Spikers
sweep
*weekend
ma tches
by Ken Sugiura
Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan Daily--Sports Monday-April 8,1991- Page 7
Spikers symbolize what
Like a baseball player on a hit-
ting streak, the Michigan men's vol-
leyball team went three-for-three
over the weekend. The Wolverines
racked up victories over traditional
rivals Notre Dame, Illinois and
Michigan State.
As expected, the Michigan State
match was a hard-fought struggle.
Michigan rallied to win, 15-6, 13-
15,7-15, 15-13, 15-13. Trailing, 13-
12, in the last game, the Wolverines
finished out the match with the last
three points.
"It was a great team effort.
Everybody from starters to bench,
everybody gave great contribu-
tions," defensive setter Seth Fire-
stein said.
Adding to the victory's glory,
Michigan rebounded from thorough
whitewashings at the hands of the
Spartans earlier in the season.
Yesterday's conquest followed
victories over the Fighting Irish in
South Bend, Friday, and the Illini in
the IM Building, Saturday.
Against Notre Dame, the
Wolverines overcame the effects of
a lengthy car ride to take the match,
4-15,15-6,15-9, 15-11.
"It took us awhile to just get
some momentum going after travel-
ing in the cars for three hours,"
* Michigan coach Tom "Fish" Johen-
gen said. "Starting in someone else's
gym, sometimes you don't get out
fast, and we didn't."
Saturday's start was like Friday
in reverse for Michigan, but the re-
sult was still the same. The Maize
and Blue ambushed Illinois at the
outset, running out to a 5-0 lead be-
hind frosh Rico Latham's serving to
win the game, 15-7. After that,
Michigan never looked back, defeat-
ing the Illini, 15-7, 15-3, 2-15, 15-8.
Saturday marked the last home
match for the Wolverine seniors,
Brad Kuhlman, Jim Striebel, Jeff
Timberlake and Firestein. Fittingly,
those four led the way to the Mich-
igan victory.
"Michigan played well -
passed well, executed on a nail. The
seniors played awesome. They were
really psyched," Latham said.
Members of the Michigan men's volleyball team congratualate each
other after a Wolverine spike in Michigan's defeat of Illinois last
Saturday afternoon at the IM Building.
W ebber dunks West
to all-star victory
college sport
"COME JOIN THE VOLLEYBALL CLUB," a
flier read on the wall of the CCRB. Having nothing
better to do my first semester at Michigan two years
ago, I thought this would be a good chance to get a lit-
tle exercise and meet some new people.
When I arrived at the mass meeting, I found hun-
dreds of others who had the same intentions. I did not
realize that there was only one
team - not the intramural Theodore
league I expected.
One of the players got up and Cox
gave a speech about the history of
the program and the quality of
play. I was impressed, but con-
sidering my biggest attribute to
the team would have been
getting in the way, I left.
Upon revisiting the squad
this weekend for the Wol-
verines' last home match of the .
year, I discovered I wasn't the
only one who got fooled.
"We mostly get people
interested through fliers who
just show up. They don't know that it's somewhat
serious," Michigan co-captain Jeff Timberlake said.
However, this is how a club sport has to operate.
There are no recruiters, no public relations staff, no
academic counselors, etc. The players do everything
from washing uniforms, to scheduling matches, to
driving on road trips.
And because this is not a varsity sport, things are
never highly organized. After Saturday's match, one of
the coaches was heard yelling out, "I've got one driver
to go to East Lansing tomorrow. I need two more. Who
can drive?"
Securing a home arena can even be a chore.
Originally, Saturday's match was scheduled for 7:15
p.m. at the CCRB. However, it was changed to 3:30
p.m. at the IM Building only a few days beforehand.
Funding the program also causes a problem. The
University donates a little over $2,000 for van rentals
and gas. However, all hotel fees and food money must
be supplied by the players. This has to be raised though
T-shirt sales, working souvenir stands at football
games, and player dues.
But before you start feeling sorry for players on
club teams, consider this - most of them are not good
enough to be on a varsity program. The club program
gives them a chance to represent Michigan and to per-
form at a very competitive level.
Clubs represent what college sports teams used to
be. The objective is to have fun. There is no pressure to
win by coaching staffs. There are no recruiting viola-
tions. There are no huge crowds.
"I'm really happy with how our club runs, where
it's equal doses of fun and serious volleyball,"
Timberlake said.
The amount of jokes cracked and smiles raised dur-
ing their matched prove that the Wolverines do this
more for enjoyment than anything else. But this does
should be
Associated Press
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - Chris
Webber dunked from the right side
with six seconds to play Saturday,
giving the West a 108-106 victory
over the East in the 14th annual
McDonald's All-American high
school basketball game.
The East, led by James Forrest of
Atlanta (headed for Georgia Tech)
with 22 points and Don Williams
(headed for North Carolina) of
Garner, N.C., with 20, built a 61-51
lead early in the second half.
But Webber, who is headed to the
University of Michigan in the fall,
then dunked and combined with
Glenn Ronbinson (headed for
Purdue) of Gary, Ind., to send the
West on a 10-point run.
Webber finished with 28 points,
18 on dunks - including one-
handed, two-handed and backwards
jams - and 12 rebounds. He was
named most valuable player for his
side.
"For me, a dunk is easier than a
layup, so that's what I wanted to
do," the 6-foot-9 Webber said.
The East's guards kept it close
with Williams hitting three 3-
pointers, while Eric Brunson
(headed for Temple) of Salem,
Mass., who was named most
valuable player for the East, added
19 points and seven rebounds.
"It was fun having these guys
come down to Springfield," Travis
Best (headed for Georgia Tech) of
host Springfield said. "We've been
playing against each other in camps
for the last two years and we've be-
come real good friends."
Webber was one of four U-M re-
cruits in the game. Fellow forwards
Jalen Rose (Detroit Southwestern)
and Juwan Howard (Chicago
Vocational) joined Webber up
front, while guard, and slam dunk
champion, Jimmy King (Plano
(Texas) East High School) solidi-
fied the West's backcourt.
Michigan setter Jeff Timberlake passes the ball in
Saturday's victory over Illinois. It was the senior co-
captain's last home match of the season for the
volleyball team.
not mean they lack in effort. Outside-hitter Rico
Latham dove head-first into the hardwood several
times. Fear of a career-ending injury is not on the play-
ers' minds as this is probably the highest level of com-
petition they will see.
There is also Michigan's sense of tradition for these
players. For senior Timberlake, his father was an All-
American quarterback for the Wolverines in the 1960s.
Bob Timberlake led Michigan to a Rose Bowl victory
in 1965. Oddly enough, Timberlake's father was the
reason Jeff played volleyball instead of football.
"My parents said no football ever for you,"
Timberlake said. "I wasn't allowed to play football
because of the knee injuries that are career-ending that
you see kids getting at such a young age. I complained at
first, but then I started playing volleyball and just
completely fell in love with it."
His passion for the sport has never died.
"This has just been a great experience. I really don't
have anything negative to say about it at all. I've been
to Kentucky, Northwestern, Colorado... That's been a
real good experience - meeting other people, other
volleyball players, and seeing the country. That's been
the best part about this program. And there is a great
sense of accomplishment. It's nice to see a big tourn-
ament come together."
And that's the way college sports should be.
SAVE 10% ON OUR
VACATION SPOTS.
Daytona Beach it aint. But stop-
ping at Shurgard on your way home
this summer is a lot more fun than
hauling your buridt cake pans and lime-
green Barcalounger all over the coun-
try and back. Plus with the 10 percent
student discount, you get to see for
yourself how higher mathematics can
indeed be applied to real life situations.
STU DENTS!.
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* Language Programs
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IF YOU ARE ELIGIBLE
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BEFORE July 1, 1991
AFTER July 1, 1991
apply NOW
apply April 11
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