Wolverines Fall Short Against Fourth-Ranked Cavaliers

Saturday, February 10

Charlottesville, Va.

6:00 PM

Michigan

Virginia

Wolverines Fall Short Against Fourth-Ranked Cavaliers

2/10/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- The No. 23-ranked University of Michigan men's tennis team suffered its first loss of the season with a 5-2 setback to No. 4-ranked Virginia on Saturday night (Feb. 10) at the Boar's Head Sports Club. Senior Ryan Heller (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North HS) and sophomore Andrew Mazlin (Altamonte Springs, Fla./Lyman HS) led the charge for the Wolverines, pairing together for the team's lone doubles win before accounting for each of U-M's two singles victories. The loss puts the Maize and Blue at 6-1 heading into next weekend's Big Ten Conference opener.

Heller and Mazlin got Michigan off to a great start, as the duo made a late surge to defeat Houston Barrick and Dominic Inglot at No. 2, 8-5. The Wolverine tandem has won five straight matches and stands at 8-2 overall in 2006-07.

U-M's momentum was short-lived, however, as the Cavaliers posted a pair of tiebreaker wins at Nos. 3 and 1 to claim the first team point. Freshmen George Navas (Tampa, Fla./Tampa Preparatory School) and Mike Sroczynski (Chatham, N.J./Laurel Springs School) suffered a heartbreaking 9-8(9) defeat to Ted Angelinos and Lee Singer at No. 3, which was the Michigan pair's first loss in seven matches. U-M's No. 2-ranked doubles team of senior Brian Hung (Hong Kong, China/Sagemont Virtual School) and junior Matko Maravic (Zagreb, Croatia/V. Gimnazija) lost for just the third time in 17 matches this season, dropping a tough 9-8(2) decision to Virginia's No. 10-ranked team of Somdev Devvarman and Treat Huey at No. 1.

It marked the first doubles point Michigan has given up in seven matches this year, as well as the team's first loss at both the Nos. 1 and 3 positions.

The 10th-ranked Huey put the Cavaliers in front 2-0, posting a 6-3, 6-3 win over the 59th-ranked Hung at No. 2 singles. Mazlin then stepped up and kept the Wolverines in contention by defeating Angelinos, 6-1, 6-4, at No. 5. Mazlin improved his dual match record to 5-1 (13-4 overall).

The 44th-ranked Maravic was unable to upset the 8th-ranked Devvarman at No. 1, losing 6-4, 6-1 to put Virginia one win away from the team victory. It was just Maravic's first loss in seven matches, as well as his first setback in dual match play (6-1).

Singer's 6-2, 6-4 triumph at No. 6 over senior Steve Peretz (Brooklyn, N.Y./The Dwight School) proved to be the clincher for the Cavaliers. It was also Peretz's first loss in dual match action (4-1).

The Maize and Blue picked up one victory on the two remaining singles courts, with Heller outlasting Inglot in a super-tiebreaker at No. 3, 6-3, 6-7(5), 1-0(4), for his fourth win in five tries.

The Wolverines open Big Ten play next Sunday (Feb. 18) against Northwestern. The match is scheduled for a 3 p.m. CST start at the Combe Indoor Tennis Center in Evanston, Ill.

Following are match-by-match results:

Singles
No. 1 -- #8 Somdev Devvarman (UVa) d. #44 Matko Maravic, 6-4, 6-1
No. 2 -- #10 Treat Huey (UVa) d. #59 Brian Hung, 6-3, 6-3
No. 3 -- Ryan Heller (U-M) d. Dominic Inglot, 6-3, 6-7(5), 1-0(4)
No. 4 -- Houston Barrick (UVa) d. George Navas, 7-5, 7-6(4)
No. 5 -- Andrew Mazlin (U-M) d. Ted Angelinos, 6-1, 6-4
No. 6 -- Lee Singer (UVa) d. Steve Peretz, 6-2, 6-4

Doubles
No. 1 -- #7 Devvarman/Huey (UVa) d. #2 Hung/Maravic, 9-8(2)
No. 2 -- Heller/Mazlin (U-M) d. Barrick/Inglot, 8-5
No. 3 -- Angelinos/Singer (UVa) d. Navas/Mike Sroczynski, 9-8(9)

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

Contact: Marc Ressler (734) 763-4423