Michigan Ends Seven-Year Drought Against Minnesota

Saturday, March 31

Minneapolis, Minn.

11:00 AM CT

Michigan

Minnesota

3/31/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- The No. 25-ranked University of Michigan men's tennis team earned a critical Big Ten Conference road victory Saturday afternoon (March 31), defeating No. 29-ranked Minnesota by a score of 5-2 at the Baseline Tennis Center. The Wolverines (13-5, 4-1 Big Ten) came out on top in a hard-fought doubles competition and won four of six singles matches to snap a seven-year, nine-match losing skid to the Golden Gophers (12-5, 2-2 Big Ten).

Freshmen George Navas (Tampa, Fla./Tampa Preparatory School) and Mike Sroczynski (Chatham, N.J./Laurel Springs School) recorded their third straight win, defeating Andres Osorio and Chi Pham by an 8-5 margin at No. 3 doubles to get the Maize and Blue off to a solid start. Navas and Sroczynski improve to 11-4 in dual match play and 13-4 overall in 2006-07.

The No. 35-ranked duo of senior Ryan Heller (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North HS) and sophomore Andrew Mazlin (Altamonte Springs, Fla./Lyman HS) clinched Michigan's 14th doubles point of the season with a tough 9-8(2) triumph over Mikey Kantar and Raoul Schwark at No. 2. The two teams were on serve throughout the entire match until Heller and Mazlin turned it up a notch a pulled away with a convincing 7-2 victory in the tiebreaker. The Wolverine tandem holds a team-best six-match winning streak; they've dropped just two of 14 dual matches this year.

Michigan's No. 3-ranked pairing of senior Brian Hung (Hong Kong, China/Sagemont Virtual School) and junior Matko Maravic (Zagreb, Croatia/V. Gimnazija) secured the Maize and Blue's 10th doubles sweep of the season, outlasting Nich Edlefsen and Sion Wilkins by a 9-8(4) margin at No. 1. Hung and Maravic carry an overall record of 21-5, including a 13-3 dual match mark at the top spot.

Minnesota tied the match at 1-1 thanks to the 93rd-ranked Osorio's 6-1, 6-1 upset win over the 55th-ranked Maravic at No. 1 singles. Heller countered with a 6-4, 7-5 victory over Kantar at No. 3, improving his dual match record to 11-4 and providing the Wolverines with a 2-1 advantage. Brian Lipinski knotted the team score once again by bettering senior Steve Peretz (Brooklyn, N.Y./The Dwight School) by a score of 7-5, 6-2 at No. 5.

Linpinski's triumph would be the Gophers' final win of the afternoon, as Michigan closed out the match with victories on the three remaining courts to clinch the team win. The 61st-ranked Hung supplied U-M with its third point thanks to a 7-5, 6-4 victory over Osorio at No. 2, which moved Hung's winning streak to four matches. Sroczynski provided the clincher, outlasting Dino Bilankov by a score of 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 at No. 6 to improve his dual match record to 8-2. Mazlin followed suit by edging out Eldefsen in a super-tiebreaker, 6-4, 6-7(6), 1-0(7) to round out the team scoring. It was Mazlin's 20th win of 2006-07; he holds a team-best 12-3 mark in dual match play this year.

Michigan had not defeated Minnesota since April 17, 1999, and today's win marks Bruce Berque's first against the Gophers in three tries as U-M's head coach. The Maize and Blue will return to Ann Arbor with the tennis version of the Little Brown Jug after Minnesota claimed the inaugural trophy with a 5-2 victory at the Varsity Tennis Center last season on April 1, 2006.

The Wolverines return to action Sunday (April 1) against Iowa at the UI Recreation Building in Iowa City, Iowa. The match is scheduled for a 10 a.m. CDT start.

Following are match-by-match results:

Singles
No. 1 -- #93 Raoul Schwark (MINN) d. #55 Matko Maravic, 6-1, 6-1
No. 2 -- #61 Brian Hung (U-M) d. Andres Osorio, 7-5, 6-4
No. 3 -- Ryan Heller (U-M) d. Mikey Kantar, 6-4, 7-5
No. 4 -- Andrew Mazlin (U-M) d. Nich Edlefsen, 6-4, 6-7(6), 1-0(7)
No. 5 -- Brian Lipinski (MINN) d. Steve Peretz, 7-5, 6-2
No. 6 -- Mike Sroczynski (U-M) d. Dino Bilankov, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3

Doubles
No. 1 -- #3 Hung/Maravic (U-M) d. Edlefsen/Sion Wilkins, 9-8(4)
No. 2 -- #35 Heller/Mazlin (U-M) d. Kantar/Schwark, 9-8(2)
No. 3 -- George Navas/Sroczynski (U-M) d. Osorio/Chi Pham, 8-5

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

Contact: Marc Ressler (734) 763-4423