Michigan
Miami
Wolverines Knock Off No. 6 Miami at ITA Indoors
2/13/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Feb. 13, 2010
Site: Madison, Wis. (Nielson Tennis Stadium)
Event: ITA Team Indoor Championships (Day 2 of 3)
Score: #16 Michigan 4, #6 Miami (Fla.) 3
Records: U-M (5-2), Miami (3-3)
Next U-M Match: Sunday, Feb. 14 -- vs. Clemson at ITA Indoor Team Championships (Madison, Wis.), 9 a.m. CST
MADISON, Wis. -- Freshman Mimi Nguyen's (Long Beach, Calif./Millikan) come-from-behind win at No. 4 singles gave the No. 16-ranked University of Michigan women's tennis team a 4-3 upset win over No. 6 Miami in consolation action at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships on Saturday (Feb. 13) at Nielson Tennis Stadium.
With the team match tied at 3-3, Nguyen defeated No. 93 Gabriela Mejia (6-7, 7-6, 6-1) to clinch the Wolverine win. Nguyen, who saved a match point in the second set, and Mejia split the first two sets, each winning a tiebreaker before Nguyen took control in the third. The freshman jumped out to a 3-0 advantage en route to a 6-1 win, giving U-M its first win over a top-10 opponent this season.
Michigan stormed out to an early 1-0 advantage after convincingly winning the doubles point. The Wolverines picked up wins at the No. 2 and No. 3 position while narrowly missing out on the sweep. At No. 3 spot, Nguyen and sophomore Michelle Sulahian (Valley Glen, Calif./Campbell Hall School) made quick work of the Miami pair of Claudia Wasilewski and Danielle Mills, winning 8-2. The junior duo of Whitney Taney (Edina, Minn./Edina) and Rika Tatsuno (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif./Palos Verdes Peninsula) clinched the point for the Wolverines with an 8-1 win at No. 2.
The Hurricanes had to default at the No. 6 singles slot, sending Michigan into singles action with a 2-0 advantage. After U-M dropped the No. 3 match, Taney won at No. 5 over Claudia Wasilewski (6-3, 6-1) to give the Wolverines a 3-1 lead in the team match.
Miami then won the next two singles matches at No. 1 and No. 2 to tie the match at 3-3, leaving the No. 4 matchup as the deciding match.
The Wolverines conclude action in the ITA Indoor Team Championships tomorrow (Sunday, Feb. 14) with a matchup against No. 14 Clemson at 9 a.m. CST.
Following are match-by-match results:
Singles
No. 1 -- No. 7 Laura Vallverdu (Miami) def. Denise Muresan (U-M), 6-4, 7-6
No. 2 -- Anna Bartenstein (Miami) def. Tania Mahtani (U-M), 2-6, 6-0, 6-3
No. 3 -- No. 99 Bianca Eichkorn (Miami) def. Rika Tatsuno (U-M), 6-3, 6-1
No. 4 -- Mimi Nguyen (U-M) def. No. 93 Gabriela Mejia (Miami), 6-7, 7-6, 6-1
No. 5 -- Whitney Taney (U-M) def. Claudia Wasilewski (Miami), 6-3, 6-1
No. 6 -- Michelle Sulahian (U-M) win by default.
Doubles
No. 1 -- No. 7 Vallverdu/Mejia def. Mahtani/Muresan (U-M), 8-6
No. 2 -- Taney/Tatsuno (U-M) def. Bartenstein/Eichkorn (Miami), 8-1
No. 3 -- Nguyen/Sulahian (U-M) def. Wasilewski/Mills (Miami), 8-2
Order of Completion: Doubles-3-2-1; Singles 3-5-1-2-4
N O T E S
• Miami is U-M's fifth top-25 ranked opponent this season. The Wolverines are 3-2 in those matches, defeating No. 16 South Carolina and No. 18 Arkansas while falling to No. 4 Florida and No. 13 Notre Dame.
• Miami is the No. 6 seed in the tournament. The Hurricanes lost yesterday (Feb. 12) to UCLA, 4-3, to enter the consolation draw.
• Michigan is now 5-6 against Miami. It is the Wolverines' first win over Miami since a 4-3 victory in 2002.
• U-M's win gave head coach Ronni Bernstein her first win over her alma mater at Michigan. Bernstein was a four-time All-American at Miami (1984-88) and was named NCAA Senior Player of the Year in 1988. It was her second win over Miami, as her Florida International team defeated the Hurricanes during the 2001 season.
• Miami is the highest ranked and first top-10 opponent the Wolverines have defeated during Ronni Bernstein's tenure at Michigan.
• Michigan faced Miami in tournament action at the Michigan Invitational (Jan. 16-18). U-M won two of three doubles matches against Miami, while Michelle Sulahian and Mimi Nguyen were the only two Wolverines to win singles matches.
• U-M has won the doubles point in six-of-seven matches this season. The Wolverines have used the same doubles lineup in all seven matches.
• It is the second match Mimi Nguyen has clinched this year.
• Michigan is making its first appearance in school history at the ITA Indoor Team Championships.
• Michigan is one of 15 top-25 teams at the event. The only participating team that is not ranked is Wisconsin, the host school.
Q U O T E S
Michigan Head coach Ronni Bernstein
On freshman Mimi Nguyen ... "What an amazing match. Mimi really came through for us today. She fought off a match point in the second set and then really took control in that third set. What is great about Mimi is that she stays so calm out there. She plays every point like it is the first point, no matter if it is match point or not. She has had some great opportunities like this early in her career and has made an impact for us. She certainly did not play like a freshman today."
On what the victory means for the program ... "It is obviously a great win for our program, to beat a top-ranked team like this. It truly was a great team win, showing that anyone can step up. We have had opportunities here to play some of the top programs in the country, and it is great that we took advantage today with the win. Not everyone played well individually today, and when we get that figured out, we are going to be that much better. As a team, we have been playing well early in the season, especially against all of these tough programs. We are going to continue to take advantage of the opportunity we have playing here (at the ITA Indoor Championships) and carry that over into tomorrow against Clemson."
Contact: Sarah VanMetre (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
