Muresan Falls in ITA Regional Semifinal to Top Ranked Mosolova

Thursday, October 22

Evanston, Ill.

Michigan

ITA Regionals

Muresan Falls in ITA Regional Semifinal to Top Ranked Mosolova

10/22/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis

Site: Evanston, Ill.
Event: ITA Regional Championships (Day 5)
Scoring: No team scoring
Next U-M event: Fri-Sun., Nov. 6-8 -- at Thunderbird Invitational (Tempe, Ariz.)

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Junior Denise Muresan (Lincolnshire, Ill./Adlai E. Stevenson) of the University of Michigan women's tennis team made it all the way to the semifinals of the ITA Midwest Regional Championships before falling today (Monday, Oct. 26) in the semifinal round, 6-1, 6-2, to Northwestern's Maria Mosolova, the number-one ranked player in the country.

Before facing off against the No. 1 player in the country, Muresan had not dropped a set at the ITA Regional Championships. Muresan received a 9-16 seed and had a first-round bye before reeling off three straight wins to reach the semifinal round. Mosolova proved too much for Muresan in the semifinals, as the junior dropped only her third match of the fall season.

In addition to Muresan's run to the singles semifinals, the Wolverines had two doubles pairs make it to the quarterfinal round. The tandem of juniors Whitney Taney (Edina, Minn./Edina) and Rika Tatsuno (Palos Verdes, Calif./Palos Verdes Peninsula) advanced to the round of eight before bowing out, 8-6, to the No. 35 duo of Samantha Murray and Stacey Lee from Northwestern. Muresan and senior Tania Mahtani (Palos Verdes, Calif./Palos Verdes Peninsula) teamed up for the first time this season to go 2-1, also dropping their quarterfinal match, 8-5, to Northwestern's Lauren Lui and Elena Chernyakova.

The Wolverines will conclude the fall portion of the season with a trip out west, participating in the Thunderbird Invitational (Fri-Sun., Nov. 6-8), hosted by Arizona State University. U-M is also awaiting word for selections to the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships, held Nov. 5-8 at Yale University. The selections for the tournament will be made Friday, Oct. 30.

U-M RESULTS

Singles

Main Draw

Taylor Fournier (0-1)
First Round (Saturday): l. Gabby Steele (Ohio State), 6-1, 6-0

Tania Mahtani (0-1)
First Round (Saturday): l. Kate Turvy (Northwestern), 6-1, 6-3

Denise Muresan (3-1)
First Round (Saturday): Bye
Second Round (Saturday): d. Selma Salkovic (DePaul), 6-1, 6-1
Third Round (Sunday): d. Christina Keesey (Ohio State), 6-2, 6-2
Quarterfinals (Monday): d. Lauren Lui (Northwestern), 6-4, 6-4
Semifinals (Monday): l. No. 1 Maria Mosolova (Northwestern), 6-1, 6-2

No. 74 Rika Tatsuno (1-1)
First Round (Saturday): Bye
Second Round (Saturday): d. Lynn Poggensee-Wei (Iowa), 6-7 (7), 6-4, 6-1
Third Round (Sunday): l. No. 66 Anna Redesci (DePaul), 6-1, 6-2

Mimi Nguyen
First Round (Saturday): l. Prang Pantusart (Akron), 6-2, 6-2

Qualifying

Taylor Fournier (2-0)
First round (Thursday): Bye
Second round (Thursday): d. Anna Volkova (Youngstown State), 6-4, 3-6, 6-2
Third round (Friday): d. Miriam Westerink (Eastern Michigan), 6-1, 6-2

Michelle Sulahian (1-1)
First round (Thursday): Bye
Second round (Friday): d. Franziska Steinhardt (Illinois State), 6-1, 6-3
Third round (Friday): l. Fidan Manashirova (Ohio State), 1-6, 6-3, 6-3

Kari Wig (2-1)
First round (Thursday): d. Nicole Herzog (Michigan State), 6-3, 6-4
Second round (Thursday): d. Cali Gustafason (DePaul), 7-5, 6-3
Third round (Friday): l. Kelsey Haviland (Ohio State), 7-5, 7-6 (5)

Doubles

No. 32 Whitney Taney/Rika Tatsuno (2-1)
First Round: Bye
Second Round (Friday): d. Kovaleva/Critescu (UIC), 8-5
Third Round (Saturday): d. Hush/Wilson (Marquette), 9-7
Quarterfinals (Sunday): l. No. 35 Murray/Lee (Northwestern), 8-6

Taylor Fournier/Kari Wig (0-1)
First Round: Bye
Second Round (Friday): l. Abajian/White (Illinois), 8-6

Tania Mahtani/Denise Muresan (2-1)
First Round: Bye
Second Round (Friday): d. Zoubareva/Frey (Toledo), 8-2
Third Round (Saturday): d. Fudge/Smutko (Illinois), 9-7
Quarterfinals (Sunday): l. Lui/Chernyakova (Northwestern), 8-5

Michelle Sulahian/Mimi Nguyen (2-1)
First Round (Friday): d. Dudzik/Mocchia (Western Michigan), 8-4
Second Round (Friday): d. Wodzinski/Guirguis (Toledo), 8-2
Third Round (Saturday): l. No. 31 Salkovic/Redesci (DePaul), 8-3

N O T E S

• Denise Muresan had her best career finish at the ITA Midwest Regional Championships, advancing to the semifinal round. She went 1-1 in the main draw in 2008 and went 2-1 in qualifying action as a freshman in 2007.

• Muresan is now 9-3 in fall action. She has played 12 matches during the fall, the most of any Wolverine.

• Tania Mahtani and Muresan have not played doubles together since the 2007 fall season. The last time the two played together was at this same event two years ago, when the pair went 1-1 in the main draw.

• The Wolverines have used eight different doubles lineups this fall. Whitney Taney and Taylor Fournier are the only two players who have played with only one partner. Taney has only paired with Rika Tatsuno for a 4-3 record, while Fournier has only teamed up with Kari Wig for an even 3-3 record.

Q U O T E S

Michigan Head coach Ronni Bernstein
On Denise Muresan's performance ... "She had a really good tournament. She played at a really high level throughout the whole thing and this whole fall season so far. Obviously, Mosolova is a really tough player and she hopes to have another shot at her later this season."

On the improvements made during the fall season ... "I think that since I have been here, this has been the best fall we have had as a team. Some of the kids just need matches to get confidence as we move on. I think with our doubles, we have put ourselves in the position to win these matches and have played well. We just need to come up with the big points when the opportunity is there. With our singles, a lot of the girls are playing at a high level right now, especially Denise (Muresan). She has worked really hard and definitely deserves the success that she is having. Rika (Tatsuno) has been playing great too this fall with all the work she has put in. We just need to keep improving and be ready for January."

U-M Junior Denise Muresan
On her performance and what it means ... "I definitely feel like this tournament was a step to being able to get a ranking going into the dual-match season. I think that right now I am feeling a lot more comfortable and confident with my game. I have been able to put it all together lately and that has really made a difference. We have been working a lot on serves in practice and that has really helped in matches. Being able to make the first serve is big. At the same time, having confidence in my second serve is huge, too. It makes a difference out on the court when I have that control."

Contact: Sarah VanMetre (734) 763-4423