Michigan
Vanderbilt
U-M Drops Road Opener to Eighth-Ranked Commodores
1/29/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The No. 35 University of Michigan women's tennis team suffered its first loss of the dual match season Sunday (Jan. 29), falling 6-1 to No. 8 Vanderbilt in its road opener at the Currey Tennis Center. The Wolverines (1-1) were unable to pull off an upset against the Commodores, as U-M earned one victory in both singles and doubles.
Vanderbilt collected the first team point by winning two of three in the doubles competition. Taka Bertrand and Amanda Fish handed senior Debra Streifler (Highland Park, Ill./Highland Park HS) and freshman Chisako Sugiyama (Parsipanny, N.J./The Montclair Kimberley Academy) their first loss in six matches, 8-1, to gain the early momentum. Amanda Taylor and Maggie Yahner secured the doubles point with a win at No. 1, as they dealt junior Kara Delicata (LaSalle, Ontario/Sandwich Secondary School) and sophomore Allie Shafner (Englewood, Colo./Cherry Creek HS) their second straight loss, 8-3.
The Wolverines continued to receive a solid performance from their No. 3 pair of senior Nina Yaftali (Westlake Village, Calif./Westlake HS) and freshman Lindsey Howard (Richmond, Va./Mills E. Godwin HS), as the duo won the final three games en route to an 8-5 triumph over Caroline Ferrell and Courtney Ulrey to prevent a Vanderbilt doubles sweep. Yaftali and Howard hold a perfect 3-0 record together in 2005-06.
Fish spoiled Delicata's debut at the No. 1 singles position and gave the Commodores a 2-0 lead in the match with a 6-1, 6-2 win, while the 47th-ranked Bertrand defeated the 48th-ranked Yaftali, 6-2, 6-3 at No. 2 to bring Vanderbilt within one point of claiming the team victory.
The Commodores received the clincher from Ulery at No. 4, as she handed junior Elizabeth Exon (Irvine, Calif./Woodbrige HS) her first loss of the young season, 6-2, 6-3. With the outcome decided, Vanderbilt won two of the three remaining matches on the court. Sugiyama had her three-match winning streak snapped as she dropped a 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 decision to Taylor at No. 3, while Shafner suffered a 6-2, 6-2 defeat to Yahner at No. 6.
Michigan received its lone team point with Streifler's defeat of Ferrell at No. 5. Streifler, ranked 76th in the nation, slipped by in the first set by a score of 7-6(5) before Ferrell drew even with a 7-5 win in the second set. In the super-tiebreaker set, Streifler came out on top 10-8 to improve her record to 7-5 in 2005-06.
The Wolverines will next travel to College Park, Md., to take South Carolina on Saturday (Feb. 4) and Maryland on Sunday (Feb. 5). Both matches are scheduled for an 11 a.m. start at The Tennis Center at College Park.
Following are match-by-match results:
Singles
No. 1 -- Amanda Fish (VU) d. Kara Delicata, 6-1, 6-2
No. 2 -- #47 Taka Bertrand (VU) d. #48 Nina Yaftali, 6-2, 6-3
No. 3 -- Amanda Taylor (VU) d. Chisako Sugiyama, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1
No. 4 -- Courtney Ulery (VU) d. Elizabeth Exon, 6-2, 6-3
No. 5 -- #76 Debra Streifler (U-M) d. Caroline Ferrell, 7-6(5), 5-7, 1-0(8)
No. 6 -- Maggie Yahner (VU) d. Allie Shafner, 6-2, 6-2
Doubles
No. 1 -- Taylor/Yahner (VU) d. Delicata/Shafner, 8-3
No. 2 -- Bertrand/Fish (VU) d. Streifler/Sugiyama, 8-1
No. 3 -- Lindsey Howard/Yaftali (U-M) d. Ferrell/Ulery, 8-5
Order of Completion: Doubles 2-1-3, Singles 1-2-4-3-5-6
Contact: Marc Ressler (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
