Chase, Wolverines wake up to win two

By Jacob R. Wheeler
Daily Sports Writer

One good night of sleep made all the difference for the Michigan women's volleyball team Saturday in the second annual All Sport Volleyball Challenge.

The Wolverines woke up on the right side of the bed, sweeping matches from Eastern Michigan and Montana, after bowing to Florida State in four games the night before.

Outside hitter Karen Chase led Michigan's turnaround with 32 kills Saturday and a hitting percentage of .391. The junior looked like an entirely different person than on Friday night, when she recorded eight errors in the loss to the Seminoles. Michigan outside hitters erred a whopping 21 times in the season's home opener on Friday.

But the Wolverines didn't have any trouble getting up for their return to Cliff Keen Arena. Michigan opened the weekend with a 15-7 thrashing of the Seminoles behind the strength of a six-point run early in the game. Florida State dominated thereafter, capturing the next three games and the match, 15-5, 15-6, 15-12.

"We looked like two different teams," Michigan coach Greg Giovanazzi said. "After losing two tough ones (the week before) I thought we'd be hungry to pull the match out."

The Wolverines must have skipped the team breakfast Saturday morning, because they appeared extremely hungry against Eastern. Michigan controlled their cross-county rivals the entire match and disposed of the Eagles in only 64 minutes, 15-3, 15-8, 15-3.

The day's success continued into the evening for the Wolverines. Michigan defeated Montana, 16-14, 15-11, 15-7, in a series of nailbiters. The victory was especially sweet for Giovanazzi, who played under the tutelage of Grizzlies coach Dick Scott on the U.S. national team 20 years ago.

Friday night "after the disappointing loss, coach (Aimee) Smith laid out a challenge," Giovanazzi said. "Unless we started playing more ambitious defense, we were not going to have a successful season."

"If one thing can be said about both matches (Saturday), we played really hard-nosed defense."

That improved defense also transformed Michigan's ailing offense, resulting in wins in six straight games. Chase led the charge against Eastern, hitting .478. But another big factor in Saturday's turnaround was freshman Joanna Fielder.

Giovanazzi didn't use Fielder in Friday night's match and regretted it afterwards. The middle blocker played an integral part in Saturday's victories, hitting .400 in the first match.

"I didn't use Joanna and I probably should have," the sixth-year coach said. "Last weekend (middle blocker Linsey) Ebert was everything for us. I kept hoping she'd catch on Friday but she's streaky."

Ebert struggled against Florida State, committing seven errors while hitting only .087. In fact, the only Wolverines who had decent performances against the Seminoles were senior Sarah Jackson, who hit .308 with 13 kills, and Linnea Mendoza.

Mendoza, the team's iron horse setter recorded 111 assists over the weekend, giving her a career total of 3,662 - far and away the best in Michigan history. Mendoza was named to her second-consecutive All Sport tournament team along with Chase.

JOE WESTRATE/Daily
The Wolverines won two matches on Saturday, thanks in part to the blocking of Jeanine Szczesniak, left, and Sarah Jackson.

09-08-97