Michigan
USTA/ITA Midwest Championships
Muresan Falls in USTA/ITA Midwest Championships Final
10/21/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Oct. 26, 2010
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Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Varsity Tennis Center)
Event: USTA/ITA Midwest Championships (Day 6 of 6)
Result: No Team Scoring
Next U-M Event: Thu-Sun., Nov. 4-7 -- at USTA/ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships (Flushing Meadows, N.Y.); Fri-Sun., Nov. 5-7 -- at ASU Thunderbird (Tempe, Ariz.)
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Senior Denise Muresan (Lincolnshire, Ill./Adlai E. Stevenson) of the University of Michigan women's tennis team fell to No. 8 Kristy Frilling of Notre Dame, 6-2, 7-6 (2), in the singles final of the USTA/ITA Midwest Championships on Tuesday morning (Oct. 26) at the Varsity Tennis Center.
On serve in the first set, Muresan was broken to fall behind, 4-2, and Frilling won the next two games to take the first, 6-2. Muresan was down 5-2 in the second before ripping off four consecutive games to move in front, 6-5. However, the senior All-American was unable to convert on her serve, sending the set to a tiebreaker, where Frilling jumped out to a 5-0 advantage on the way to a 7-2 win.
Muresan advanced to the finals after knocking off Northwestern's Kate Turvy in straight sets, 7-5, 7-6 (2), in Monday's (Oct. 25) semifinals. Down 5-2 in the second set, Muresan once again battled back to force a tiebreaker, winning, 7-4, to take the match.
In the quarterfinal round, Muresan knocked off freshman teammate Brooke Bolender (Delray Beach, Fla./Kaplan) in three sets, rallying for a 1-6, 6-3, 6-0 victory. Muresan was down 3-0 in the second before reeling off nine consecutive games and winning 12 of the remaining 13 games for the three-set triumph.
Sophomore Mimi Nguyen (Long Beach, Calif./Millikan) completed the Wolverine trio in the quarterfinals, falling to No. 6 Maria Mosolova of Northwestern, 6-3, 6-0.
In doubles play, the Wolverines had two pairings advance to the quarterfinals, with junior Michelle Sulahian (Valley Glen, Calif./Campbell Hall School) and freshman Sam Critser (Mountain View, Calif./Mountain View) moving onto the semifinals. The duo knocked off DePaul's Gia McKnight and Selma Salkovic, 8-4, in the quarters before falling to eventual champions Linda Abu Mushrefova and Nida Hamilton of Northwestern, 8-3.
Muresan and senior Kari Wig (Cochrane, Alberta/Cochrane) paired for three consecutive wins, including an 8-3 victory over No. 5-8 seed Brittany Wowchuk and Elena Chernyakova of Northwestern before falling to Rachael White and Allison Falkin of Illinois, 9-8 (3), in the quarterfinal round.
Muresan will head to the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships, held Nov. 4-7 in Flushing Meadows, N.Y. Muresan earned the berth by virtue of reaching the quarterfinal round of the ITA All-American. The rest of the Wolverines will wrap fall tournament action at the ASU Thunderbird, Nov. 5-7, at Arizona State University.
U-M RESULTS
Singles Qualifying
Kari Wig (2-1)
First Round (Thursday, Oct. 21): d. Jill Pastunink (Western Michigan), 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (2)
Second Round (Thursday, Oct. 21): d. Julie Sabacinski (Notre Dame), 7-5, 6-3
Third Round (Friday, Oct. 22): l. Amy Allin (Illinois), 3-6, 1-6
Singles Main Draw
No. 12 Denise Muresan (4-1)
First Round (Saturday, Oct. 23): BYE
Second Round (Saturday, Oct. 23): d. Nida Hamilton (NU), 6-1, 6-2
Third Round (Sunday, Oct. 24): d. Kristin Rafael (ND), 6-4, 7-5
Quarterfinals (Monday, Oct. 25): d. Brooke Bolender (U-M), 1-6, 6-3, 6-1
Semifinals (Monday, Oct. 25): d. Kate Turvy (NU), 7-5, 7-6 (2)
Finals (Tuesday, Oct. 26): l. No. 8 Kristy Frilling (ND), 2-6, 6-7 (2)
Mimi Nguyen (2-1)
First Round (Saturday, Oct. 23): BYE
Second Round (Saturday, Oct. 23): d. Rika Tatsuno (U-M), 6-2, 2-6, 6-2
Third Round: (Sunday, Oct. 24) d. Chrissie McGaffigan (ND), 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (1)
Quarterfinals (Monday, Oct. 25) l. No. 6 Maria Mosolova (NU), 3-6, 0-6
Brooke Bolender (3-1)
First Round (Saturday, Oct. 23): d. Noelle Malley (OSU), 7-5, 7-5
Second Round (Saturday, Oct. 23): d. No. 73 Zara Harutyunyan (Akron), 6-4, 7-5
Third Round (Sunday, Oct. 24): d. Nicky Stracar (WIS), 6-3, 6-4
Quarterfinals (Monday, Oct. 25): l. No. 12 Denise Muresan (U-M), 6-1, 3-6, 1-6
No. 103 Whitney Taney (0-1)
First Round (Saturday, Oct. 23): BYE
Second Round (Saturday, Oct. 23): l. Kara Cecil (OSU), 3-6, 6-0, 6-7 (4)
Sam Critser (0-1)
First Round (Saturday, Oct. 23): BYE
Second Round (Saturday, Oct. 23): l. Brittany Wowchuk (NU), 3-6, 0-6
Rika Tatsuno (1-1)
First Round (Saturday, Oct. 23): d. Maggie Remynse (WMU), 6-3, 6-4
Second Round (Saturday, Oct. 23): l. Mimi Nguyen (U-M), 2-6, 6-2, 2-6
Michelle Sulahian (1-1)
First Round (Saturday, Oct. 23): d. Prang Pantusart (Akron), 6-4, 6-2
Second Round (Saturday, Oct. 23): l. Chrissie McGaffigan (ND), 4-6, 2-6
Doubles Main Draw
No. 4 Taney/Tatsuno (1-1)
First Round (Friday, Oct. 22): BYE
Second Round (Friday, Oct. 22): d. Markovic/Gruber (WIS), 8-0
Third Round (Saturday, Oct. 23): l. Abu Mushrefova/Hamilton (NU), 8-6
Critser/Sulahian (3-1)
First Round (Friday, Oct. 22): BYE
Second Round (Friday, Oct. 22): d. Allin/McCarthy (ILL), 8-5
Third Round (Saturday, Oct. 23): d. Jogasuria/Pantusart (Akron), 8-2
Quarterfinals (Sunday, Oct. 24): d. Salkovic/McKnight (DePaul), 8-3
Semifinals (Sunday, Oct. 24): l. Abu Mushrefova/Hamilton (NU), 5-8
Bolender/Nguyen (0-1)
First Round (Friday, Oct. 22): BYE
Second Round (Friday, Oct. 22): Walkover (Baronayte/Kuvakina, Akron)
Third Round (Saturday, Oct. 23): l. Haviland/Steele (OSU), 8-2
Muresan/Wig (3-1)
First Round (Friday, Oct. 22): d. Pastunink/Nivia (WMU), 8-2
Second Round (Friday, Oct. 22): d. Sabacinski/McGaffigan (ND), 8-6
Third Round (Saturday, Oct. 23): d. Chernyakova/Wowchuk (NU), 8-4
Quarterfinals (Sunday, Oct. 24): l. White/Falkin (ILL), 8-9 (3)
N O T E S
• Denise Muresan advanced to at least the semifinals of the regional championships for the second consecutive year. She fell in the semifinals last season to eventual champion Maria Mosolova of Northwestern.
• Kristy Frilling was the tournament's No. 1 seed and Denise Muresan was the No. 2 seed.
• Michigan was one of two teams with two pairs in the doubles quarterfinals. Michelle Sulahian and Sam Critser advanced to the semifinals, while Denise Muresan and Kari Wig fell in the quarters. Notre Dame also had two teams make the quarterfinals.
• Over the course of six days, there were 44 doubles matches and 100 singles matches played at the Varsity Tennis Center.
• It was the last event at the Varsity Tennis Center for the Wolverines during the 2010 calendar year. Michigan will return to competition to the VTC, Jan. 15-17, 2011, hosting the Michigan Invitational.
Q U O T E S
Michigan Head Coach Ronni Bernstein
On what to take away from the tournament ... "We talk about having a great fall. I think that we did a good job in this regional with three girls reaching the quarters in singles and two teams doing that in doubles. It was definitely a good showing for us. We are moving in the right direction, and that is what you want to see during the tournament part of your schedule. I was happy with how we played and thought we got better this week."
On Denise Muresan advancing to the finals and her play ... "That finals match just shows you what Denise does; she never gives up. She was down 6-2, 5-2 and just kept fighting. She is always going to fight, no matter what. She keeps us in every match she plays because of what she brings to the court. Denise already qualified for the national indoor tournament, so hopefully she will get some good results there. She is going in the right direction as the season approaches."
On having the tournament at home ... "It is definitely nice to be at home, where we are comfortable on the courts and can sleep in our own beds. Our fans are great and it was fun to be able to play in front of them. We are just lucky that we have such a great facility. I thought the tournament went really well. There were some good matches out here."
Contact: Sarah VanMetre (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
