Michigan
Indiana
Michigan Defeats Indiana to Advance to Big Ten Final
4/28/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- The No. 26-ranked University of Michigan women's tennis team will make its third straight appearance in the Big Ten Championship title match after earning a hard-fought 4-2 semifinal victory over No. 25-ranked Indiana Saturday afternoon (April 28) at the Baseline Tennis Center. The No. 3 seed Wolverines (16-6) avenged last Sunday's (April 22) 5-2 loss to the No. 2 seed Hoosiers (20-6) by claiming the doubles point and posting singles wins at Nos. 2-4.
The Maize and Blue, which has won 13 of its last 14 matches, will meet fifth-ranked and top-seed Northwestern in the championship match on Sunday (April 29) at noon CDT. It will mark the third straight season that the two programs have met in the finals, with the Wildcats recording a 4-1 victory in 2005 and a 4-2 triumph in 2006. U-M will look to end Northwestern's eight-year title streak in the conference tournament.
Michigan's top doubles team of graduate senior Jenny Kuehn (Leipzig, Germany/Sportgymnasium Leipzig) and sophomore Chisako Sugiyama (Parsippany, N.J./The Montclair Kimberley Academy) proved to be too much for Alba Berdala and Laura McGaffigan to handle, cruising to an easy 8-1 win at No. 1. The Wolverine tandem has lost just two of 14 matches at the top spot this season.
Senior Kara Delicata (LaSalle, Ontario/Sandwich Secondary School) and freshman Tania Mahtani's (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif./Palos Verdes Peninsula HS) 10th straight victory at No. 2 -- an 8-4 decision over Sigrid Fischer and Cecile Perton -- clinched the doubles point for the Wolverines. The U-M pair has suffered just one defeat in 12 outings this year.
The 83rd-ranked Kuehn recorded her first postseason singles win as a Wolverine, defeating McGaffigan by a commanding score of 6-2, 6-3 at No. 2 to give Michigan a 2-0 lead. It was Kuehn's second victory over McGaffigan in seven days.
Indiana answered with straight-set wins at Nos. 5 and 6 to tie the match at 2-2, but Mahtani swung the momentum back into Michigan's favor with a huge three-set victory at No. 4. After dropping the first set in a tiebreaker to Brianna Williams, Mahtani stepped it up a notch and ran away with 6-2 wins in the two remaining sets to put the Wolverines ahead 3-1. Mahtani now has 27 overall singles victories in 2006-07, tying her for fourth place on the school's all-time season wins chart.
Minutes after Mahtani's victory, Delicata closed out Fischer by a score of 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 at No. 3 to send the Maize and Blue to the championship match. Delicata has won 14 of her last 16 matches.
Michigan hopes to earn its second Big Ten Championship title when it faces the Wildcats tomorrow. The Wolverines claimed their first conference tournament championship in 1997.
Following are match-by-match results:
Singles
No. 1 -- #88 Chisako Sugiyama (U-M) vs. Alba Berdala, 6-7(5), 5-4 (abandoned)
No. 2 -- #83 Jenny Kuehn (U-M) d. Laura McGaffigan, 6-2, 6-3
No. 3 -- Kara Delicata (U-M) d. Sigrid Fischer, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3
No. 4 -- Tania Mahtani (U-M) d. Brianna Williams, 6-7(3), 6-2, 6-2
No. 5 -- Cecile Perton (IU) d. Elizabeth Exon, 6-1, 6-3
No. 6 -- Lindsey Stuckey (IU) d. Tanvi Dudhela, 6-2, 6-4
Doubles
No. 1 -- Kuehn/Sugiyama (U-M) d. #60 Berdala/McGaffigan, 8-1
No. 2 -- Delicata/Mahtani (U-M) d. Fischer/Perton, 8-4
No. 3 -- Lindsey Howard/Allie Shafner (U-M) vs. Erin Clark/Williams, 4-3 (abandoned)
Order of Completion: Doubles 1-2, Singles 2-5-6-4-3
Q U O T E S
U-M Head Coach Amanda Augustus
On the team's performance against Indiana ... "It was a tough match and a good win for us. We were solid and resilient. We got off to a good start in doubles, but Indiana didnt give us an inch. We really had to take it from them. Im really happy with what we did today. It showed a lot about the team and how far weve come this year."
On Kara Delicata and Tania Mahtani's big wins in singles ... "It was only fitting to have those to come up big for us today. The last time we played Indiana, both of them had bad days. For them to redeem themselves against those same opponents and help us to victory was fantastic. I was really happy to see that. The other wins were great also, but Im happy for both of them because I know they werent happy with their results last weekend. They made it challenging and down to the wire, but Teryn (Ashley) and I were confident that they would pull through. They were very coachable today and willing to try different things in a pressure situation, which is tough to do."
On Jenny Kuehn's convincing victory at No. 2 singles ... "Jenny carried over the momentum from doubles into singles. Her opponent is on the All-Big Ten team and has won a lot of matches. Shes dangerous if you let her in the match. Jenny did a good job of cutting down her unforced errors. She really set the tone today, which was great."
On what it will take to beat Northwestern ... "I think its going to take not seeing it as a hump. All season long weve approached each match the same way, regardless of who our opponent is. Were very consistent in our preparation and training. Weve done a lot of mental preparation for tomorrow; weve been doing that for months. This years team doesnt see it as a hurdle; they see it as another match. Theyre excited to be in the final again."
Contact: Marc Ressler (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
