DaCosta Reaches Quarters at Midwest Regional Event

Saturday, October 26

East Lansing, Mich.

Michigan

OMNI Hotels Regional Championship (Main Draw)

10/27/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- University of Michigan sophomore women's tennis players Michelle DaCosta (Huber Heights, Ohio/Wayne HS) has advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2002 ITA/Omni Hotels Midwest Regional Championships, held Oct. 25-28 at the MSU Tennis Facility. She has a 3-0 record thus far and will face seventh-seeded Jessica Rush in the quarterfinal round Monday (Oct. 28) at 11 a.m.

DaCosta

DaCosta reached the quarterfinals with a 6-1, 7-6(3) victory against fourth-seeded Melissa Iqbal of Purdue. DaCosta started the tournament with victories against Indiana's Sarah Batty (6-1, 6-4) and DePaul's Marina Parashkovova (6-1, 6-4).

Junior Kavitha Tipirneni (Galloway, Ohio/Hilliard Darby HS), the Wolverines' No. 1 singles player, compiled a 2-1 record and came within a victory of the quarterfinals. She won a pair of tiebreakers against Iowa's Deni Alexandrova [7-6(6), 7-6(4)] and continued the trend with tiebreaker victories in a three-set win over Notre Dame's Lauren Connelly [7-6(4), 3-6, 7-6(4)]. Tipirneni lost in the third round to eighth-seeded Valerie Vlada (6-0, 6-2).

Sophomore Leanne Rutherford (Calgary, Alberta/National Sports School) split a pair of singles matches at the regional tournament. Rutherford won a 7-6(4), 5-7, 6-4 match against Minnesota's Michaela Havelkova in the opening round before losing 6-0, 6-0 to sixth-seeded Sadhaf Pervez of Ohio State during second-round action.

Senior Jen Duprez (Westhampton, N.Y./Westhampton Beach HS) and juniors Chrissie Nolan (Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South HS) and Kim Plaushines (Oconomowoc, Wis./Kettle Moraine HS) suffered first-round losses in main draw singles competition and were eliminated with setbacks in the consolation draw.

In doubles competition, DaCosta and Rutherford paced the Wolverines with a 2-1 record. The tandem opened with 8-6 victories against Purdue's Igbal and Melissa Woods and Ohio State's Pervez and Jackie Lescovar. DaCosta and Rutherford lost a hard-fought 9-8 match by a 7-5 score in the tiebreaker to Illinois' Jennifer McGaffigan and Michelle Webb.

U-M's other doubles pairings of Nolan-Tipireni and Duprez-Plaushines posted 1-1 marks at the tournament.

Following are match-by-match results:

SINGLES

Michelle DaCosta
First Round d. Sarah Batty (Indiana), 6-1, 6-4
Second Round d. Marina Parashkovova (DePaul), 6-1, 6-4
Third Round d. No. 4 seed Melissa Igbal (Purdue), 6-1, 7-6(3)

Kavitha Tipirneni
First Round d. Deni Alexandrova (Iowa), 7-6(6), 7-6(4)
Second Round d. Lauren Connelly (Notre Dame), 7-6(4), 3-6, 7-6(4)
Third Round l. No. 8 seed Valerie Vlada (Minnesota), 6-0, 6-2
Finished with a 2-1 record

Leanne Rutherford
First Round d. Michaela Havelkova (Minnesota), 7-6(4), 5-7, 6-4
Second Round l. No. 6 seed Sadhaf Pervez (Ohio State), 6-0, 6-0
Finished with a 1-1 record

Chrissie Nolan
First Round l. No. 1 seed Marine Piriou (Northwestern), 6-1, 6-3
Consolation l. Jackie Lescovar (Ohio State), 3-6, 7-5 (10-7)
Finished with an 0-2 record

Jen Duprez
First Round l. Rebecca Hawkins (Eastern Michigan), 5-7, 6-3, 7-6(2)
Consolation l. Lindsay Martin (Wisconsin), 6-4, 6-0
Finished with an 0-2 record

Kim Plaushines
First Round l. Alicia Salas (Notre Dame), 6-1, 6-3
Consolation l. Kelly Nelson (Notre Dame), 2-6, 6-4 (10-5)
Finished with an 0-2 record

DOUBLES

DaCosta/Rutherford (No. 7 seed)
First Round d. Igbal/Woods (Purdue), 8-6
Second Round d. Pervez/Laskovar (Ohio State), 8-6
Third Round l. McGaffigan/Webb (Illinois), 9-8(5)
Finished with a 2-1 record

Nolan/Tipirneni
First Round d. Thompson/Brady (Michigan State), 8-4
Second Round l. No. 8 seed McGaffigan/Mues (Wisconsin), 8-2
Finished with a 1-1 record

Plaushines/Duprez
First Round d. Roemer/Kokx (Northwestern), 8-3
Second Round l. Kelemen/Parashkevova (DePaul), 8-2
Finished with a 1-1 record
Contact: David Ablauf (734) 763-4423