Michigan
Illinois
Michigan Cruises Past Illinois for Undefeated Weekend
4/9/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 36 University of Michigan women's tennis team capped off an undefeated weekend with a convincing 6-1 victory over Illinois Sunday afternoon (April 9) at the Varsity Tennis Center. The Wolverines (11-7, 5-2 Big Ten), who beat Purdue by a score of 5-2 yesterday, won the doubles point for the sixth time in the last seven matches and posted six singles wins to clinch their second straight triumph over the Fighting Illini (6-11, 1-5 Big Ten) and stay in the Big Ten Conference race at 5-2.
Michigan's No. 3 doubles team of sophomore Allie Shafner (Englewood, Colo./Cherry Creek HS) and freshman Chisako Sugiyama (Parsippany, N.J./The Montclair Kimberley Academy) won four of the first five games en route to an 8-4 victory over Alejandra Meza Cuadra and Momei Qu. Shafner and Sugiyama have won six of nine dual matches this season and hold a 4-1 record in Big Ten play.
Soon after U-M's win at No. 3, senior Debra Streifler (Highland Park, Ill./Highland Park HS) and junior Kara Delicata (LaSalle, Ontario/Sandwich Secondary School) clinched the doubles point with an 8-6 triumph over the No. 41-ranked team of Macall Harkins and Emily Wang at No. 1. Streifler and Delicata, who are ranked 33rd in the nation, have won seven straight matches and remain undefeated in the conference at 7-0.
Senior Nina Yaftali (Westlake Village, Calif./Westlake HS) and freshman Lindsey Howard (Richmond, Va./Mills E. Godwin HS) finished the doubles sweep with a win over Shivani Dave and Brianna Knue at No. 3. Yaftali and Howard battled back from an early 4-1 deficit, winning seven of the final eight games to wrap up an 8-5 victory. The pair has won 10 of its last 11 matches dating back to Feb. 19.
As she has done so many times this season, Sugiyama quickly took care of her opponent at No. 5 singles to give the Wolverines a 2-0 advantage in the match. Sugiyama's 6-1, 6-1 stomping of Wang was her fourth straight victory, and she improves to 11-5 in dual match play and a team-best 6-1 in the Big Ten.
Streifler put Michigan on top 3-0 with a dominating 6-4, 6-2 win over Dave at No. 4. Streifler is 10-2 at the fourth slot this season and a team-best 13-4 in dual match play. Moments after Streifler's triumph, Exon completed a 6-3, 6-1 win over Qu at No. 2 to clinch the team victory for the Wolverines. It was Exon's sixth win in her last eight matches.
Howard continued her impressive play at the No. 6 spot, as she defeated Meza Cuadra by a score of 6-2, 6-3 for U-M's fifth team point. Howard, who has won two straight, moves her dual match record to 4-2. Yaftali snapped a three-match losing skid with a comeback victory over Knue at No. 3, 4-6, 6-3, 1-0(4), to give Michigan its sixth and final point of the day.
The 95th-ranked Harkins prevented an overall U-M sweep, as she fought back to defeat Delicata, 2-6, 7-5, 6-4, at No. 1.
The Wolverines return to the hardcourt next Saturday (April 15) when they travel to Columbus, Ohio, to face Ohio State. The match is scheduled for an 11 a.m. start at the Stickney Tennis Center.
Following are match-by-match results:
Singles
No. 1 -- #95 Macall Harkins (ILL) d. #118 Kara Delicata, 2-6, 7-5, 6-4
No. 2 -- Elizabeth Exon (U-M) d. Momei Qu, 6-3, 6-1
No. 3 -- Nina Yaftali (U-M) d. Brianne Knue, 4-6, 6-3, 1-0(4)
No. 4 -- Debra Streifler (U-M) d. Shivani Dave, 6-4, 6-2
No. 5 -- Chisako Sugiyama (U-M) d. Emily Wang, 6-1, 6-1
No. 6 -- Lindsey Howard (U-M) d. Alejandra Meza Cuadra, 6-2, 6-3
Doubles
No. 1 -- #33 Delicata/Streifler (U-M) d. #41 Harkins/Wang, 8-6
No. 2 -- Howard/Yaftali (U-M) d. Dave/Knue, 8-5
No. 3 -- Allie Shafner/Sugiyama (U-M) d. Meza Cuadra/Qu, 8-4
Order of Completion: Doubles 3-1-2, Singles 5-4-2-6-3-1
Q U O T E S
Michigan Head Coach Bitsy Ritt
On Michigan's performance this weekend ... "I'm very happy with the way we played yesterday and today. I thought we did an excellent job of staying focused throughout each match at every position. Both Purdue and Illinois played well, and we did a good job of stepping up and playing our weapons and really coming through."
On the strength of the current lineup ... "I think the doubles combinations are strong right now and we're playing well throughout the singles lineup. This is a very competitive lineup, yet we still have some options. The lineup that we played this weekend was very effective."
On the play of Chisako Sugiyama this year ... "We knew that Chisako was going to do well and we have a lot of confidence in her. She did a good job yesterday and even a better job today. The difference was that she really learned from yesterday the importance of getting off to a good start in the second set. That was one of her match goals today and I'm really proud of her because she was able to start the second set with great intensity and she kept her focus. She has done a very good job for us."
On the upcoming match against Ohio State ... "They are a competitive team. The ITA rankings are so misleading because so much of it depends on your ability to come through with some big non-conference wins. They're always very feisty and talented and they're well coached. I expected it to be a very competitive match."
On where the team stands heading into the final stretch of the season ... "I think we have room to improve; that's certainly our goal. I think we made a big jump this past week. We were very disappointed with our performance at Iowa, and I thought we responded well in practice this week. We did a great job in these two dual matches and the goal is to be better next weekend in Columbus."
Contact: Marc Ressler (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
