Michigan
South Carolina
Wolverines Edged in Marathon Match at South Carolina
2/4/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
COLUMBIA, S.C. -- The No. 21 University of Michigan women's tennis team was upset by No. 36 South Carolina 4-3 Friday night (Feb. 4) in a six-and-a-half-hour marathon match at the USC Field House. The Wolverines (2-3) swept the three doubles matches and claimed the first victory in singles to go up 2-0 in the match, but the Gamecocks (2-0) responded with wins on four of the last five courts to steal the match.
Michigan's 15th-ranked doubles pairing of senior Michelle DaCosta (Huber Heights, Ohio/Wayne HS) and sophomore Kara Delicata (LaSalle, Ontario/Sandwich Secondary) collected its team-high ninth win of 2004-05 by defeating Fallon Koon and Miranda Gutierrez 8-2 to give the Wolverines the early advantage. Senior Leanne Rutherford (Calgary, Alberta/National Sports School) and freshman Allie Shafner (Englewood, Colo./Cherry Creek HS) clinched the doubles point and improved to 2-0 on the dual match season, defeating Laura Ganzer and Grace Blakely 8-3 at No. 3.
Junior Nina Yaftali (Westlake Village, Calif./Westlake HS) and sophomore Elizabeth Exon (Irvine, Calif./Woodridge HS) sealed the doubles sweep with a tight 9-7 decision over Christyn Lucas and Magda Wojdylo at No. 2. With the win, Yaftali and Exon move their overall record to 8-6.
DaCosta got the Wolverines off to a fast start in singles, posting an easy 6-2, 6-1 win over Lucas at No. 1 to give U-M a 2-0 lead in the match. However, the Gamecocks stormed back to take a 3-2 advantage after three straight wins at No. 4, No. 3 and No. 2.
Yaftali prevented South Carolina from claiming the fourth and decisive point, earning a hard-fought victory over Koon in three sets at No. 5. After dropping the first set to Yaftali (6-4), Koon rebounded to take the second (6-3) and took a commanding 5-2 lead in the third frame. However, Yaftali rallied to take the next three games before eventually winning 7-3 in a tiebreaker to knot the team score at 3-3 with one match remaining on the courts.
The outcome was decided at No. 6, as Justine Walsh handed Shafner her first career dual match loss. After dropping the first set 7-5, Shafner battled back to win the second frame 6-3. Walsh earned a 5-4 lead in the third set, then rebounded from a 40-15 deficit in the final game to clinch the team victory for South Carolina.
The Wolverines will remain in Columbia, S.C., for a neutral-site meeting with Maryland tomorrow afternoon (Saturday, Feb 5). The match is scheduled for noon at the USC Field House.
Following are match-by-match results:
Singles
No. 1 -- # 44 Michelle DaCosta (U-M) d. Christyn Lucas, 6-2, 6-1
No. 2 -- Laura Ganzer (USC) d. #95 Elizabeth Exon, 6-4, 6-3
No. 3 -- Miranda Gutierrez (USC) d. Kara Delicata, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
No. 4 -- Magda Wojdylo (USC) d. Leanne Rutherford, 6-3, 7-5
No. 5 -- Nina Yaftali (U-M) d. Fallon Koon, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(3)
No. 6 -- Justine Walsh (USC) d. Allie Shafner, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4
Doubles
No. 1 -- #15 Delicata/DaCosta (U-M) d. Koon/Gutierrez, 8-2
No. 2 -- Exon/Yaftali (U-M) d. Lucas/Wojdylo, 9-7
No. 3 -- Rutherford/Shafner (U-M) d. Ganzer/Grace Blakely, 8-3
Order of Completion: Doubles 1-3-2, Singles 1-4-3-2-5-6
N O T E S
With her win at No. 1, Michelle DaCosta took sole possession of 13th place on Michigan's all-times singles wins list (65-52). Her win with Kara Delicata at No. 1 doubles gives her 40 victories for her dual match career (40-34).
Contact: Marc Ressler (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
