Michigan
Michigan State
Michigan Overpowers Michigan State in Big Ten Opener
3/23/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 39 University of Michigan women's tennis team opened its Big Ten Conference schedule in winning fashion, dominating No. 75 Michigan State 6-1 Wednesday evening (March 23) in front of a packed crowd at the Varsity Tennis Center. The Wolverines allowed just four games during their sweep of the doubles competition, then claimed straight-set victories in five of six singles matches to climb back to the .500 mark for the season (6-6). The win, coupled with the men's team's 6-1 triumph in East Lansing tonight, gives U-M a 1-0 lead in the Pontiac Challenge Cup spring standings.
Michigan took a little less than an hour to sweep the three doubles matches from the Spartans (10-3, 0-1 Big Ten) and earn the first team point of night. Junior Debra Streifler (Highland Park, Ill./Highland Park HS) and sophomore Elizabeth Exon (Irvine, Calif./Woodridge HS) manhandled Sarah Andrews and Shelley Brady by an 8-0 score at No. 3 to remain undefeated at 3-0. Senior Leanne Rutherford (Calgary, Alberta/National Sports School) and freshman Allie Shafner (Englewood, Colo./Cherry Creek HS) also made easy work of their opponent, crusing past Karen Gustafson and Pascale Schnitzer 8-1 at No. 2 to clinch the doubles point and improve their season record to 6-3.
U-M's 13th-ranked tandem of senior Michelle DaCosta (Huber Heights, Ohio/Wayne HS) and sophomore Kara Delicata (LaSalle, Ontario/Sandwich Secondary) completed the doubles sweep by defeating Christine Bader and Keri Thompson 8-3 at No. 1. DaCosta and Delicata hold a team-best 8-3 dual match record and an overall mark of 14-7.
Steifler gave Michigan a 2-0 lead in the match by blowing past Jessica Barton, 6-3, 6-1, at No. 5. Streifler has gone undefeated against her last five opponents and has been the first Wolverine off the court in each of U-M's last three matches. Rutherford kept things rolling with a 6-2, 6-4 triumph over Brady at No. 4, extending her winning streak to two matches.
The 50th-ranked DaCosta provided the clincher at No. 1, earning a 6-4, 6-3 decision over No. 100 Thompson. It was DaCosta's 70th career singles victory at Michigan and moved her into a tie for 11th place with Amy Malik (1989-92) on the school's all-time singles wins chart.
Junior Nina Yaftali (Westlake Village, Calif./Westlake HS), who saw her first singles action in nearly three weeks, notched her team-leading 14th victory of 2004-05, outlasting Andrews 6-3, 7-6(3) at No. 6. Exon capped off the team scoring, as she handed Schnitzer a 6-2, 7-5 loss at No. 2 for her fourth straight win. The only blemish on U-M's scorecard was at No. 3, as Bader came back to defeat Delicata 3-6, 6-1, 6-4.
Tonight's victory improves Michigan's all-time advantage over the Spartans to 33-16, and the Wolverines have won 17 of the last 18 meetings against MSU. Michigan snapped Michigan State's school-record 10-match winning streak this evening.
The Wolverines continue Big Ten play on the road this weekend. Michigan will face No. 2 Northwestern on Saturday (March 26, 11 a.m. CST) at the Combe Indoor Tennis Center in Evanston, Ill., then finish the weekend against Wisconsin on Sunday (March 27, 11 a.m. CST) at the Nielsen Tennis Stadium in Madison, Wis.
Following are match-by-match results:
Singles
No. 1 -- #50 Michelle DaCosta (U-M) d. #100 Keri Thompson, 6-4, 6-3
No. 2 -- Elizabeth Exon (U-M) d. Pascale Schnitzer, 6-2, 7-5
No. 3 -- Christine Bader (MSU) d. Kara Delicata, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4
No. 4 -- Leanne Rutherford (U-M) d. Shelley Brady, 6-2, 6-4
No. 5 -- Debra Streifler (U-M) d. Jessica Barton, 6-3, 6-1
No. 6 -- Nina Yaftali (U-M) d. Sarah Andrews, 6-3, 7-6(3)
Doubles
No. 1 -- #13 DaCosta/Delicata (U-M) d. Bader/Thompson, 8-3
No. 2 -- Allie Shafner/Rutherford (U-M) d. Karen Gustafson/Schnitzer, 8-1
No. 3 -- Exon/Streifler (U-M) d. Andrews/Brady, 8-0
Order of Completion: Doubles 3-2-1, Singles 5-4-1-3-6-2
Contact: Marc Ressler (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
