Weekly Release #11
4/16/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Saturday, April 20 -- at Indiana (Bloomington, Ind.), Noon EST/CDT
Sunday, April 21 -- at Purdue (West Lafayette, Ind.), Noon EST/CDT
Thu-Sun., April 25-28 -- at Big Ten Championship (Columbus, Ohio)
Regular Season Closes on the Road
The University of Michigan men's tennis team (13-6, 4-4 Big Ten) closes the regular season with road matches in the state of Indiana. The Wolverines travel to Bloomington, Ind., for a matchup with Indiana Saturday (April 20, noon EST/CDT) at the outdoor Varsity Tennis Courts and complete the road swing in West Lafayette, Ind., against Purdue Sunday (April 21, noon EST/CDT) at the Varsity Tennis Courts.
Michigan vs. Indiana
This will be the 63rd match between the two programs. Michigan has a 49-12-1 record all-time against Indiana, including wins in eight of the last 10 matches with the Hoosiers. The Wolverines won a 5-2 match last year (April 21, 2001) against the Hoosiers at the Varsity Tennis Center but lost a 5-2 decision the previous year at home. The Wolverines will look to collect their 50th all-time victory against Indiana, their seventh most against any school.
Wolverines and Boilermakers
Michigan and Purdue will be meeting for the 66th time on Sunday (April 21), with the Wolverines holding a commanding 57-8 all-time series record. Purdue has had the better of the series lately, though, claiming victories in six of the last eight matchups (won five straight during mid-to-late 1990s). Prior to the five-match losing streak, Purdue had not beaten Michigan in 53 matches (since the 1938-39 season). The Wolverines won a close 4-3 match last season (April 22) against the Boilermakers at the Varsity Tennis Center.
U-M Caps Stellar Home Season
The men's netters completed competition at the six-year-old Varsity Tennis Center with a 5-2 victory against Iowa on Senior Day (April 14) and capped another impressive home slate with a 9-2 record. The Wolverines won their first five home matches of the season and finished with victories in their final four contests at the VTC. The only home losses for U-M came on back-to-back days, losing 6-1 to No. 2 Illinois (Feb. 23) and 4-3 to Northwestern (Feb. 24). Michigan has compiled a 44-12 all-time record at the Varsity Tennis Center and has collected victories in 27 of head coach Mark Mees' 33 career home matches.
Doubles Point A Telling Stat
The winner of the doubles point has proved to have the overall advantage this season. In its six losses this year, Michigan has surrendered the doubles point in five of the matches. The only exception was when U-M won doubles matches at No. 2 and No. 3 during its first loss of the dual match season, a 4-3 match at Alabama (Feb. 17). The Wolverines hold a record of 35-22 (.614) in 57 doubles matches this season. Leading the way for Michigan is the team of senior Henry Beam (Kalamazoo, Mich./Loy Norrix HS) and freshman Matt Lockin (Lilburn, Ga./N.D. Independent Study), who hold a spectacular record of 17-2 at the No. 2 position.
Cox Gets 75th Career Win
Senior Ben Cox (Spring Lake, Mich./Spring Lake HS) claimed his 75th career singles victory at Michigan Sunday (April 14), defeating Iowa's Jake Wilson in three sets, 6-2, 6-7(5), 6-3 at No. 2. The win clinched the victory for the Wolverines and improved Cox's overall singles mark to 14-13 for the season. He holds a career singles record of 75-48 in his four years with the program.
Novak Ends Home Career in Winning Fashion
In his final match at the Varsity Tennis Center, senior Greg Novak (Stoney Creek, Ontario/Cardinal Newman HS) was an important factor in Michigan's win over the Iowa Hawkeyes. He teamed with sophomore Anthony Jackson (Glendale, Wis./Nicolet HS) at No. 3 doubles for an 8-4 win over Pete Rose and Petar Mandic to secure the doubles point for the Maize and Blue. Novak then went on to extend U-M's lead by winning a commanding match at No. 5 singles, a 6-1, 6-1 mark over Iowa's Justin Gaard. He currently holds an overall singles mark of 14-15 and a doubles record of 15-8 this season.
Lockin Continues to Roll
Freshman Matt Lockin continued his strong play this past weekend against Iowa, collecting his 20th doubles and 25th singles wins of the season. Lockin won his sixth straight singles match by defeating Iowa's Petar Mandic in three sets, 0-6, 6-4, 6-1. He also teamed with Henry Beam for an 8-1 victory at No. 2 doubles to help secure the doubles point for U-M. In his first season as a Wolverine, Lockin holds an overall singles record of 25-9 (.735) and an overall doubles mark of 20-5 (.800). He has won a team-best 16 of 19 singles matches during the dual match season.
Fischer Gets Opportunity at No. 6
Freshman Josef Fischer (Nuremberg, Germany/Bradenton Academy, Fla.) contributed to Michigan's win over Iowa last weekend, claiming a 7-6(3), 6-3 victory over Pete Rose in his third career match at No. 6 singles. Fischer, who joined the Wolverines midway through the season, notched his first collegiate victory against Bowling Green's Ed Kuresman, 6-4, 6-2 (March 19).
Wolverines Fall in Rankings
With its loss to No. 14 Ohio State on April 7, Michigan fell to No. 37 in the Omni Hotels Collegiate Tennis Rankings that were released by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association on April 10. The Wolverines leaped to a season-high No. 30 in the polls after their 4-3 upset of No. 4 Notre Dame on March 27.
Michigan in ITA Rankings
Date Rank Jan. 8 43rd Jan. 30 44th Feb. 13 45th Feb. 20 46th Feb. 27 51st March 6 52nd March 13 46th March 20 40th March 27 46th April 3 30th April 10 37th
Big Ten Championship Looms
After closing the regular season with a trip to the state of Indiana, Michigan will head to the 2002 Big Ten Championship in Columbus, Ohio, starting Thursday (April 25) and running through Sunday (April 28). Ohio State will host the annual team tournament at Stickney Tennis Center.
Contact: David Ablauf (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
