NCAA bid on the line for Chase, volleyball

The Michigan volleyball team has a lot to be thankful for this season. It has tied its best-ever victory total in the Big Ten. The Wolverines have attained their highest-ever national ranking at 26th and are in serious contention for their first-ever NCAA tournament bid.

The Wolverines (11-7 Big Ten, 18-11 overall) hope to wrap up that bid this weekend, as they host No. 24 Ohio State (12-6, 21-9) on Friday and Purdue on Saturday.

These games are looked upon by many to be the last chance for the Wolverines to impress the NCAA tournament committee before teams are selected Sunday, but Michigan truly believes it has earned a bid already.

"We hope to use this weekend as momentum for the NCAAs," Michigan coach Greg Giovanazzi said. "We should be in right now, but we probably will need one win this weekend to be sure."

The Wolverines won't get any breaks looking for that win Friday night, as the Buckeyes stroll into Cliff Keen Arena looking to build a 20-match win streak against the Wolverines. Michigan has not defeated Ohio State since 1987, when most of the players on both teams were in elementary school.

"The Buckeyes are a very strong team," Giovanazzi said. "They are beatable if we play the way we are capable of."

Much of the Buckeyes' strength comes from 6-foot-2 outside hitter Vanessa Wouters, a native of Belgium. Wouters dominated the Wolverines a month ago in Columbus, delivering 24 kills in a four-game victory.

One thing Michigan has that it didn't have in Columbus is a completely healthy Karen Chase. The outside hitter, who injured her back in September, had just started to play regularly when the Wolverines traveled to Columbus.

Chase has returned to her pre-injury form in the past two weeks, registering 23 kills in a win over Illinois two weeks ago and piling up a career-high 28 in last Friday night's victory over Indiana. She also led the charge in a losing effort against Penn State on Saturday night.

"Karen is finally back to the way she was," Giovanazzi said. "She has had some ups and downs, but she is back to being herself now."

If the Wolverines falter against the Buckeyes on Friday night, there is a good chance they will complete their eighth-consecutive weekend split against cellar-dwelling Purdue on Saturday.

The Wolverines trashed the Boilermakers (3-15, 10-19) in their meeting in West Lafayette earlier this season, and there is not much of a chance that Purdue will return the favor, as it has lost five out of the last six games.

"We absolutely have to beat Purdue," Giovanazzi said.

"We should definitely be in the tournament if we beat them because they have never left out a Big Ten team with 12 conference wins.

"If we beat Ohio State and Purdue, we have a great shot of finishing third in the conference. The athletic department wants all of its teams in the top three of the conference, and we have a chance to do that."

To do that, the Wolverines have to break a trend of seven consecutive split weekends in conference play. Despite the apparent mediocrity of the 7-7 stretch, the Wolverines claim they are getting better and that the strength of the conference is more to blame than mediocre play.

11-26-97