Tipirneni's Comeback Victory Clinches Win Over Terps

Friday, February 6

Ann Arbor, Mich.

5:00 PM

Michigan

Maryland

2/6/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 34-ranked University of Michigan women's tennis team clinched the doubles points and won four singles matches to record a 5-2 victory over No. 75 Maryland on Friday (Feb. 6) at the Varsity Tennis Center.

DaCosta improved to 2-0 at the No. 1 singles position.

Senior Kavitha Tipirneni (Galloway, Ohio/Hilliard Darby HS) clinched the win for Michigan with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 decision over the Terrapins' Marianne Baker at the No. 3 singles position. Tipirneni built a 4-0 lead in the third set, but Baker responded, winning three consecutive games to pull within just one game. After the players swapped games, Tipirneni battled to deuce in the 10th game before winning back-to-back points to break serve and claim the victory.

Juniors Michelle DaCosta (Huber Heights, Ohio/Wayne HS) and Leanne Rutherford (Calgary, Alberta/National Sports School) kept their winning streaks alive, earning victories at No. 1 and No. 5 singles, respectively. DaCosta dominated Emily Marker at the top spot, winning in straight sets (6-3, 6-0) for her fifth consecutive win. Rutherford battled back after dropping the second set in a tiebreaker, breaking serve twice in the deciding set to beat Masha Senic 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-2 and extend her winning streak to six matches.

Senior Chrissie Nolan (Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South HS) also posted a win for Michigan at the No. 4 singles position, defeating Neda Mihneva 6-4, 6-2 in straight sets.

After splitting matches with the Terrapins at the No. 2 and 3 doubles position, DaCosta and Delicata sealed the extra point for U-M with a 8-6 victory over Emily Marker and Marianne Baker at No. 1. Down 3-5 midway through the match, the Wolverine tandem won three consecutive games to pull ahead by one. After Maryland held serve to knot the score at six games apiece, U-M rallied to win back-to-back games and put Michigan into the lead heading into the singles competition.

U-M (3-0, 0-0 Big Ten) will continue its five-meet homestand on Sunday (Feb. 8) when the Wolverines take on No. 47 South Carolina at 11 a.m. at the Varsity Tennis Center.

Following are match-by-match results:

Singles
No. 1 -- Michelle DaCosta (U-M) d. Emily Marker, 6-3, 6-0
No. 2 -- Ramona But (Maryland) d. Elizabeth Exon, 6-4, 6-4
No. 3 -- Kavitha Tipirneni (U-M) d. Marianne Baker, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4
No. 4 -- Chrissie Nolan (U-M) d. Neda Mihneva, 6-4, 6-2
No. 5 -- Leanne Rutherford (U-M) d. Masha Senic, 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-2
No. 6 -- Jennifer Dent (Maryland) d. Kara Delicata, 2-6, 7-5, 6-3

Doubles
No. 1 -- DaCosta/Delicata (U-M) d. Marker/Baker, 8-6
No. 2 -- But/Mihneva (Maryland) d. Exon/Tipirneni, 8-3
No. 3 -- Kim Plaushines/Debra Streifler (U-M) d. S. Chavardes/Rogers, 8-2

Contact: Leah Howard (734) 763-4423