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Michigan spikers happy to be home for weekend match

There's no place like home.

In an otherwise up-and-down season, the Michigan men's volleyball team will get a chance to settle itself this weekend.

Michigan will host Eastern Michigan on Saturday night, returning home for the first time in over a month.

A mixture of travel following games and nights on the road has left the Wolverines longing for their own beds.

The combination of tournaments and road matches has left Michigan ragged and on the brink of disaster.

The team faltered at last weekend's MIVA regional tournament and is looking forward to the match against the Eagles as a chance to right its record.

Michigan coach Kent Booker hopes to correct the unforced errors that doomed the Wolverines against Iowa State.

The Cyclones lulled Michigan into problems as the Wolverines had trouble on their own side of the court.

"We lost it in our service game," Booker said.

Michigan began the tournament in search of a high-ranking entering pool play and accomplished that by garnering the second seed in its pool.

But those hopes were dashed in the first round of tournament play as Iowa State trounced Michigan.

Booker felt the team was "out of sync" and not playing up to its potential.

Potential has dogged the Wolverines all season, and the time for change is running out. After the match against Eastern Michigan, Michigan will conclude its season the weekend of April 19 in Toledo.

But the coach remains optimistic and thinks he has the answer to the team's woes.

"This week we're going to practice a lot of serve-receive (to correct passing problems)," Booker said.

The rotation is also a problem for the Wolverines following last weekend's matches. Although Ted Skolarus started the tournament, he had been replaced by Judd Larned by the time Michigan was eliminated.

"It's kind of a trade-off," Booker said. "(Skolarus, Andy Spitser and Larned) all have different specialties. It depends on practice this week."

Cliff Keen Arena will host the match, as Michigan makes its first appearance in the building this season.

Previous home matches, as well as the tournament the Wolverines hosted, were played at the Central Campus Recreation Building.