Michigan
Vanderbilt
Michigan Unable to Knock Off Sixth-Ranked Vanderbilt
1/22/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 20 University of Michigan women's tennis team was unable to pull off an upset of No. 6 Vanderbilt, falling 5-2 Saturday afternoon (Jan. 22) at the Varsity Tennis Center. After earning a closely contested doubles point to start the match, the Commodores (3-0) won the first three matches in singles to send the Wolverines (1-1) to their first defeat of the season.
Senior Leanne Rutherford (Calgary, Albera/National Sports School) and junior Debra Streifler (Highland Park, Ill./Highland Park HS) stayed in contention against Vanderbilt's No. 20-ranked tandem of Taka Bertrand and Amanda Fish at No. 2 doubles, as the U-M pair was within one game (5-4) midway through match. However, Bertrand and Fish took three straight games to win 8-4 and give the Commodores the early advantage.
The Wolverines drew even at No. 3 doubles, as junior Nina Yaftali (Westlake Village, Calif./Westlake HS) and sophomore Elizabeth Exon (Irvine, Calif./Woodridge HS) outlasted Caroline Ferrell and Amanda Taylor 8-6. Trailing 5-3 early, Yaftali and Exon rebounded to win four straight games to claim a 7-5 lead. After the Vanderbilt duo broke serve to narrow the gap to 7-6, the two teams battled through three deuces before Yaftali and Exon captured the eighth and final point.
The first team point was decided at No. 1 doubles, with Vanderbilt's Annie Menees and Audra Falk slipping by Michigan's No. 15-ranked team of senior Michelle DaCosta (Huber Heights, Ohio/Wayne HS) and sophomore Kara Delicata (LaSalle, Ontario/Sandwich Secondary) in a tiebreaker. The Wolverine pair led 7-6 before Menees and Falk held serve to tie the match at 7-7. Each team held serve over the next two games, as the match stayed knotted at 8-8 heading into the tiebreaker. The Commodore tandem proved to be too much for DaCosta and Delicata in the deciding frame, winning 7-1 in the tiebreaker to clinch the doubles point for Vanderbilt.
The Commodores sealed the team win early in singles play, claiming straight-set victories at No. 5, No. 6 and No. 1 to go up 4-0 in the match. Yaftali suffered her first dual loss of the year to Taylor (6-2, 6-2) at No. 5, while Ferrell handed Streifler her first loss of the season (7-5, 6-4) at No. 6. The 44th-ranked DaCosta nearly earned the second set against No. 38 Falk at No. 1 but dropped five straight games to lose 6-2, 6-4.
With the outcome decided, the Wolverines continued to give a strong effort with two straight wins at No. 3 and No. 4. Delicata provided Michigan with its first point of the afternoon, battling back from a 3-0 deficit in the second set to win 7-6(5), 7-5. Rutherford followed suit with an impressive win over Menees, erasing an 8-4 deficit in the super-tiebreaker to win 6-4, 4-6, 1-0(9).
Fish gave Vanderbilt its fifth and final point of the day with a win at No. 2, defeating No. 95 Exon 6-4, 7-5 at No. 2.
The Wolverines return to the court next Wednesday (Jan. 26) when they travel to South Bend, Ind., to face Notre Dame. Action will begin at 4 p.m. at the Eck Tennis Pavilion.
Following are match-by-match results:
Singles
No. 1 -- #38 Audra Falk (VU) d. #44 Michelle DaCosta, 6-2, 6-4
No. 2 -- Amanda Fish (VU) d. # 95 Elizabeth Exon, 6-4, 7-5
No. 3 -- Kara Delicata (U-M) d. Taka Bertrand, 7-6(5), 7-5
No. 4 -- Leanne Rutherford (U-M) d. Annie Menees, 6-4, 4-6, 1-0(9)
No. 5 -- Amanda Taylor (VU) d. Nina Yaftali, 6-2, 6-2
No. 6 -- Caroline Ferrell (VU) d. Debra Streifler, 7-5, 6-4
Doubles
No. 1 -- Menees/Falk (VU) d. #15 DaCosta/Delicata, 9-8(1)
No. 2 -- #20 Bertrand/Fish (VU) d. Rutherford/Streifler, 8-4
No. 3 -- Yaftali/Exon (U-M) d. Taylor/Ferrell, 8-6
Order of Completion: Doubles 2-3-1, Singles 5-6-1-3-4-2
N O T E S
With her win at No. 4, Leanne Rutherford improves her career record to 63-38 and moves into a tie for 14th place with Paula Reichert (1983-86) on Michigan's career singles wins chart. It was also Rutherford's 40th career dual match singles victory (40-25).
Michigan falls to 0-2 all-time against Vanderbilt and 0-1 against nationally ranked opponents this season.
Contact: Marc Ressler (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
