Michigan
Iowa
Michigan Falls Victim to Iowa Comeback in Road Match
4/2/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa -- The No.32 University of Michigan women's tennis team dropped a 5-2 decision to No. 40 Iowa Sunday (April 2) at the Clark Racquet Center. The Wolverines (9-6, 3-2 Big Ten) jumped out to an early 2-0 lead after claiming the doubles point and the No. 5 singles match, but the Hawkeyes (12-3, 4-0 Big Ten) rallied to win matches on the five remaining courts to steal the team victory.
Michigan's No. 1 doubles team of senior Debra Streifler (Highland Park, Ill./Highland Park HS) and junior Kara Delicata (LaSalle, Ontario/Sandwich Secondary School) continued to roll through the Big Ten Conference season, posting a commanding 8-3 win over Jacqueline Lee and Meg Racette at No. 1 to give the Wolverines the early edge. Streifler and Delicata have won five straight matches and hold a team-best 8-2 record in dual match play. The pair owns unblemished records against Big Ten (5-0) and regional (7-0) opposition.
Senior Nina Yaftali (Westlake Village, Calif./Westlake HS) and freshman Lindsey Howard (Richmond, Va./Mills E. Godwin HS) picked up their second straight win at the No. 2 position, defeating Kayla Berry and Hillary Mintz by a score of 8-5 to clinch the doubles point for Michigan.
Freshman Chisako Sugiyama (Parsippany, N.J./The Montclair Kimberley Academy) provided U-M with a 2-0 lead after making quick work of Berry, 6-4, 6-0, at No. 5 singles. Sugiyama holds an impressive 7-2 mark at the fifth position this season, including a 4-1 record in the conference. She needs one win to become the first Wolverine to reach 20 overall singles victories in 2005-06.
Iowa posted straight-set wins at Nos. 4, 1, 6 and 2, respectively, to complete the comeback victory. The last match of the day saw Mintz outlast junior Elizabeth Exon (Irvine, Calif./Woodbridge HS) in a super-tiebreaker at No. 2, 6-1, 5-7, 1-0(6).
The Wolverines return home to face Purdue and Illinois next weekend at the Varsity Tennis Center. Michigan will host Purdue on Saturday (April 8) and Illinois on Sunday (April 9), with both matches scheduled to start at 11 a.m.
Following are match-by-match results:
Singles
No. 1 -- #33 Meg Racette (Iowa) d. #97 Kara Delicata, 6-2, 6-3
No. 2 -- Hillary Mintz (Iowa) d. Elizabeth Exon, 6-1, 5-7, 1-0(6)
No. 3 -- Milica Veselinovic (Iowa) d. Nina Yaftali, 6-3, 6-1
No. 4 -- Jacqueline Lee (Iowa) d. Debra Streifler, 6-2, 6-0
No. 5 -- Chisako Sugiyama (U-M) d. Kayla Berry, 6-4, 6-0
No. 6 -- Merel Beelen (Iowa) d. Lindsey Howard, 6-4, 7-5
Doubles
No. 1 -- Delicata/Streifler (U-M) d. Lee/Racette, 8-3
No. 2 -- Lindsey Howard/Yaftali (U-M) d. Berry/Mintz, 8-5
No. 3 -- Krissy Dowlin/Veselinovic (Iowa) d. Exon/Allie Shafner, 8-3
Order of Completion: Doubles 1-3-2, Singles 5-1-4-6-3-2
Contact: Marc Ressler (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
