Michigan
Miami (Fla.)
Michigan Falls to No. 10 Hurricanes in Spring Break Contest
2/26/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Site: Coral Gables, Fla. (Neil Schiff Tennis Center)
Score: #10 Miami (Fla.) 6, #18 Michigan 1
Records: U-M (5-3),Miami(10-2)
Next U-M Match: Friday, March 6 -- at Baylor (Waco, Texas), 5 p.m. CST
CORAL GABLES, Fla. -- The No. 18-ranked University of Michigan women's tennis team suffered a6-1 setback to No. 10 Miami (Fla.) on Thursday afternoon (Feb. 26) at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center. The Wolverines (5-3)got off to a strong start by claiming a highly-competitive doubles point, but the Hurricanes (10-2) found their stride in singles action and won all six matches to come away with a home victory over U-M for the third straight season.
Senior Chisako Sugiyama(Parsippany, N.J./The Montclair Kimberley Academy) and junior Tania Mahtani(Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif./Palos Verdes Peninsula HS)provided Michigan with the early momentum in doubles by securing an impressive 8-4 win over Julia Cohen and Laura Vallverdu at No. 1. The Wolverine tandem carries a team-best 5-1 dual-match record and is undefeated in its last three outings.
Miami evened the doubles competition with a close 8-6 victory at No. 2, but senior Lindsey Howard(Richmond, Va./Mills E. Godwin HS) and sophomore Denise Muresan(Lincolnshire, Ill./Adlai E. Stevenson HS) stepped up and delivered a huge 9-8(6) triumph over Bianca Eichkorn and Claudia Wasilewski at No. 3 to give U-M a 1-0advantage on the team scoreboard. In one of the most exciting doubles matches of the season, the Hurricane duo battled back from a 6-2 deficit to tie the score at 7-7. Howard and Muresan broke serve to go up 8-7, but Eichkorn and Wasilewski broke back to send the match to a tiebreak. The Miami pair had match-point at 6-5, but Howard returned a serve with a fabulous drop shot to tie the score at 6-6, and U-M went on to take the next two points and escape with the thrilling win.
The Michigan lead was short-lived, however, as the Hurricanes reeled off six straight singles victories to clinch the team win. Miami, which fielded four nationally-ranked players in its singles lineup, allowed the Wolverines just one set in singles action. Howard posted a 6-4 victory in the first set of her No. 6 match against Wasilewski but eventually fell in a super-tiebreaker, 4-6, 6-3, 1-0(4).
The Wolverines return tothe courtsnext Friday, March 6, when they face Baylor in Waco, Texas. The match is scheduled for a 5 p.m. CST start at the Baylor Tennis Center.
Following are match-by-match results:
Singles
No. 1 --#20 Julia Cohen (Miami) d. #56 Chisako Sugiyama, 6-3, 6-1
No. 2 --#34 Laura Vallverdu (Miami) d. #73 Rika Tatsuno, 7-5, 6-2
No. 3 -- #51 Bianca Eichkorn (Miami) d. #109 Whitney Taney, 6-4, 6-1
No. 4 -- #60 Michaela Kissell (Miami) d. Tania Mahtani, 6-4, 6-0
No. 5 --Gabriela Mejia (Miami) d. Denise Muresan, 6-0, 7-5
No. 6 --Claudia Wasilewski (Miami) d. Lindsey Howard, 4-6, 6-3, 1-0(4)
Doubles
No. 1 -- #21 Mahtani/Sugiyama (U-M) d. Cohen/Vallverdu, 8-4
No. 2 -- Kissell/Mejia (Miami) d. Taney/Tatsuno, 8-6
No. 3 --Howard/Muresan (U-M) d. Eichkorn/Wasilewski,9-8(6)
Order of Completion: Doubles 1-2-3, Singles 1-4-5-2-3-6
Contact: Marc Ressler (734) 645-0045
Players Mentioned
