Michigan
Indiana
Michigan Crushes Indiana in Outdoor Home Match
4/21/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 17-ranked University of Michigan men's tennis team earned a convincing 7-0 victory over No. 64-ranked Indiana Saturday afternoon (April 21) at the Varsity Tennis Center. The Wolverines (18-4, 8-1 Big Ten) were dominant in their first outdoor home match of the season, claiming a doubles sweep and straight-set wins on all six singles courts to keep head coach Bruce Berque's career record against the Hoosiers (14-10, 4-5 Big Ten) perfect at 4-0.
Today's victory sets the stage for U-M's big showdown with No. 3-ranked Ohio State (23-1, 9-0 Big Ten) on Sunday (April 22, noon) at the Varsity Tennis Center. Should the Maize and Blue defeat the Buckeyes, the two teams will share the Big Ten Conference regular-season title and Michigan will be the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten Championship, which will be hosted by Purdue next week (April 26-29).
The Wolverines got off to a blazing start, building insurmountable leads on all three doubles courts to secure their 12th doubles sweep of the season. U-M has taken the first team point in 16 of 22 matches this year.
Michigan's No. 4-ranked doubles team of senior Brian Hung (Hong Kong, China/Sagemont Virtual School) and junior Matko Maravic (Zagreb, Croatia/V. Gimnazija) recorded an 8-2 victory over Dara McLoughlin and Thomas Richter at No. 1 to get the Wolverines off on the right foot. Hung and Maravic have won 16 of 20 matches at the top spot, including three straight dating back to April 8.
Senior Ryan Heller (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North HS) and sophomore Andrew Mazlin (Altamonte Springs, Fla./Lyman HS) snapped a three-match losing skid at No. 2, defeating David Bubenicek and Mak Kendall by an 8-3 margin to clinch the doubles point for the Maize and Blue. The 45th-ranked U-M duo holds a team-best 7-2 mark in Big Ten play.
Freshmen George Navas (Tampa, Fla./Tampa Preparatory School) and Mike Sroczynski (Chatham, N.J./Laurel Springs School) completed the double sweep and won their first match in three tries at the No. 3 position, posting an 8-3 triumph over Peter Antons and Arnaud Roussel. Navas and Sroczynski have been victorious in 16 of 22 matches in 2006-07.
Sroczynski carried his strong play over into singles action, cruising to a 6-0, 6-2 win over Antons at No. 5 to give Michigan a 2-0 advantage. Sroczynski has defeated all five of his conference opponents and has won 11 of 13 dual matches overall.
Mazlin picked up his sixth straight victory, bettering Roussel by a score of 6-3, 6-3 at No. 4 to put U-M ahead 3-0. Mazlin holds a team-best 17-3 dual match record, and he became the first Wolverine since 2002-03 to win 25 matches in a single season (25-6).
Navas sealed Michigan's ninth consecutive team win, battling back from a 3-0 deficit in the first set to beat Kendall by a 6-3, 6-4 margin at No. 6. Navas has been triumphant in his last five outings and has tallied a perfect 4-0 mark at the sixth slot.
Heller fought back from a 4-1 hole in the second set to defeat McLoughlin, 6-3, 7-6(2), at No. 3 to push the U-M lead to 5-0. It marked Heller's 50th career dual match victory as a Wolverine (50-36).
The 44th-ranked Maravic supplied Michigan with its sixth team point after Bubenicek retired due to injury trailing 3-6, 3-2 at No. 2. Maravic, who has won four straight, joins Mazlin as a 25-match winner in 2006-07 (25-9).
The 45th-ranked Hung capped off U-M's 10th home victory of the season, handing Richter a 6-4, 7-5 loss at No. 1. Hung has won six of 11 matches at the top position this year.
The Wolverines will honor their 2007 senior class -- Heller, Hung and Steve Peretz (Brooklyn, N.Y./The Dwight School) -- prior to tomorrow's regular-season finale against Ohio State.
Following are match-by-match results:
Singles
No. 1 -- #45 Brian Hung (U-M) d. Thomas Richter, 6-4, 7-5
No. 2 -- #44 Matko Maravic (U-M) d. David Bubenicek, 6-3, 2-3 ret.
No. 3 -- Ryan Heller (U-M) d. Dara McLoughlin, 6-3, 7-6(2)
No. 4 -- Andrew Mazlin (U-M) d. Arnaud Roussel, 6-3, 6-3
No. 5 -- Mike Sroczynski (U-M) d. Peter Antons, 6-0, 6-2
No. 6 -- George Navas (U-M) d. Mak Kendall, 6-3, 6-4
Doubles
No. 1 -- #4 Hung/Maravic (U-M) d. McLoughlin/Richter, 8-2
No. 2 -- #45 Heller/Mazlin (U-M) d. Bubenicek/Kendall, 8-3
No. 3 -- Navas/Sroczynski (U-M) d. Antons/Roussel, 8-3
Order of Completion: Doubles 1-2-3, Singles 5-4-6-3-2-1
Q U O T E S
U-M Head Coach Bruce Berque
On the team's ability to not look ahead to the Ohio State match and focus on Indiana ... "It's human nature to look ahead when you have a big match coming up. We worked hard this week on getting our guys focused on improving and preparing for Indiana. I told them the last couple of days that Sunday's match may seem like a big one, having a chance to play for a No. 1 seed and a share of the Big Ten regular-season title. I also told them that today's match was really an opportunity match for them, not only because they've never won any form of a Big Ten title before, but because they've never had a match to play for one. Today's match was a match to earn that opportunity. They did a good job today, they were ready to play and they had a good start in both singles and doubles."
On Michigan's dominating play in doubles ... "We had a really good start in doubles. I do think that we lost a little bit of focus at the end, but overall I felt like our doubles improved. I know we'll have to keep improving to have a shot at winning the doubles point against Ohio State tomorrow."
On the team's mindset heading into the regular-season finale against Ohio State ... "They're excited. They've become progressively more excited in the last few weeks because they've kept winning. They're playing well and they have a lot of confidence in each other. They've done a great job this year to be 8-1 in the Big Ten and 18-4 on the season. They're feeling pretty good right now. They realize that Ohio State is a great team, and they know that they're going to have to play their best to win. The biggest thing we have to do if we're going to have a chance is compete at the highest level that we're capable of, because we know that Ohio State is not only good, they're very competitive."
Contact: Marc Ressler (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
