Hung, Heller and Maravic Named Tri-Captains for 2007
12/14/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan men's tennis program recently announced that seniors Ryan Heller (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North HS) and Brian Hung (Hong Kong, China/Sagemont Virtual School) and junior Matko Maravic (Zagreb, Croatia/V. Gimnazija) have been voted as tri-captains by their teammates to lead the Wolverines in 2007. It marks the second career nomination for both Heller and Hung, while Maravic is carrying the honor for the first time in his career.
Heller, who is serving as a team captain for the second straight year, enters his final dual match season with career records of 54-52 in singles and 52-48 in doubles. As a junior in 2005-06, Heller earned a career-high 18 doubles victories, including a 7-3 mark in the Big Ten Conference, and posted three qualifying wins to advance to the main draw at the Polo Ralph Lauren All-American Championships. His sophomore campaign was highlighted by a run to the doubles semifinals (with Hung) at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) National Indoor Championships. Heller was one of three freshmen to compile at least 20 singles wins in 2003-04, as he finished his first season with a career-high 20-14 record. He also earned the U-M Athletic Academic Achievement award as a freshman.
Hung, who joined Heller as a co-captain in 2005-06, enters his final dual match campaign with career marks of 66-47 in singles and 70-42 in doubles. He has posted at least 17 singles victories in each of his first three seasons, including a career-best 22-10 record as a freshman in 2003-04. Hung has been just as impressive in the classroom, as the business administration major has been named a two-time ITA Scholar-Athlete (2005-06) and Academic All-Big Ten (2005-06) honoree, as well as a three-time U-M Athletic Academic Achievement award recipient (2004-06). He has also been named Michigan's Big Ten Sportsmanship Award honoree the past two seasons, as well the team's Leadership Award winner as a junior in 2006.
A two-time All-Big Ten selection (2005-06) and team MVP (2005-06), Maravic enters his third dual match season with career records of 47-35 in singles and 51-24 in doubles. He is fresh off a spectacular fall season, in which he compiled a 9-2 record and claimed the school's first Big Ten singles championship since 1996. Maravic has been the top singles player for the Wolverines since he arrived on campus in 2004, and he has collected at least 18 victories in each of his first two seasons. As a sophomore, Maravic became Michigan's first NCAA singles qualifier in six years and finished the year ranked No. 37 nationally by the ITA. He compiled a career-high 20-14 singles record as a freshman in 2004-05 and finished the year with a Big Ten-record four Athlete of the Week citations. A business administration major, Maravic was named to the Academic All-Big Ten team last season and is a two-time U-M Athletic Academic Achievement award recipient (2005-06).
Hung and Maravic have established themselves as one of the greatest doubles teams in the 114-year history of the program, as the two have paired together for an outstanding 44-18 record since the beginning of the 2005 dual match season. The duo will most likely be ranked among the top three teams in January's first national poll after earning a runner-up finish at the Polo Ralph Lauren All-American Championships in October and a semifinal finish at the ITA National Indoor Championships in November. Last season, Hung and Maravic became the first Michigan pair to compete at the NCAA Doubles Championship since 1996, and they secured U-M's first win at the tournament since 1986. The Wolverine tandem finished the year with a team-best 26-10 overall record, including a 19-6 dual match record at No. 1.
Michigan will open 2007 by traveling to Coral Gables, Fla., to compete in the Miami Invitational on Jan. 13-15.
Contact: Marc Ressler (734) 763-4423
