CHAMPAIGN  Don''t begrudge Tarnisha Thompson for wanting University of Michigan volleyball to be successful.

   After all, the Ann Arbor school is her alma mater. And the Detroit native played setter for four years for the Wolverines.

   But there are limits to Thompson''s loyalty to the Maize and Blue. Have been since she first got into volleyball coaching three years ago. And this weekend at Huff Hall is unquestionably one of the times Thompson draws the line.

   "Sure, I hope they do well, except against us," the Illini assistant said.

   Matchups with her alma mater are getting to be old hat for Thompson. When the 25th-ranked Illini and Wolverines square off at 7 p.m. Saturday, it will mark the fourth time the second-year UI assistant has coached against Michigan.

   The first was in 1995.

   "We went back to Michigan, so that was really strange for me," the then-Toledo assistant recalled of a 3-0 loss to the Wolverines. "But by the time I had come to Illinois, I was over the awkwardness of it."

   Thompson''s arrival at the UI last season meant she''d coach against her alma mater a minimum of two times a year. What she''s witnessed so far have been battles royale. In the first meeting last season, the host Illini rallied from a 2-1 deficit in games to pull out a victory. Then, in a match at Ann Arbor that lasted almost three hours, Michigan pulled off a stunning comeback, 4-15, 15-17, 15-13, 15-13, 18-16.

   Although the 1996 Wolverines finished an unimpressive 14-17 overall, 9-11 Big Ten, the victory over Illinois was part of a 4-0 finish that served as a springboard into this season.

   Entering its match Friday at Wisconsin, Michigan is 11-4, 4-0. The Wolverines are coming off a 3-1 victory over then-No. 16 Michigan State and earlier defeated Minnesota, which is now 13-2.

   Michigan coach Greg Giovanazzi said he could see it coming based on the way his team finished 1996.

   "I''m the only one who knew it was a really successful year," he said. "We finished with some significant wins over Minnesota and Illinois, and (the players) immediately started back in January with a purpose."

   Michigan''s main goal this year, Giovanazzi said, is to qualify for the NCAA tournament. That would be a first for the Wolverines, who have finished in the Big Ten''s first division once since 1985.

   Thompson can tell you how downtrodden the program has been. As a freshman and sophomore, she played on Wolverine teams that went 1-17 and 2-16 in the Big Ten and were a combined 12-45 in 1989-90.

   But even during the horrible sophomore campaign, Thompson could sense Michigan was moving in the right direction. Before the season, the Wolverines hired North Carolina head coach Peg Bradley-Doppes.

   "When Peggy came in, it was a great change, and we needed the change," Thompson said. "I thought it was a sign that the administration was taking volleyball seriously."

   In two years, Bradley-Doppes engineered a reversal, guiding the 1991 Wolverines to a 19-12 record and sixth place in the Big Ten at 10-10.

   But during her second year, Bradley-Doppes also was appointed associate athletic director. After that season, she decided to give up coaching to concentrate on her administrative duties.

   And Thompson had her third different coach in four years.

   "It was tough, but it was just something I had to go through," she said. "My main concern was keeping the team together and working as hard as I could to get Michigan on the map."

   Giovanazzi, fresh off a two-year stint as top assistant for the women''s U.S. National Team, had the same goal. He also had a proven collegiate background, having been an assistant for 10 years with UCLA men''s and women''s teams that had made a combined six NCAA Final Four appearances.

   With Thompson''s help, Giovanazzi kept Michigan on the rise in 1992, guiding the Wolverines to an 11-9 Big Ten record and another 19-win season. Thompson, meanwhile, wrapped up her stay at Michigan as the school''s career and single-season leader in assists.

   "She was a tremendous amount of fun to coach," Giovanazzi said. "She has a huge passion for the game. She was a good setter who didn''t have a lot of training, but as the year progressed she just got better and better.

   "It''s sad she didn''t have another year. ... We kind of dropped in ''93 without her."

   Dropped to 11-18, 7-13. The slide continued in ''94 to 8-23, 4-16. By then, Giovanazzi realized it would be tougher than he had thought when he took the job.

   "I think I was naive," he said. "I thought the university and possibly my past experience would be a great draw. Then I found out the Big Ten is such a great conference. ... With so many good programs to choose from, Michigan was not the automatic choice. We lost a lot of (recruits) we went after at the start."

   Said Thompson: "I think it may have taken him longer than he expected it to, but really, it''s all about recruiting. The type of kids he''s bringing in now, he''s going to get a tradition going."

   One of Giovanazzi''s most important recruits was current senior setter Linnea Mendoza, who broke all of Thompson''s school assist records by the end of last season. Mendoza is the reigning Big Ten Player of the Week after racking up 88 assists and 19 digs in wins over Northwestern and Michigan State.

Northwestern next

   Illinois, 10-4, 1-3, opens the weekend with a home match at 7 p.m. Friday against Northwestern. The Illini have won the last 13 meetings with the Wildcats and 21 of the last 22.

   Northwestern, 10-5, 1-3, ended a 30-match Big Ten losing streak on Sept. 26 when it defeated Iowa 3-2.

No apologies

   How could Illinois return to the national rankings this week with a 1-3 league record? A look at the current Top 25 puts things in perspective. The losses were to No. 1 Penn State, No. 10 Wisconsin and No. 19 Michigan State. Illinois'' other defeat was to No. 2 Long Beach State.