Rutherford, Delicata Pace Michigan Win Over Alabama

Saturday, January 29

Ann Arbor, Mich.

11:00 AM

Michigan

Alabama

1/29/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 20 University of Michigan women's tennis team snapped a two-match losing skid by picking up a solid 5-2 victory over No. 32 Alabama on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 29) at the Varsity Tennis Center. After claiming a tightly contested doubles point to begin the match, the Wolverines (2-2) posted straight-set victories at No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5 singles to earn their first-ever victory over the Crimson Tide (1-1).

Delicata picked up a doubles upset and a singles rout.

Michigan's No. 15-ranked tandem of senior Michelle DaCosta (Huber Heights, Ohio/Wayne HS) and sophomore Kara Delicata (LaSalle, Ontario/Sandwich Secondary) earned an impressive 8-4 upset over Alabama's No. 12-ranked pair of Robin Stephenson and Ashley Bentley at No. 1 to give the Wolverines the early advantage in doubles. Trailing 2-1 early in the match, DaCosta and Delicata rebounded to win three straight games to gain a 4-2 lead. The U-M duo would go on to capture four of the next six games to take the victory.

Junior Nina Yaftali (Westlake Village, Calif./Westlake HS) and sophomore Elizabeth Exon (Irvine, Calif./Woodridge HS) battled back from a 7-4 deficit in their match at No. 2 with Alabama's No. 50-ranked doubles team of Melissa Day and Maria Muller, winning three straight games to knot things up at 7-7. However, Day and Muller took the next two games to win 9-7 and prevent U-M from clinching the first team point.

Playing in her first career dual match, freshman Allie Shafner (Englewood, Colo./Cherry Creek HS) teamed with senior Leanne Rutherford (Calgary, Alberta/National Sports School) for an 8-6 victory over Melissa Minor and Natalie McElveen at No. 3 to clinch the doubles point for Michigan. Shafner and Rutherford found themselves down 4-1 early in the match before winning four straight games to take a 5-4 advantage. After each team held serve for four games, the U-M pair broke Minor and McElveen's serve to claim the win.

Delicata provided the Wolverines with a 2-0 lead in the match by quickly disposing of Day, 6-0, 6-2, at No. 3 singles. Yaftali then brought U-M to within one point of the match with a dominating 6-3, 6-1 win over Andrea Brenes at No. 5. Both Delicata and Yaftali improve to 2-2 on the dual match season with their victories.

Rutherford continued her strong start to the season with a 6-3, 6-0 triumph over Minor at No. 4 to clinch the team victory for Michigan. With the win, Rutherford improves to a team-best 3-1 on the dual match season and moves into a tie for 13th place with DaCosta on U-M's career singles wins list (64-39).

With the outcome decided, Shafner collected her first career dual match singles victory with a gritty 6-4, 2-6, 7-5 decision over Muller at No. 6 to give the Wolverines their final team point of the afternoon.

The Wolverines will travel to Columbia, S.C., next weekend for a pair of non-conference matches at the Maxcy Gregg Tennis Center. Michigan will face South Carolina on Friday (Feb. 4, time TBA) before finishing up with a neutral-site meeting against Maryland on Saturday (Feb. 5, noon).

Following are match-by-match results:

Singles
No. 1 -- #8 Robin Stephenson (U-A) d. #44 Michelle DaCosta, 6-3, 6-7(6), 1-0(6)
No. 2 -- #75 Ashley Bentley (U-A) d. #95 Elizabeth Exon, 6-4, 6-1
No. 3 -- Kara Delicata (U-M) d. Melissa Day, 6-0, 6-2
No. 4 -- Leanne Rutherford (U-M) d. Melissa Minor, 6-3, 6-0
No. 5 -- Nina Yaftali (U-M) d. Andrea Brenes, 6-3, 6-1
No. 6 -- Allie Shafner (U-M) d. Maria Muller, 6-4, 2-6, 7-5

Doubles
No. 1 -- #15 DaCosta/Delicata (U-M) d. #12 Bentley/Stephenson, 8-4
No. 2 -- #50 Day/Muller (U-A) d. Exon/Yaftali, 9-7
No. 3 -- Shafner/Rutherford (U-M) d. Minor/Natalie McElveen, 8-6

Order of Completion: Doubles 1-2-3, Singles 3-5-4-2-6-1

Contact: Marc Ressler (734) 763-4423