DaCosta Clinchers Help Wolverines Upset No. 22 Illinois

Saturday, April 12

Ann Arbor, Mich.

11:00 AM

Michigan

Illinois

DaCosta Clinchers Help Wolverines Upset No. 22 Illinois

4/12/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Sophomore Michelle DaCosta (Huber Heights, Ohio/Wayne HS) won a pair of clinching matches as the University of Michigan women's tennis team posted a 5-2 victory against No. 22 Illinois Saturday (April 12) at the Varsity Tennis Center. The Wolverines (12-5, 5-2 Big Ten) won the doubles point and claimed four of the six singles matches to snap a four-match losing streak to the Fighting Illini (12-6, 5-2 Big Ten).

DaCosta downed ranked foes in both singles and doubles.

U-M stunned Illinois in doubles with victories at the No. 1 and No. 3 spots. The Fighting Illini claimed an 8-3 victory at No. 2 in the first match completed as Eva Choe and Tiffany Eklov defeated senior co-captain Jen Duprez (Westhampton, N.Y./Westhampton Beach HS) and junior Kim Plaushines (Oconomowoc, Wis./Kettle Moraine HS). Michigan gained an 8-5 win from junior Chrissie Nolan (Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South HS) and freshman Debra Streifler (Highland Park, Ill./Highland Park HS) over Brianna Knue and Leila Cehajic at No. 3, and DaCosta and fellow sophomore Leanne Rutherford (Calgary, Alberta/National Sports School) clinched the team point with an 8-3 upset of 20th-ranked Jennifer McGaffigan and Michelle Webb at No. 1.

The Wolverines carried the momentum into singles and put the match away with three straight-set victories and a win by injury default. Rutherford picked up the team's first singles point with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Eldina Fazlic at No. 3. Plaushines won following an injury retirement by Choe at No. 4. Illinois trimmed the deficit to 3-1 as Eklov posted a 6-4, 6-0 win against Nolan at No. 2.

DaCosta stopped the Illini's sudden momentum with a 6-4, 6-1 win over 69th-ranked McGaffigan at No. 1 to clinch the Wolverines' victory. Streifler added a 7-6(1), 6-2 victory over Webb at No. 6 while Illinois made the final margin 5-2 as Knue won following an injury retirement by Duprez at No. 5.

Michigan will honor its two seniors -- Duprez and Joanne Musgrove (LaSalle, Ontario/Sandwich HS) -- prior to the season's final home match against Purdue tomorrow (Sunday, April 13) at the Varsity Tennis Center. The match with the Boilermakers will begin at 11 a.m.

Following are match-by-match results:

Singles
No. 1 -- Michelle DaCosta (U-M) d. #69 Jennifer McGaffigan, 6-4, 6-1
No. 2 -- Tiffany Eklov (IL) d. Chrissie Nolan, 6-4, 6-0
No. 3 -- Leanne Rutherford (U-M) d. Eldina Fazlic, 6-1, 6-1
No. 4 -- Kim Plaushines (U-M) d. Eva Choe, 1-6, 2-1 injury retired
No. 5 -- Brianna Knue (IL) d. Jen Duprez, 2-6, 5-6 injury retired
No. 6 -- Debra Streifler (U-M) d. Michelle Webb, 7-6(1), 6-2

Doubles
No. 1 -- DaCosta/Rutherford (U-M) d. #20 McGaffigan/Webb, 8-3
No. 2 -- Choe/Eklov (IL) d. Duprez/Plaushines, 8-3
No. 3 -- Nolan/Streifler (U-M) d. Knue/Cehajic, 8-5

Contact: David Ablauf (734) 763-4423