Wolverines Claim Sole Possession of Big Ten Championship

Sunday, April 25

Ann Arbor, Mich.

11:00 AM

Michigan

Indiana

Wolverines Claim Sole Possession of Big Ten Championship

4/25/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis

April 25, 2010

• Notes & Quotes | Photo Gallery |

Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Varsity Tennis Center)
Score: #4 Michigan 6, Indiana 1
Records: U-M (20-3, 10-0 Big Ten), Indiana (15-8, 5-5 Big Ten)
Next U-M Event: Friday, April 30 -- vs. Wisconsin or Minnesota - Big Ten Tournament (Iowa City, Iowa), 10 a.m. CDT

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 4-ranked University of Michigan women's tennis team completed the conference regular season with a perfect 10-0 record and claimed sole possession of the Big Ten Conference championship with a 6-1 victory over Indiana on Sunday (April 25) at the Varsity Tennis Center. It marks the Wolverines' first Big Ten championship since 1997, the last time U-M finished 10-0 in the conference.

The Wolverines won the doubles point and five of six singles matches for their 14th consecutive win.

U-M took two of three doubles matches to head into singles with the 1-0 advantage. At No. 1, juniors Whitney Taney (Edina, Minn./Edina) and Rika Tatsuno (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif./Rancho Palos Verdes) were first off court with an 8-3 decision. The No. 2 duo of freshman Mimi Nguyen (Long Beach, Calif./Millikan) and sophomore Michelle Sulahian (Valley Glen, Calif./Campbell Hall School) clinched the point for the Wolverines after an 8-4 victory.

The Wolverines took the first five singles matches, two by virtue of retiring. Junior Denise Muresan (Lincolnshire, Ill./Adlai E. Stevenson) was first off court when Leslie Hureau retired at No. 1. Taney followed with another dominant performance at No. 2, taking a 6-1, 6-0 decision.

Sulahian bounced back from a loss yesterday (April 24) to clinch the match for the Wolverines at No. 6, winning 6-4, 6-1. Not long after, senior Tania Mahtani (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif./Rancho Palos Verdes) won at No. 5 by forfeit.

Nguyen completed the Big Ten season without a loss, pulling out a gutty 4-6, 6-1, 1-0 (5) win at No. 3 before Indiana won its only match of the day at No. 4 singles.

The Wolverines will now turn their attention to the Big Ten Tournament, earning the tournament's No. 1 seed. U-M will receive a bye for the first round, taking on the winner of the 8-9 match on Friday (April 30) at 10 a.m. CDT at the University of Iowa.

Following are match-by-match results:

Singles
No. 1 -- No. 21 Denise Muresan (U-M) d. Leslie Hureau (IU), 6-1, 1-0 retired
No. 2 -- Whitney Taney (U-M) d. Evgeniya Vertesheva (IU), 6-1, 6-0
No. 3 -- Mimi Nguyen (U-M) d. Katya Zapadalova (IU), 4-6, 6-1, 1-0 (5)
No. 4 -- Lindsey Stuckey (IU) d. Rika Tatsuno (U-M), 7-6 (6), 6-3
No. 5 -- Tania Mahtani (U-M) d. Charlotte Martin (IU), 6-4, 0-2 retired
No. 6 -- Michelle Sulahian (U-M) d. Maria Guerreiro (IU), 6-4, 6-1

Doubles
No. 1 -- No. 31 Taney/Tatsuno d. No. 70 Stuckey/Vertesheva (IU), 8-3
No. 2 -- Nguyen/Sulahian d. Hureau/Guerreiro (IU), 8-4
No. 3 -- Martin/Zapadalova (IU) d. Mahtani/Muresan (U-M), 8-7 (6)

Order of Completion: Doubles 1-2-3, Singles 1-2-6-5-3-4

N O T E S

• Ronni Bernstein becomes the second coach to lead the Wolverines to an undefeated Big Ten season, joining former coach Bitsy Ritt who went 10-0 in 1997.

• The Wolverines hit the 20-win mark for only the third time in school history (1990, 1997).

• U-M picked up its second Big Ten title and first regular season title. The Wolverines went 10-0 and won the tournament in 1997 to garner their only other title. In 1999, the Big Ten began awarding a regular season winner and a tournament winner, which receives the automatic NCAA berth.The Wolverines are considered the Big Ten Champions with next weekend's tournament deciding the tournament champion. The tournament champion will earn the Big Ten's automatic berth into the NCAA tournament.

• Mimi Nguyen joins Denise Muresan as the only Wolverines on the team to complete a Big Ten season at 10-0. Muresan went undefeated during her freshman season (2008).

• Denise Muresan ran her record to 32-11, putting her in second place on the single-season list. Sarah Cyganiak set the record with 34 in 1995.

• U-M has three players (Denise Muresan, Mimi Nguyen and Michelle Sulahian) with at least 27 wins for the first time ever.

• Tania Mahtani and Denise Muresan suffered their first Big Ten doubles loss and had their 13-match win streak snapped with an 8-7 loss at No. 3 doubles.

• Tania Mahtani was honored before the match as part of Senior Day.

Q U O T E S

Michigan Head Coach Ronni Bernstein
On winning the Big Ten Title ... "It means a lot to win it. I thought coming here to Michigan we could do it, but just not this quickly. It really means a lot, especially with the group of girls we have here. They work so hard and definitely deserve it."

On Tania Mahtani and the final match at home ... "It is a bittersweet day because Tania has meant so much to us. And (after yesterday's win) we didn't want to get to 9-0 and then drop this match. We knew we had a tough challenge ahead today. They stayed focus and came out played really well. I didn't expect anything different from this group."

On Mimi Nguyen finishing 10-0 in Big Ten play ... "Mimi does what it takes. The first set, she struggled, went down and started to get it back before losing that first set. But then she figures it out. She had to play a little differently than she normally does. She knows when to step up and when to rip it. For a freshman to come in and do what she has done for us, it is great. She is definitely a big reason why we have had the success we have had."

On the crowd ... "The crowd all weekend was great. I am really appreciative of them. It made a big difference with the girls getting through these tough matches. The girls could really feel the energy. It really means a lot that these fans were here to see us win the Big Ten championship at home."