Trio of Wolverines Set for NCAA Individual Championships
5/25/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
May 25, 2010
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ATHENS, Ga. -- The draws for the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships were announced by the NCAA Tuesday (May 25). The singles competition is slated for May 26-31, while the doubles tournament will run May 27-31 at the University of Georgia's Dan Magill Tennis Complex.
Junior Denise Muresan (Lincolnshire, Ill./Adlai E. Stevenson), ranked No. 19, will participate in the singles championship, first squaring off against No. 54 Katrina Tsang of North Carolina in a first-round match on Wednesday (May 26) at 2:30 p.m. If Muresan wins, she will advance to face either Holly Cao of Harvard or Maria Mosolova of Northwestern.
The No. 19 doubles pairing of juniors Whitney Taney (Edina, Minn./Edina) and Rika Tatsuno (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif./Palos Verdes Peninsula) will take on the No. 5 duo from Florida, Marrit Boonstra and Allie Will, on Thursday (May 27). Boonstra and Will are in action Tuesday, as Florida takes on Stanford for the national championship at 2 p.m. Times for the doubles championship will be announced later.
The Wolverines just completed their best season in program history, going 24-5 and winning their second-ever Big Ten championship. U-M reached the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1997, before falling to Tennessee (May 20) to complete its team season.
N O T E S
• All three Wolverines are making their first individual NCAA appearances.
• It is the first time since 2004 that Michigan has had both singles and doubles NCAA qualifiers.
• Denise Muresan is 33-13 on the season. She needs one win to tie the all-time single-season record for wins at 34, held by Sarah Cyganiak (1995).
• Since postseason play began at the Big Ten Tournament (April 30-May 2), Denise Muresan has only had decisions in three matches (1-2). Once the team match is clinched during postseason, all singles matches in action are abandoned.
• Denise Muresan's first-round opponent, Katrina Tsang, carries a 16-12 dual-match record and a 25-19 overall ledger. She played primarily at the No. 2 and No. 3 position for North Carolina.
• Whitney Taney and Rika Tatsuno received the Big Ten's automatic berth to the NCAA Doubles Championships. The duo has a 24-3 dual-match record and a 30-6 overall record.
• Before losing to the No. 1 pair of Caitlin Whoriskey and Natalie Pluskota of Tennessee (May 20), Whitney Taney and Rika Tatsuno had won 15 consecutive matches.
• When Michigan fell to Florida at the ITA Indoor Championships on Feb. 12, Marrit Boonsta and Allie Will defeated Denise Muresan and Tania Mahtani, 8-5. Marrit Boonstra and Allie Will, who received a 5-8 seed for the doubles tournament, are 22-2 overall and 21-2 in dual matches, all coming at the No. 1 position.
Contact: Sarah VanMetre (734) 763-4423
