Michigan
Iowa
Wolverines Handed First Big Ten Defeat by Hawkeyes
4/3/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
IOWA CITY, Iowa -- The No. 20 University of Michigan women's tennis team experienced its first setback of the Big Ten Conference season today (Saturday, April 3), falling 4-3 to No. 35 Iowa at the UI Recreation Building.
The Hawkeyes claimed the doubles point with a pair of early victories, and after the teams evenly split the singles competitions, held on to their narrow one-point advantage. It was only the second time this season that the Wolverines dropped the doubles point.
Senior Kim Plaushines (Oconowomoc, Wis./Kettle Moraine HS) and sophomore Debra Streifler (Highland Park, Ill./Highland Park HS) earned the lone doubles win for Michigan, defeating Deni Alexandrova and Anatasia Zhukova 8-3 at the No. 2 position. The doubles tandem, ranked 32nd nationally by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, improved its season dual-meet record to a near-perfect 13-1.
On the singles side, Michigan collected wins from freshman Elizabeth Exon (Irvine, Calif./Woodbridge HS), senior Kavitha Tipirneni (Galloway, Ohio/Hilliard Darby HS) and Streifler. Exon registered her team-leading 21st win the season, defeating the Hawkeyes' Hillary Mintz 6-0, 6-4 at the No. 2 spot.
Tipirneni and Streifler both extended their singles winning streaks with decisions at the No. 3 and No. 6 positions, respectively. Tipirneni claimed her 20th win of the season and her ninth in a row with a dominant 6-1, 6-1 performance against Chelsea Glynn, while Streifler notched her eighth consecutive victory with a 7-5, 6-2 decision over Hilary Tyler.
The Wolverines will return to the hardcourt tomorrow (Sunday, April 4) for a conference dual meet against Minnesota. The match is slated for an 11 a.m. CDT start at the Baseline Tennis Center in Minneapolis, Minn.
Following are match-by-match results:
Singles
No. 1 -- Meg Racette (Iowa) d. Michelle DaCosta, 6-2, 6-3
No. 2 -- #72 Elizabeth Exon (U-M) d. Hillary Mintz, 6-0, 6-4
No. 3 -- Kavitha Tipirneni (U-M) d. Chelsea Glynn, 6-1, 6-1
No. 4 -- Anatasia Zhukova (Iowa) d. Chrissie Nolan, 7-6, 4-6, 6-4
No. 5 -- Deni Alexandrova (Iowa) d. Leanne Rutherford, 6-3, 6-1
No. 6 -- Debra Streifler (U-M) d. Hilary Tyler, 7-5, 6-2
Doubles
No. 1 -- Racette/Mintz (Iowa) d. #30 DaCosta/Kara Delicata, 8-1
No. 2 -- #32 Kim Plaushines/Streifler d. Alexandrova/ Zhukova, 8-3
No. 3 -- Glynn/Tyler (Iowa) d. Tipirneni/Rutherford, 8-3
N O T E S
With the loss, the Wolverines' all-time series record against Iowa dropped to 20-9.
During her nine-match winning streak, senior Kavitha Tipirneni has allowed just 33 games against, an average of 3.67 games per match.
The win at No. 2 doubles marked the 40th career doubles victory for sophomore Debra Streifler and the 69th for senior Kim Plaushines.
Contact: Leah Howard (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
