Weekly Release #4
1/31/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Upcoming Schedule
Saturday, Feb. 4 -- vs. South Carolina (College Park, Md.), 11 a.m.
Sunday, Feb. 5 -- at Maryland (College Park, Md.), 11 a.m.
Wednesday, Feb. 15 -- vs. Notre Dame (Varsity Tennis Center), 4 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 19 -- vs. Tennessee (Varsity Tennis Center), Noon
This Weekend
The No. 35 University of Michigan women's tennis team (1-1) will travel to College Park, Md., for a pair of non-conference matches this weekend (Feb. 4-5). The Wolverines will have a neutral-site meeting with No. 24 South Carolina on Saturday (Feb. 4) before facing No. 31 Maryland on Sunday (Feb. 5). Both matches are scheduled for an 11 a.m. start at the Tennis Center at College Park.
Scoring Updates!
Match-by-match results of Saturday and Sunday's (Feb. 4-5) matches will be regularly updated on Maryland's official athletic website, www.umterps.com.
The Opponents
South Carolina -- The No. 24-ranked Gamecocks, who host Furman on Tuesday (Jan. 31), hold a 2-0 record after recording a pair of 7-0 sweeps over College of Charleston (Jan. 25) and Davidson (Jan. 29). South Carolina's two freshmen represent the Gamecocks in the national singles rankings, with Gira Schofield listed at No. 59 and Natasa Vuckovic at No. 62. South Carolina returns seven letterwinners from last year's squad, which finished at 15-9 overall and reached the second round at the NCAA Championships. Head coach Arlo Elkins is in his 23rd season at the helm of the Gamecocks and holds a career record of 343-226 at the school. South Carolina holds a 2-1 advantage in the all-time series with Michigan, including a 4-3 victory in the last meeting on Feb. 4, 2005 in Columbia, S.C. South Carolina on the Internet: www.uscsports.com.
Maryland -- The No. 31-ranked Terrapins, who host South Carolina on Friday (Feb. 3), hold a 1-1 record after losing to Kentucky (2-5) and defeating Texas A&M (4-3) last weekend. The Terrapins are lead by three-time All-Atlantic Coast Conference member Ramona But, who teams with junior Marianne Baker for a No. 16 national doubles ranking. Maryland returns eight letterwinners from last year's team, which finished at 11-12 overall and 5-5 in the ACC (t-5th). Head coach Martin Novak is in his fourth season at the helm of the Terrapins and holds a career record of 41-47 at the school. Michigan is undefeated in its three previous meetings with Maryland. The two teams last met on Feb. 5 of last season, when the Wolverines earned a 6-1 victory in Columbia, S.C. Maryland on the Internet: www.umterps.com.
U-M Drops Road Opener to Eighth-Ranked Commodores
Michigan suffered its first loss of the dual match season last Sunday (Jan. 29), falling 6-1 to No. 8 Vanderbilt in its road opener at the Currey Tennis Center in Nashville, Tenn. 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. 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. Michigan received its lone team point with senior Debra Streifler's (Highland Park, Ill./Highland Park HS) 7-6(5), 5-7, 1-0(8) defeat of Ferrell at No. 5 singles.
Net Points ...
Elizabeth Exon (Irvine, Calif./Woodbridge HS) recently went over the 50-win mark for her singles career (52-35). Exon is also approaching the 30-win plateau for her dual match singles career (29-19).
Debra Streifler is one victory shy of 70 for her singles career (69-33). Streifler holds a career dual match singles record of 39-17.
Debra Streifler is currently tied for fifth place on Michigan's all-time singles winning percentage list (.676). She is four wins shy of reaching ninth place on the Wolverines' career singles wins list.
Chisako Sugiyama (Parsippany, N.Y./The Montclair Kimberley Academy) holds team-high totals in both singles (11-6) and doubles (12-3) in 2005-06.
Nina Yaftali recently reached the 40-win mark for her singles career (40-29).
Seniors Named Captains for 2006
Head coach Bitsy Ritt announced that seniors Debra Streifler and Nina Yaftali will serve as co-captains for the 2006 dual match season. It marks the first nomination for both student-athletes.
Michigan Team, Players in ITA National Rankings
Michigan is listed No. 35 in the second edition of the Fila Collegiate Tennis Rankings, administered by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association on Tuesday, Jan. 31. The Wolverines, who opened the 2006 dual match season in the exact same position, is the top Big Ten Conference team in the poll behind Northwestern (No. 4) and Indiana (No. 32). Defending national champion Stanford occupies the No. 1 spot heading into the dual match season. Michigan will be tested from start to finish this season, as 13 of its 20 opponents were listed in the first national rankings.
Two Wolverine seniors represent Michigan in the national singles rankings, with Nina Yaftali at No. 48 and Debra Streifler at No. 76. It marks the first time both student-athletes have appeared in the national poll.
Wolverine Trio Earn Fall Regional Rankings
Three Michigan student-athletes were awarded with regional rankings (Dec. 2) at the conclusion of the 2005 fall season. Senior Debra Streifler is the top Wolverine in the Midwest Region singles rankings at No. 17 after going 5-3 during the fall, including her first-ever trip to the Riveria/ITA All-American Championships. Junior Elizabeth Exon, who is listed at No. 19, joined Streifler at the All-American and finished the fall at 2-5. Freshman Chisako Sugiyama earned the No. 26 spot after tallying a 7-4 record in her first fall season, which included a "Blue" singles flight championship at the 2005 Wolverine Invitational (Sept. 30-Oct. 2). Streifler and Sugiyama are the lone U-M doubles team in the regional rankings (No. 12) after recording a 3-0 mark during the fall.
2005 Fall Season Review
Michigan got off to a strong start in the fall thanks to freshman Chisako Sugiyama, who captured the "Blue" singles flight in her first collegiate tournament, the Wolverine Invitational (Sept. 30-Oct. 2). U-M sent four student-athletes to the 2005 Riviera/ITA All-American Championships (Oct. 1-9), but none were able to advance past the qualifying round. Senior Debra Streifler led Michigan's effort at the 2005 Wilson/ITA Midwest Regional Championships, as she reached the round of 16 in the 64-player main singles draw. The Wolverines wrapped up the fall season at the Thunderbird Invitational, led by senior Nina Yaftali's quarterfinal berth in the 32-player main singles draw.
The Leader of the Wolverines
Head coach Bitsy Ritt is in her 22nd season at the helm of the U-M women's tennis program, having compiled a career record of 272-233 (.539) since her appointment in 1984. Ritt has guided the Wolverines to the NCAA Championship seven times in the last 10 seasons, including the NCAA Southeast Championship in 1997. She has instructed 12 NCAA individual qualifiers, three Big Ten Conference Players of the Year and 10 All-Big Ten honorees. Ritt has been named the Big Ten Coach of the Year three times during her career and the ITA Midwest Regional Coach of the Year twice. Her athletes have also succeeded in the classroom, with a total of 27 players having earned 49 Academic All-Big Ten citations during their careers and five student-athletes having received ITA Scholar-Athlete honors.
Augustus Joins Coaching Staff in 2005-06
Amanda Augustus is in her first season as an assistant coach with the Michigan women's tennis program. Prior to her appointment at U-M, Augustus served as head coach of the men's and women's tennis programs at Whittier College (2004-05) following a successful six-year career as a professional player on the WTA circuit.
A former collegiate standout at the University of California from 1996-99, Augustus was a two-time NCAA doubles champion (1998-99) and earned All-America honors in each of her four seasons. Augustus captured 20 professional titles during her stint on the WTA Tour and achieved career-best world rankings of No. 82 in doubles and No. 304 in singles. She competed in the main draw at all four Grand Slam events, most recently the 2004 Wimbledon Championships. She reached the second round in both the French Open and U.S. Open, and was a semifinalist at the Bank of West Classic.
Mahtani Commits to Michigan for 2006-07
The Michigan women's tennis program announced Thursday, Dec. 1, the signing of Tania Mahtani (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif./Palos Verdes Peninsula HS) to a National Letter of Intent to compete for the Wolverines in 2006-07.
Mahtani is currently listed at No. 45 nationally in the USTA Girl's 18-and-under singles rankings, and she has been ranked as high as No. 30 during her junior career. She also holds a No. 11 sectional ranking in the Southern California Girl's 18s. Mahtani has consistently earned top 30 national rankings in both Girl's 14s and 16s.
2004-05 Season Review
The Wolverines finished the 2005 dual match season with a 14-12 overall record and a runner-up finish in the Big Ten Conference at 9-5. Michigan won five of its last seven dual matches during the regular season before winning three straight matches to advance to the final at the Big Ten Championship. Although the Wolverines fell to Northwestern in the title match, they still earned their fourth straight invitation to the NCAA Championship. Michelle DaCosta (2002-05) and Kara Delicata (LaSalle, Ontario/Sandwich Secondary School) qualified for the NCAA Doubles Championship for the second consecutive season and fell just shy of earning All-America Status. Five Wolverines were named to the Academic All-Big Ten team in 2004-05 and Elizabeth Exon was named an ITA Scholar-Athlete for the second straight season.
Ritt To Move Into Associate AD Role Following Season
University of Michigan athletics director Bill Martin announced Friday, Jan. 13, that head coach Bitsy Ritt will be the new associate athletic director to oversee 22 Olympic sports, effective June 1. Ritt will remain as the head women's tennis coach through the 2006 dual match season. Ritt will also represent Michigan on the Big Ten Conference Sports Management Council. She will chair the U-M Sports Management Committee and directly supervise women's basketball, women's gymnastics, volleyball, softball and baseball.
On the Horizon ...
The Wolverines will have a week off before hosting a pair of non-conference opponents at the Varsity Tennis Center. Michigan will have a mid-week meeting with Notre Dame on Wednesday (Feb. 15) at 4 p.m., and will finish up against Tennessee on Sunday (Feb. 19) at noon.
Contact: Marc Ressler (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
