Michigan
South Carolina
Michigan Pulls Out Big Home Win Over South Carolina
1/25/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Varsity Tennis Center)
Score: #19 Michigan 4, South Carolina 3
Records: U-M (2-0), USC (3-1)
Next U-M Match: Saturday, Jan. 31 -- vs. North Carolina at ITA Kick-Off Weekend (Williamsburg, Va.), 1 p.m.
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ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 19-ranked University of Michigan women's tennis team pulled out a big 4-3 victory over No. 33 South Carolina on Sunday afternoon (Jan. 25) at the Varsity Tennis Center. With the team score tied at 3-3, freshman Michelle Sulahian(Valley Glen, Calif./Campbell Hall HS) stepped up and delivered a 7-5, 7-6(7) win over Ashley Miller at No. 6 singles to give the Wolverines (2-0) their first victory over the Gamecocks (3-1)in three tries.
Trailing 5-4 in the second set, Sulahian withstood one set point and eventually held serve to even up the score at 5-5. Sulahian and Miller held serve over the next two games to force a tiebreak, and Sulahian survived another set point by claiming four of the final five points to clinch the team win for the Maize and Blue.
Michigan won its second straight doubles point, which proved to be the deciding factor in the match. U-M's No. 51-ranked tandem of senior Chisako Sugiyama(Parsippany, N.J./The Montclair Kimberley Academy) and junior Tania Mahtani(Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif./Palos Verdes Peninsula HS) found its stride late in the No. 1 match against the No. 33-ranked pairing of Natasa Vuckovic and Ana Marija Zubori, taking four of the final five games to wrap up an 8-6 win. Sugiyama and Mahtani have won six of nine matches overall in 2008-09.
South Carolina evened up the doubles competition with a tight 8-6 victory at No. 3, but the sophomore duo of Whitney Taney(Edina, Minn./Edina HS) and Rika Tatsuno(Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif./Palos Verdes Peninsula) closed outMiljana Jocic and Gira Schofieldat No. 2 to give the Wolverines a 1-0 lead on the team scoreboard.
After the Gamecocks knotted the score at 1-1 with a win at No. 1 singles, Mahtani and sophomore Denise Muresan(Lincolnshire, Ill./Adlai E. Stevenson HS) gave Michigan a huge lift with victories at Nos. 4 and 5, respectively. Mahtani dropped four of her first five games to Jocic but found a rhythm and cruised to a 6-4, 6-1 triumph for U-M's second team point. Competing in her first match since Nov. 8, Muresan won the final three games in both sets to come away with a 6-4, 6-2 decision over Suzanna Mansour to put the Wolverines in front 3-1.
South Carolina stayed in contention with back-to-back wins at Nos. 2 and 3, which tied the team score at 3-3 and set the stage for Sulahian's victory over Miller in the deciding match at No. 6.
The Wolverines will participate in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend in Williamsburg, Va., where they will face North Carolina on Saturday (Jan. 31) at 1 p.m. at the McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center. U-M will then meet either Texas or William & Mary on Sunday (Feb. 1) at either 10 a.m. or 2 p.m.
Following are match-by-match results:
Singles
No. 1 -- #71 Gira Schofield (USC) d. Chisako Sugiyama, 6-1, 6-2
No. 2 -- #14 Ana Marija Zubori (USC) d. Rika Tatsuno, 6-3, 6-4
No. 3 -- Natasa Vuckovic (USC) d. Whitney Taney, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2
No. 4 -- Tania Mahtani (U-M) d. Miljana Jocic, 6-4, 6-1
No. 5 -- Denise Muresan (U-M) d. Suzanna Mansour, 6-4, 6-2
No. 6 -- Michelle Sulahian (U-M) d. Ashley Miller, 7-5, 7-6(7)
Doubles
No. 1 -- #51 Mahtani/Sugiyama (U-M) d. #33 Vuckovic/Zubori,8-6
No. 2 -- Taney/Tatsuno (U-M) d. Jocic/Schofield, 8-5
No. 3 -- Mansour/Miller (USC) d. Lindsey Howard/Sulahian, 8-6
Order of Completion: Doubles 1-3-2, Singles 1-4-5-2-3-6
Contact: Marc Ressler (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
