Michigan
Vanderbilt
Michigan Earns Season-Opening Upset Over Vanderbilt
1/27/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 29-ranked University of Michigan women's tennis team earned perhaps its biggest win in several seasons on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 27), upsetting No. 12-ranked Vanderbilt by a score of 4-3 to give Amanda Augustus a victory in her U-M head coaching debut. After losing a close doubles point to open the match, the Wolverines performed brilliantly in singles play. The Maize and Blue put together wins on four of six singles courts to seal the thrilling season-opening upset victory.
Today marks Michigan's first victory over a top 15 team in exactly four years, as the Wolverines earned a 4-3 road victory at then No. 14-ranked Kentucky on Jan. 27, 2003.
Just seconds after a Vanderbilt win at No. 3 singles tied the team score at 3-3, graduate senior Jenny Kuehn (Leipzig, Germany/Sportgymnasium Leipzig) completed a 2-6, 6-1, 6-2 comeback win over No. 42-ranked Amanda Taylor at No. 1 to clinch the team win for Michigan.
Vanderbilt gained the early momentum in doubles play, as Taka Bertrand and Catherine Newman claimed the first three games at No. 2 en route to an 8-2 victory over Kuehn and junior Allie Shafner (Englewood, Colo./Cherry Creek HS).
Senior Elizabeth Exon (Irvine, Calif./Woodbridge HS) and freshman Tania Mahtani (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif./Palos Verdes Peninsula HS) earned an early break to take a 2-0 lead over Courtney Ulery and Liberty Sveke at No. 3, but the Commodore tandem earned a break in the ensuing game and then held serve to knot the score at 2-2. The two teams were on serve through the next eight games until Ulery and Sveke earned another break to go up 7-6. Exon and Mahtani were unable to return the favor, as the Vanderbilt pair won four straight points to wrap up an 8-6 triumph and seal the doubles point for the Commodores.
Senior Kara Delicata (LaSalle, Ontario/Sandwich Secondary School) and sophomore Chisako Sugiyama (Parsippany, N.J./The Montclair Kimberley Academy) jumped out to a 6-3 lead over Taylor and Caroline Ferrell at No. 1, but the Vanderbilt duo battled back to win four of the next five games and force a tiebreaker. The Wolverine pair was too strong in the extra frame, taking six of the final seven points en route to a 7-3 win. It was Delicata and Sugiyama's first-ever victory as a doubles team.
With the Wolverines trailing 1-0 heading into singles play, Mahtani and Delicata provided a couple of big wins that swung the momentum back into Michigan's favor. Mahtani showed strength in her dual match singles debut, posting an impressive 6-2, 6-2 triumph over Sveke at No. 5 to increase her winning streak to four matches and knot the team score at 1-1. Delicata used a late surge in each set to put away Courtney Ulery at No. 4, 6-3, 6-2, and put U-M in front for the first time in the match.
Sugiyama made it three singles wins in row for the Maize and Blue, as her 6-0, 6-4 victory over the 57th-ranked Bertrand put U-M one win away from completing the upset. With the win, Sugiyama improved to a team-best 13-3 in 2006-07.
The Commodores earned singles wins at No. 6 and No. 3, respectively, to tie up the match at 3-3. Ferrell defeated Shafner (6-3, 6-2), while the 24th-ranked Newman got the better of Exon (6-4, 6-1) to set the stage for Kuehn's match-clinching triumph at the top spot.
The Wolverines begin a four-match road swing next weekend against Oregon and Washington. Michigan will square off against the Ducks on Saturday (Feb. 3) at the Student Tennis Center in Eugene, Ore., before a meeting with the Huskies on Sunday (Feb. 4) at the Nordstrom Tennis Center in Seattle, Wash. Both matches are scheduled to start at 11 a.m. PST.
Following are match-by-match results:
Singles
No. 1 -- #81 Jenny Kuehn (U-M) d. #42 Amanda Taylor, 2-6, 6-1, 6-2
No. 2 -- Chisako Sugiyama (U-M) d. #57 Taka Bertrand, 6-0, 6-4
No. 3 -- #24 Catherine Newman (Vanderbilt) d. Elizabeth Exon, 6-4, 6-1
No. 4 -- Kara Delicata (U-M) d. Courtney Ulery, 6-3, 6-2
No. 5 -- Tania Mahtani (U-M) d. Liberty Sveke, 6-2, 6-2
No. 6 -- Caroline Ferrell (Vanderbilt) d. Allie Shafner, 6-3, 6-2
Doubles
No. 1 -- Delicata/Sugiyama (U-M) d. Ferrell/Taylor, 8-7(3)
No. 2 -- Bertrand/Newman (Vanderbilt) d. Kuehn/Shafner, 8-2
No. 3 -- Sveke/Ulery (Vanderbilt) d. Exon/Mahtani, 8-6
Order of Completion: Doubles 2-3-1, Singles 5-4-2-6-3-1
Contact: Marc Ressler (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
