Michigan
Ball State
Michigan Caps Doubleheader With Win Over Ball State
1/21/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 48 University of Michigan men's tennis team closed out its season-opening doubleheader by defeating No. 68 Ball State 5-2 Saturday evening (Jan. 21) at the Varsity Tennis Center. After battling back to defeat Western Michigan by a 4-3 score earlier in the day, the Wolverines (2-0) swept all three doubles matches and took four of six in singles to improve to a perfect 10-0 all-time against the Cardinals.
The Wolverines, who lost all three doubles matches to Western Michigan in the morning contest, made some slight changes to their lineup for the Ball State match, which resulted in a sweep and a 1-0 lead. Freshmen Peter Aarts (Pound Ridge, N.Y./Fox Lane HS) and Andrew Mazlin (Altamonte Springs, Fla./Lyman HS) made their career debut as a tandem a memorable one, as each earned his first dual match doubles victory with an 8-6 decision over Joe Epkey and Joe Vallee at No. 3. Junior Brian Hung (Hong Kong, China/Sagemont Virtual School) and sophomore Matko Maravic (Zagreb, Croatia/V. Gimnazija) earned their biggest victory of the 2005-06 campaign and clinched the first team point for U-M with an 8-5 upset of BSU's No. 4-ranked pair of Matt Baccarani and Patrick Thompson at the top spot.
Juniors Ryan Heller (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North HS) and Steve Peretz (Brooklyn, N.Y./The Dwight School), whose only previous match together came during their freshman season, completed the sweep by outlasting Jarrod and Tony Epkey by a 9-8(8) score at No. 2.
The No. 62-ranked Heller rebounded from a morning singles defeat by earning a convincing 6-2, 6-1 triumph over Thompson at No. 4 singles. Hung followed suit with a 6-3, 6-2 decision over Joe Epkey at No. 2, which was his 50th career singles victory at Michigan. Traling 3-0 in the match, Ball State was able to stay alive thanks to Baccarani, who handed No. 58-ranked Maravic a 6-2, 6-1 defeat at No. 1.
Peretz provided the clinching point with another impressive win at No. 5, as he dealt Jarrod Epkey a 6-4, 6-4 loss. With the outcome decided, Aarts notched his first career dual match singles victory, 7-6(3), 6-2, over Jan Polhamus at No. 6. Tony Epkey gave the Cardinals their second point of the night with a comeback win over Mazlin at No. 3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, to close out the match.
The Wolverines continue their four-match homestand next Friday (Jan. 27) against William & Mary. The match is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start at the Varsity Tennis Center.
Following are match-by-match results:
Singles
No. 1 -- Matt Baccarani (BSU) d. #58 Matko Maravic, 6-2, 6-1
No. 2 -- Brian Hung (U-M) d. Joe Epkey, 6-3, 6-2
No. 3 -- Tony Epkey (BSU) d. Andrew Mazlin, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3
No. 4 -- #62 Ryan Heller (U-M) d. Patrick Thompson, 6-2, 6-1
No. 5 -- Steve Peretz (U-M) d. Jarrod Epkey, 6-4, 6-4
No. 6 -- Peter Aarts (U-M) d. Jan Polhamus, 7-6(3), 6-2
Doubles
No. 1 -- Hung/Maravic (U-M) d. #4 Baccarani/Thompson, 8-5
No. 2 -- Heller/Peretz (U-M) d. Jarrod Epkey/Tony Epkey, 9-8(8)
No. 3 -- Aarts/Mazlin (U-M) d. Joe Epkey/Joe Vallee, 8-6
Order of Completion: Doubles 3-1-2, Singles 4-2-1-5-6-3
Q U O T E S
Michigan Head Coach Bruce Berque
On Michigan's play during the doubleheader ... "It's tough to play two matches in one day, no matter how well you try to prepare for it. The guys did a good job of getting through both matches. Andrew (Mazlin) had the deciding match in the morning. For a freshman in his first career dual match, it's not an easy task. But he passed that test with flying colors. If anything, he played the best tennis of his entire day when the match was on the line. It was great to see that he had that ability to perform under pressure.
"We changed the doubles teams up a bit after the first match and the guys played a lot better against Ball State. That was optimistic, whether it was because of the different combinations or because they wanted to rebound from a frustrating start against Western Michigan. That was a huge momentum swing for us to win the doubles point against Ball State. If we had lost that point, knowing that we had to win four singles matches when everyone is tired would have been a tough thing to pull off.
"Steve Peretz played very well today with wins in both of his matches. Brian Hung was also focused and prepared for both of his singles matches. Brian and Matko's (Maravic) win over Ball State's No. 4-ranked doubles team was a big win for them. They've been playing some good tennis. It was nice to see Peter Aarts get his first dual match win in the evening match. He played a lot better in his second match. There were a lot of positives. It definitely showed that we have a lot of things to improve on. I don't think we are anywhere close to being as good as we can be or will be."
Contact: Marc Ressler (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
