Michigan Opens Dual Season With Shutout of Marquette

Saturday, January 20

Ann Arbor, Mich.

10:00 AM

Michigan

Marquette

1/20/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 32-ranked University of Michigan men's tennis team opened the 2007 dual match season with a convincing 7-0 victory over Marquette Saturday afternoon (Jan. 20) at the Varsity Tennis Center. In the first half of their doubleheader, the Wolverines (1-0) captured a tightly contested doubles point to begin the match and then stepped it up a notch and posted dominating straight-set wins on all six singles courts to wrap up their fourth straight season-opening triumph.

Michigan's No. 2-ranked doubles team of senior Brian Hung (Hong Kong, China/Sagemont Virtual School) and junior Matko Maravic (Zagreb, Croatia/V. Gimnazija) had little trouble in its match against Marquette's No. 31-ranked pairing of Brett Binkley and Mark Rutherford, winning easily by a score of 8-2 to give the Maize and Blue the early edge. Hung and Maravic improved to 9-2 overall with the win.

The Golden Eagles knotted up the doubles competition thanks to Trent Hagan and Pete Van Lieshout, who used a late surge to secure an 8-5 victory over senior Ryan Heller (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North HS) and sophomore Andrew Mazlin (Altamonte Springs, Fla./Lyman HS) at No. 2.

Sophomores Peter Aarts (Pound Ridge, N.Y./Fox Lane HS) and Scott Bruckmann (Sarasota, Fla./Saint Stephen's Episcopal School) clinched the doubles point for Michigan, as they served out the match to earn a crucial 8-5 decision over Niko Boulieris and Stephen Shao at No. 3.

Michigan's mix of youth and experience provided the necessary firepower in singles play. Freshman Mike Sroczynski (Chatham, N.J./Laurel Springs School) was impressive in his dual match debut, crushing Greg Siroteck by a score of 6-1, 6-1 to give U-M a 2-0 lead on the scoreboard. Heller then brought the Wolverines within one point of clinching the team win, as he soundly defeated Binkley by a 6-0, 6-3 margin at No. 4.

The 44th-ranked Maravic posted a 6-3, 6-4 triumph over Shao at No. 2 to secure the team victory for Michigan. It was his team-leading 10th singles win of 2006-07.

Freshman George Navas (Tampa, Fla./Tampa Preparatory School) also performed brilliantly in his first career dual match, with his 6-0, 6-3 victory over Rutherford at No. 3 giving Michigan a 5-0 advantage.

Senior Steve Peretz (Brooklyn, N.Y./The Dwight School) kept things rolling with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Boulieris at No. 5 for his 40th career dual match victory as a Wolverine. The 59th-ranked Hung then completed the singles sweep by handing Hagan a 6-4, 7-6(1) defeat at the top singles position. It was Hung's third career win at No. 1 in six tries.

The Wolverines return to the Varsity Tennis Center tonight to take on Butler at 6 p.m.

Following are match-by-match results:

Singles
No. 1 -- #59 Brian Hung (U-M) d. Trent Hagan, 6-4, 7-6(1)
No. 2 -- #44 Matko Maravic (U-M) d. Stephen Shao, 6-3, 6-4
No. 3 -- George Navas (U-M) d. Mark Rutherford, 6-0, 6-3
No. 4 -- Ryan Heller (U-M) d. Brett Binkley, 6-3, 6-0
No. 5 -- Steve Peretz (U-M) d. Niko Boulieris, 6-4, 6-4
No. 6 -- Mike Sroczynski (U-M) d. Greg Sirotek, 6-1, 6-1

Doubles
No. 1 -- #2 Hung/Maravic (U-M) d. #31 Binkley/Rutherford, 8-2
No. 2 -- Hagan/Pete Van Lieshout (Marquette) d. Heller/Mazlin, 8-5
No. 3 -- Peter Aarts/Scott Bruckmann (U-M) d. Boulieris/Shao, 8-5

Order of Completion: Doubles 1-2-3, Singles 6-4-2-3-5-1

Contact: Marc Ressler (734) 763-4423