Michigan
Ohio State
Michigan Picks Up Quality Road Win Over Ohio State
4/3/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Site:Columbus, Ohio(Stickney Tennis Center)
Score: #23 Michigan 5, Ohio State 2
Records: U-M (10-5, 5-1 Big Ten),OSU (11-7, 4-1 Big Ten)
Next U-M Match: Sunday, April 5 -- at Penn State (State College, Pa.), 10 a.m.
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The No. 23-ranked University of Michigan women's tennis team earned a solid 5-2 victory over No. 35 Ohio State onFriday afternoon (April 3) at the Stickney Tennis Center. The Wolverines (10-5, 5-1 Big Ten)secured their ninth doubles point of the season and followed with singles wins at Nos. 2-5 to clinch their sixth straight victory over the Buckeyes (11-7, 4-1 Big Ten).
U-M posted a pair of convincing wins at the top two doubles positions to claim the first team point. Michigan's 26th-ranked duo of senior Chisako Sugiyama(Parsippany, N.J./The Montclair Kimberley Academy) and junior Tania Mahtani(Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif./Palos Verdes Peninsula HS) extended their winning streak to four matches with an 8-1 triumph over Angela DiPastina and Christina Keesey at No. 1, while sophomores Whitney Taney(Edina, Minn./Edina HS) and Rika Tatsuno(Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif./Palos Verdes Peninsula HS) improved to 8-4 in dual-match play with an 8-2 victory over Julie Blackmore and Cami Hubbs at No. 2. The Wolverines nearly pulled off their third doubles sweep, but Paloma Escobedo and Kirsten Flower squeaked out an 8-7(4) win over senior Lindsey Howard(Richmond, Va./Mills E. Godwin HS) and sophomore Denise Muresan(Lincolnshire, Ill./Adlai E. Stevenson HS) at No. 3.
Taney returned to the singles lineup andpicked up a commanding 6-1, 6-1 victory over Blackmore at No. 5, giving the Maize and Blue a 2-0 advantage. Muresan then put U-M in position for the team win with a 6-4, 6-1 decision over Hubbs in her season debut at the third spot. Taney holds a career record of 12-2 in the Big Ten Conference, while Muresan has gone undefeated in 16 careerleague matches.
Mahtani provided the clincher with a 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 comeback victory over Keesey at No. 4, which marked her 40th career dual-match win as a Wolverine. Sugiyama gaveU-M a 5-0 lead with a 7-5, 6-3 triumph over Escobedo at No. 2. Sugiyama now has 99 career singles victories and needs just two more wins to become the program's all-time leader.
Michigan had a great chance at the overall sweep, but the Buckeyes pulled out two wins in third-set tiebreaks to close out the match.
The Wolverines return to the courts on Sunday (April 5) when they face Penn State in State College, Pa. The match is scheduled for a 10 a.m. start at the Sarni Tennis Center.
Following are match-by-match results:
Singles
No. 1 -- Kirsten Flower (OSU) d. #106 Rika Tatsuno, 3-6, 6-2, 7-6(6)
No. 2 -- #67 Chisako Sugiyama (U-M) d. Paloma Escobedo, 7-5, 6-3
No. 3 --Denise Muresan(U-M) d. Cami Hubbs, 6-1, 6-4
No. 4 --Tania Mahtani (U-M) d. Christina Keesey, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4
No. 5 -- Whitney Taney (U-M) d. Julie Blackmore, 6-1, 6-1
No. 6 --Angela DiPastina (OSU) d. Michelle Sulahian, 6-7(3), 6-3, 7-6(4)
Doubles
No. 1 -- #26 Mahtani/Sugiyama (U-M) d. DiPastina/Keesey, 8-1
No. 2 -- Taney/Tatsuno (U-M) d. Blackmore/Hubbs, 8-2
No. 3 -- Escobedo/Flower (OSU) d. Lindsey Howard/Muresan, 8-7(5)
Order of Completion: Doubles 1-2-3, Singles 5-3-4-2-1-6
Contact: Marc Ressler (734) 645-0045
Players Mentioned
