Michigan
DePaul
Michigan Opens Season With Narrow Win Over DePaul
1/21/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 35 University of Michigan women's tennis team defeated DePaul 4-3 in the opening match of the 2006 dual match season on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 21) at the Varsity Tennis Center. The Wolverines (1-0) split the singles matches to ensure the victory after winning two of three doubles matches. With the win, Michigan improves to 7-0 all-time against the Blue Demons.
Senior Debra Streifler (Highland Park, Ill./Highland Park HS) and freshman Chisako Sugiyama (Parsippany, N.J./The Montclair Kimberley Academy) gave Michigan the early momentum by blowing away Gergana Ganeva and Anja Mihaldinec 8-1 at No. 2 doubles to improve to a perfect 5-0 in 2005-06. DePaul rebounded with a victory at No. 1, as Dunja Antunovic and Beatrix Csordas posted an 8-2 victory over sophomore Allie Shafner (Englewood, Colo./Cherry Creek HS) and junior Kara Delicata (LaSalle, Ontario/Sandwich Secondary School). Freshman Lindsey Howard (Richmond, Va./Mills E. Godwin HS) and senior Nina Yaftali (Westlake Village, Calif./Westlake HS) gave Michigan the first team point with an 8-3 triumph over Bojana Murisic and Petra Rehusova at No. 3. Howard and Yaftali improve their record to 2-0 in 2005-06.
Sugiyama extended the Michigan lead to 2-0, cruising past Murisic 6-1, 6-2 in her first career dual singles match at No. 4. Shafner picked up her second career dual match singles win and moved the Wolverines within one point of the team victory with a 6-1, 6-2 decision over Brenda Leung at No. 6. DePaul finally got on the board with Csordas winning a 6-4, 6-2 match over 48th-ranked Yaftali at the top spot.
Playing her first career match at the No. 5 position, Exon secured the team win with a 6-2, 7-6(7) victory over Mihaldinec. DePaul outlasted U-M in both of the remaining matches. The 76th-ranked Streifler dropped a 6-7(2), 6-4, 6-3 decision to Antunovic at No. 3, while No. 85-ranked Ganeva won a grueling 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(3) contest over Delicata at No. 2.
The Wolverines return to the court next Sunday (Jan. 29) when they travel to Nashville, Tenn., to take on No. 8 Vanderbilt. The match is scheduled for a 9:30 a.m. CST start at the Currey Tennis Center.
Following are match-by-match results:
Singles
No. 1 -- Beatrix Csordas (DePaul) d. #48 Nina Yaftali, 6-4, 6-2
No. 2 -- #85 Gergana Ganeva (DePaul) d. Kara Delicata, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(3)
No. 3 -- #100 Dunja Antunovic (DePaul) d. #76 Debra Streifler, 6-7(2), 6-4, 6-3
No. 4 -- Chisako Sugiyama (U-M) d. Bojana Murisic, 6-1, 6-2
No. 5 -- Elizabeth Exon (U-M) d. Anja Mihaldinec, 6-2, 7-6(7)
No. 6 -- Allie Shafner (U-M) d. Brenda Leung, 6-1, 6-2
Doubles
No. 1 -- Antunovic/Csordas (DePaul) d. Delicata/Shafner, 8-2
No. 2 -- Streifler/Sugiyama (U-M) d. Ganeva/Mihaldinec, 8-1
No. 3 -- Lindsey Howard/Yaftali (U-M) d. Murisic/Petra Rehusova, 8-3
Order of Completion: Doubles 2-1-3, Singles 4-6-1-5-3-2
Q U O T E S
Michigan Assistant Coach Amanda Augustus
On Michigan's performance in its season opener ... "I thought we played well. The final outcome may be a little misleading. It was a good first match for us, especially for the freshmen to get used to dual match play. Everyone competed really well, but we still have a lot of things to work on. Debra (Streifler) and Chisako (Sugiyama) played well together at No. 2 doubles. They were really aggressive and they have good chemistry. We tried out a new team at No. 3 with Nina (Yaftali) and Lindsey (Howard). They were very consistent and smart in their match. Nina played a good match at No. 1, but she's still getting used to playing at the top of the lineup. Debra had a pretty good performance, considering that her ankle has been bothering her a bit. I think she will be back in full form next weekend. The final score was 4-3, but we jumped out to a 3-0 lead fairly quickly. While the score was close, we had a lot of positives and I think it was a good start to the season and we'll keep building from there."
Contact: Marc Ressler (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
