Michigan Daily - Monday, April 30, 2001
Orlando Miracle
draft Thoriu
By Jeff Phillips
Daily Sports Writer
On April 20, Anne Thorius became the third Michigan
women's basketball player to be drafed into the WNBA when
she was selected by the Orlando Miracle in the fourth round of
this year's draft.
"It is a dream come true," Thorius said. "It is really exciting
and really intimidating at the same time."
Thorius was a co-captain this past season and helped guide
the Wolverines to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Thorius became the first player, man or woman, to accumulate
1,000 points, 500 assists and 400 rebounds in a career. She
joins former Wolverines Pollyanna Johns and Stacey Thomas
in the professional ranks.
The nerve-racking wait on draft day was worsened when
Orlando coach and general manager Carolyn Peck called
Michigan coach Sue Guevara in her office for her take on
Thorius.
"They were curious as to whether I could run the team or if
I could play the two," Thorius said. "Coach G was very posi-
tive in selling me as a player."
Thorius will be reunited with a former Big Ten foe. Purdue
standout and conference Player of the Year Katie Douglas was
selected by the Miracle in the first round.
"It will be fun to see her from the other side, to see what her
personality is like," Thorius said. "But it will be a little weird
(to play with her)"
Thorius hopes that her selection will be good for Michigan
'M' tennis exits early
Anne Thorius, pictured above in her sophomore year against
Northwestern, was selected by the Orlando Miracle.
players, as well as other Danish players.
"I'm getting e-mail from people at home and they are saying
that this is great exposure for all ofus,"Thorius said. "It is great
for all the younger girls that dream (about playing profession-
al basketball)."
Thorius' selection does not guarantee her a position on the
roster and her fate will be decided in the next couple weeks at
Orlando's training camp, which begins May 2. Historically,
about half of the players chosen in the third and fourth rounds
of the draft make the team.
"They know what you have done in college," Thorius said.
"But now that you are here, they want to know how you will
respond to your teammates."
"It is going to be tough - physically and mentally,"Thorius
said. "The amount of talent out there is incredible."
By Jim Weber and Steve Jackson
Daily Sports Writers
Going into the Big Ten
Championships last Thursday, the
Michigan women's tennis team was
confident they could beat Wisconsin,
their first round opponent, having
convincingly beaten the Badgers, 6-
1, earlier in the season.
But after losing the match 4-2, the
Wolverines were left wondering how
they could improve on their disap-
pointing 7-13 season.
"When things don't go our way we
can't start looking around and point-
ing the finger," head coach Bitsy Ritt
said after the match. "Stick your fin-
ger out, and turn it around, and point
it right to yourself. Look in the mir-
ror and figure out what you can do
differently."
Coach Ritt took her own advice
and pointed that finger at herself
after the season-ending loss.
"I take full responsibility as the
coach for a team that really didn't
achieve what we had hoped to," the
1996-97 Big Ten Coach of the Year
said.
The Wolverines opened the match
by losing two of the three doubles
matches. The sole winning duo of
Kavitha Tipirneni and Chrissie
Nolan were impressive in their 8-3
victory. After falling into the 0-1
hole, Ritt remained confident in the
team.
"I thought they had the advantage
in the doubles," Ritt said. "Even with
them winning the doubles point, I
thought the match-ups were very
good in singles. And really, I thought
we would win."
To Ritt's dismay, only Nolan and
Joanne Musgrove were able to win
their singles matches, while Szandra
Fuzesi had her match abandoned
after the Badgers had clinched the
victory.
"Some people were playing really
nervous today and I thought
Wisconsin played a lot more relaxed
than we did," coach Ritt said. "I think
we have to work ori our mental
toughness."
If nothing else, this season provid-
ed the team with the motivation
needed to rebound next year.
"It's not the best feeling, and
don't ever want to feel thisw,
again," Tipimeni said.
MOMENTUM DASHED: The
Michigan men's tennis team entered
the Big Ten Championships on a roll.
But winning six of their last seven
did not make the Wolverines
immune from a quick exit at the
hands of Minnesota.
The Gophers jumped all over
Michigan from the start. Before the
Wolverines knew what hit them, the
score was 4-0 and they were head
home.
Michigan coach Mark Mees saw
the doubles matches as the turning
point.
"We didn't play well at the No. 2
and 3 doubles spots," Mees said.
"But Minnesota is a good team and
my hat's off to them."
Now the Wolverines will wait and
hope for a selection to the NCA
field of 64, which will be announce
Thursday. Michigan is hoping that its
regional wins and its strong play at
the end of the Big Ten season will
impress the committee.
If this proves to be the end of the
Wolverines' season, the team will
have several months to contemplate
its disappointing record.
"I don't think you could find any-
one who is happy with 12-9;' Mees
said. "We lost five players, and we
don't have any seniors. But we s
expected to do better."
Michigan's achilles heel this sea-
son has been a lack of consistent
play.
"It's been a constant 'Jekyll and
Hyde' thing for us all year," Mees
said. "We never did have a match
where everyone was at their best. We
were inconsistent up and down the
lineup."
Men's. crew sails through Big Tens
Allison Topp The first varsity eight received the
For the Daily stiffest competition of the day. After
trailing Purdue for the first 500 meters,
Saturday's gor. weather set the the Wolverines increased their effort.
stage for the Michigan men's rowing The boat gained momentum as the row-
team's dominant victory in the Big Ten ers pulled into a neck-and-neck position
Championships. The early headwinds in with just 600 meters left. Michigan then
Indianapolis were 8-10 mph, but even overtook the Boilermakers, displaying
these small gusts never slowed the team its ability to finish strong.
as each boat entered won its respective The first varsity eight kept the team's
race. record unblemished for the day, but it
was the second varsity eight that had the
most impressive victory. It rowed it's
fastest time of the season at 6:12.5,
almost 12 seconds faster than the next
closest boat.
"They really stepped up and put one
home;' Michigan coach Gregg Hartsuff
said. "This victory is important because
it puts us in a good position for seeding
at the Avaya Collegiate Championships
(on May 13th). Purdue and Ohio State
have both raced well throughout the year
so solid wins against them really help
our rankings'
The first varsity eight is ranked 19th
in the nation and should be one of the top
three seeds at the Championships.
WL /
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W 0R 1)
304 South State Street
Ann Arbor " MI - 48107
734-665-4440
Lacrosse trounces on CCLA foes
By Seth Klempner
Daily Sports Editor
As the final horn sounded, the second-ranked Michigan
lacrosse team rushed the field, throwing their gloves in the air
with reckless abandon. The Wolverines won their third con-
secutive Central Collegiate Lacrosse Association
Championship and added to their 31-game CCLA win streak.
Michigan received a bye in the first round as the tourna-
ment's number one seed. After defeating in-state rival
Michigan State in the semifinals 13-4, Michigan moved on to
defeat Marquette in the finals, 8-4.
Michigan knew it would have a game on its hands, having
narrowly defeated Marquette earlier this season, 13-10.
"We had seen them once already this year so I really was-
n't that surprised this time with how they played," Michigan
head coach John Paul said. "We have kind of been waiting for
this, we haven't had a lot of competition in conference this
year"
Marquette got off to a strong start, scoring first. This acted as
a wake-up call for Michigan, which scored the next six goals,
putting the Wolverines up 6-1 before trading goals prior to the
half. Receiving strong play from attacker Kevin Chan and mid-
fielder Ben Herbst who both scored two goals, Michigan wi
able to play conservatively for the rest of the game.
Using ball control and a passive offense, Michigan kept t
ball out of Marquette's hands the rest of the game and playe
strong defense when Marquette did have the ball. Marquet
would just score two more goals, not enough to overcome th
six-goal deficit.
"This was a perfect way to finish the year for us," Paul a
"We didn't play the way we wanted, but we played a team th;
pushed us, that is something we needed right now"
It is needed because despite a 13-4 victory over Michiga
State, Michigan struggled and played sloppily, getting off to
slow start and making several fundamental errors. Als<
Michigan has not topped a ranked opponent since playing Nt
3 BYU three weeks ago.
Paul attributed the sub-par play to two weeks of finals th
many players have been focusing on. But with school over,h
team is now completely focused on lacrosse.
With the Intercollegiate Associates 2001 Nation
Championships a week away the team will need to regain the:
focus. Current No. 1 Colorado State lost to BYU in their cot
ference tournament, leaving the Wolverines poised to take th
top ranking.