Stickers 'not nervous' about Big Ten tourney

By <br>By Megan Kolodgy
Daily Sports Writer  On  November 7th, 2003

April Fronzoni isn’t scared. Neither is Marcia Pankratz.
Come Thursday, the senior field hockey captain and her coach, along
with the rest of the sixth-ranked Wolverines, will board a charter
plane to State College.

The flight across Ohio and Pennsylvania should be easy enough;
the team will likely spend the hours performing its own rousing
renditions of its favorite 80’s classics. The Wolverines will
arrive at Penn State, stand up, stretch out, collect their
belongings and get settled.

Now, here comes the hard part.

The Wolverines’ mission is to win the Big Ten Tournament.
Although this trip has the potential to be a joyride for Michigan,
the road to happiness could be a rough one. The team enters the
tournament seeded number one, despite the fact it shared the
regular season title with nemesis No. 5 Michigan State. Because of
this, the Wolverines receive a first-round bye,and begin
competition in the semifinals where they will match up against
either Penn State, ranked seventh nationally, or Iowa, ranked
13th.

Pankratz is certainly cognizant of what the opposition is
capable of.

“I think Michigan State has the nicest team, but
they’re all going to be difficult,” Pankratz said.
“Iowa’s record doesn’t indicate their level of
play, because they’re very strong. They came out here, and it
was a 1-0 game, and then we saw them in the ACC-Big Ten Tournament,
and they were excellent. And then Penn State’s always really
strong, so every match is going to be nip and tuck.”

Even though the stakes are high, Fronzoni feels that Michigan is
psychologically prepared for the weekend.

“The attitude of the team is great right now,”
Fronzoni said. “We had a hard practice today, but I think
it’ll just make us better in the end. When it comes to the
Big Ten Championship, and hopefully the national championship,
we’ll be mentally tougher.”

In order to achieve this desired effect, Pankratz is spending
the week leading up to the tournament ironing out last-minute
tactical and strategical details.

“We’re working on fine-tuning, drills with a lot of
pressure, a lot of physical workout,” Pankratz said.
“We have to handle adversity.”

While there will probably be plenty of that for Michigan to deal
with, there also exits a very real possibility of success. Senior
captain Kristi Gannon has a chance to be the third athlete in
conference history to earn All-Big Ten first-team honors for four
consecutive years. Freshman Beth Riley, who is ranked second in the
goals-against category, has a shot at receiving the Big Ten
Freshman of the Year award, since no other freshman ranks as high
in any other category.

As for the rest of the Wolverines, if they manage to clear the
conference hurdle, the sky’s the limit. Pankratz looks at
this obstacle with a level head.

“I’m not nervous,” Pankratz said.
“I’m not nervous at all. I’m just excited, and
look forward to it. It’s great to be challenged, and I think
our team is embracing the competition and looking forward to
playing at the highest level. That’s why they’re on the
team. That’s why they’re Michigan
Wolverines.”

 

 

 

 

 

Printed from www.michigandaily.com on Sat, 26 May 2012 21:50:14 -0400