Michigan
Illinois
Michigan Exits NCAAs With Loss to No. 10 Illinois
5/12/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- The No. 21-ranked University of Michigan men's tennis team fell short of advancing past the second round of the NCAA Championship -- a feat that would have been achieved for the first time since 1988 -- falling to host and No. 10-ranked Illinois, 4-2, Saturday afternoon (May 12) at the Atkins Tennis Center. The No. 2 seed Wolverines stormed out of the gates and captured the crucial doubles point, but the Fighting Illini (20-8) responded with straight-set singles wins at Nos. 1, 2, 4 and 6 to clinch their 16th straight home win dating back to the 2006 season. U-M finishes the year at 20-7, its best record in 19 years.
The Wolverines gave perhaps their most spirited effort of the season in doubles, putting forth strong performances on all three courts.
Freshmen George Navas (Tampa, Fla./Tampa Preparatory School) and Mike Sroczynski (Chatham, N.J./Laurel Springs School) earned breaks early and late en route to their big 8-3 victory over GD Jones and Marc Spicijaric at No. 3. The Wolverine tandem became the second 20-win U-M pair this season (20-6).
Michigan's No. 10-ranked duo of senior Brian Hung (Hong Kong, China/Sagemont Virtual School) and junior Matko Maravic (Zagreb, Croatia/V. Gimnazija) once again proved that they are deserving of an NCAA All-America nomination, claiming a huge 8-6 triumph over Illinois' No. 8-ranked team of Kevin Anderson and Ryan Rowe at No. 1 to clinch the first team point for the Maize and Blue. Hung and Maravic earned a break to go up 4-3 over the defending NCAA doubles champions and held serve for the remainder of the match to clinch their team-high 25 overall win of 2006-07 (25-8).
Senior Ryan Heller (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North HS) and sophomore Andrew Mazlin (Altamonte Springs, Fla./Lyman HS) came out blazing on the No. 2 court, using two early breaks to jump out to a 4-0 advantage over Brandon Davis and Ruben Gonzales. Michigan nearly pulled off a sweep in doubles, as Heller and Mazlin were up 7-4 and serving for the match with a 30-15 lead when the match was abandoned.
The Fighting Illini came out firing in singles play, posting convincing victories at Nos. 1, 4 and 6 to pull ahead 3-1. Heller kept the Wolverines in contention with a clutch 7-5, 6-3 victory over Spicijaric at No. 3. It was Heller's 11th win in 16 tries at the fourth position this season.
With Illinois leading 3-2 and the two remaining matches in third sets, the 22nd-ranked Rowe delivered the match-clinching victory for the Illini. His 6-7(7), 6-2, 6-3 comeback win over the 50th-ranked Maravic sent Illinois to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen for the eighth time in the last nine years.
Hung and Maravic will represent Michigan at the NCAA Singles & Doubles Championships, held May 23-28 at the University of Georgia's Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Ga.
Following are match-by-match results:
Singles
No. 1 -- #5 Kevin Anderson (ILL) d. #40 Brian Hung, 6-0, 6-1
No. 2 -- #22 Ryan Rowe (ILL) d. #50 Matko Maravic, 6-7(7), 6-2, 6-3
No. 3 -- Ryan Heller (U-M) d. Marc Spicijaric, 7-5, 6-3
No. 4 -- Ruben Gonzales (ILL) d. Andrew Mazlin, 6-0, 6-3
No. 5 -- Mike Sroczynski (U-M) vs. GD Jones, 7-6(5), 5-7, 1-4
No. 6 -- Brandon Davis (ILL) d. George Navas, 6-3, 6-0
Doubles
No. 1 -- #10 Hung/Maravic (U-M) d. #8 Anderson/Rowe, 8-6
No. 2 -- Heller/Mazlin (U-M) vs. Davis/Gonzales, 7-4 (abandoned)
No. 3 -- Navas/Sroczynski (U-M) d. Jones/Spicijaric, 8-3
Order of Completion: Doubles 3-1, Singles 4-1-6-3-2
Players Mentioned
