Michigan
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Western Michigan
Wolverines Blank Western Michigan to Begin Dual-Match Play
1/24/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Jan. 24, 2010
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Varsity Tennis Center)
Score: #20 Michigan 7, Western Michigan 0
Records: U-M (1-0, 0-0 Big Ten), Western Michigan (3-2, 0-0 MAC)
Next U-M Match: Friday, Jan. 29 -- vs. South Carolina at ITA Kick-Off (Fayetteville, Ark.), 11 a.m. CST
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- In the first dual-match action of the 2010 season, the No. 20-ranked University of Michigan women's tennis team won its 22nd consecutive match against Western Michigan, blanking the Broncos 7-0 on Sunday (Jan. 24) at the Varsity Tennis Center.
The Wolverines got off to a fast start, sweeping all three doubles matches. U-M dropped only seven games to win the doubles point. Juniors Whitney Taney (Edina, Minn./Edina) and Rika Tatsuno (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif./Palos Verdes Peninsula) blanked Western's duo of Yumi Matsuto and April Kerr, while sophomore Michelle Sulahian (Valley Glen, Calif./Campbell Hall School) and freshman Mimi Nguyen (Long Beach, Calif./Millikan) extended their match-winning streak to five with an 8-3 win at No. 3.
With the match knotted at three games apiece at No. 1 doubles, Denise Muresan (Lincolnshire, Ill./Adlai E. Stevesnson) and Tania Mahtani (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif./Palos Verdes Peninsula) broke Emily Dudzik and Jill Pastunink to go up 4-3. After earning the break, the U-M duo won four of the next five games to take the match, 8-4.
The doubles momentum carried over into the singles matches for the Wolverines, as No. 36 Muresan came away with a 6-0, 6-0 decision over Emily Dudzik at the No. 1 position. Tatsuno quickly followed with a 6-1, 6-1 win at No. 2, with Taney winning at No. 4 to clinch the match for the Maize and Blue.
Nguyen won her first career dual match with a 6-2, 6-1 victory at No. 6 singles before Mahtani claimed a 6-0, 6-3 triumph at the No. 3 position. Sulahian then won her fourth consecutive match with a 6-3, 6-4 decision at No. 5 singles to end the match.
Up next for the Wolverines is a trip to the ITA Kick-Off in Fayetteville, Ark. U-M will first take on South Carolina, currently ranked No. 17, on Friday (Jan. 29) at 11 a.m. CST, before taking on either No. 19 Arkansas or No. 24 Washington on Saturday (Jan. 30).
Following are match-by-match results:
Singles
No. 1 -- No. 36 Denise Muresan (U-M) d. Emily Dudzik, 6-0, 6-0
No. 2 -- Rika Tatsuno (U-M) d. Maggie Remynse, 6-1, 6-1
No. 3 -- Tania Mahtani (U-M) d. Amanda Moccia, 6-0, 6-3
No. 4 -- Whitney Taney (U-M)d. Maria Nivia, 6-0, 6-2
No. 5 -- Michelle Sulahian (U-M)d.Yumi Matsuto, 6-3, 6-4
No. 6 -- Mimi Nguyen (U-M) d. Jill Pastunink, 6-2, 6-1
Doubles
No. 1 -- Muresan/Mahtani (U-M) d. Dudzik/Pastunink, 8-4
No. 2 -- Taney/Tatsuno (U-M) d. Matsuto/Kerr, 8-0
No. 3 -- Nguyen/Sulahian (U-M) d. Remynse/Moccia, 8-3
Order of Completion: Doubles 2, 3, 1; Singles 1, 2, 4, 6, 3, 5
N O T E S
• Michigan improves to 31-5 against Western Michigan. U-M has won 22 consecutive dual matches against the Broncos.
• Mimi Nguyen and Michelle Sulahian have won five doubles matches in a row and carry an overall mark of 7-1.
• Denise Muresan picked up her 16th win of the season with her 6-0, 6-0 victory. The U-M record for single-season wins is 34 by Sarah Cyganiak in 1995.
• Denise Muresan competed at the No. 1 spot for the first time in her career.
• With her singles win, Rika Tatsuno evened her singles mark to 8-8. All of the Wolverines carry at least a .500 record in singles action.
Q U O T E S
Michigan Head coach Ronni Bernstein
On coming out fast in doubles action ... "We talk about having good energy from the start, in our pre-match talk. The pro-set is such a fast match that you want to come out and play well from the start. We focus a lot on doubles and spend a lot of time in practice with that, so I am happy that we played well from the beginning."
On the dominating singles performance ... "For a first match, I was really pleased. We had not competed in awhile, so it is nice to get out there. Last weekend, with the quality of play we had in here, I think we were a little further ahead than we might normally be at the beginning of the season. I was just really happy with our play. We did not really give them a chance at all in singles and really stayed focused the entire way through."
On next weekend's ITA Kick-Off Event ... "Our goal going in there is to win both matches. It is a really tough region. We had a tough matchup with South Carolina last year and it should be the same this year. If we keep playing like this, we definitely have a chance. We have a few more practices to get ready this week before going out there to work on some things. This team is feeling confident and thinks that they can beat anybody. We are just really looking forward to next weekend."
Contact: Sarah VanMetre (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
