Michigan
Michigan Invitational
Muresan Captures Singles Title at Michigan Invitational
1/17/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Jan. 17, 2011
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Varsity Tennis Center)
Event: Michigan Invitational (Day 3 of 3)
U-M Team Result: No Team Scoring
Next U-M Event: Sunday, Jan. 23 -- vs. Western Michigan (Varsity Tennis Center), Noon
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Senior Denise Muresan (Lincolnshire, Ill./Adlai E. Stevenson) won the singles title at the Michigan Invitational as the No. 8-ranked University of Michigan women's tennis team concluded its three-day tournament on Monday (Jan. 17) at the Varsity Tennis Center. U-M took on No. 13 Tennessee in singles and No. 16 Georgia Tech in doubles on the final day.
Muresan finished the weekend with a perfect 3-0 singles mark at the No. 1 position, knocking off Tennessee's Natalie Pluskota, 6-4, 6-2. Muresan broke Pluskota to win the first set (6-4) before jumping out to an early lead in the second for the win. Muresan accumulated 24 individual points on the weekend as the only player to win three matches at the top of the lineup.
Freshman Sam Critser (Mountainview, Calif./Mountainview) also completed the tournament with a perfect 3-0 mark and 20 total points for a runner-up finish in singles. Critser defeated No. 20 Brynn Boren on the final day of action (7-6, 7-5) after rallying from a break down in the second frame.
Sophomore Mimi Nguyen (Long Beach, Calif./Millikan) rallied to defeat No. 116 Maria Sorbello (6-4, 6-0) at the No. 4 position. Nguyen was down 4-1 in the first before winning the next 11 games for the two-set triumph. Freshman Brooke Bolender (Delray Beach, Fla./Kaplan) ended the day with a win for the Wolverines, dispatching of No. 87 Rosalia Alda in three sets (7-6, 2-6, 6-3). The freshman broke Alda in the final set to go up 5-3, serving out the match on the ensuing game.
U-M and Georgia Tech split four doubles matches, with the senior duo of Whitney Taney (Edina, Minn./Edina) and Rika Tatsuno (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif./Palos Verdes Peninsula) taking a 9-8 (6) decision for Michigan's first victory of the day. Knotted at 6-6 in the tiebreaker, Tatsuno's volley at the net, followed by her forehand winner down the line gave Michigan its first doubles win.
Bolender and Muresan picked up the other doubles victory on the afternoon, winning 8-4 at the No. 3 slot. Up 6-4, the Wolverine duo held serve on a long deuce exchange before breaking the Georgia Tech pair for the victory.
The Wolverines return to the court on Sunday (Jan. 23), hosting Western Michigan in their first dual match of the 2011 season. Doubles will begin at noon at the Varsity Tennis Center.
DAY THREE RESULTS (Monday, Jan. 17)
SINGLES
Michigan vs. Tennessee
No. 1 -- No. 11 Denise Muresan (U-M) d. Natalie Pluskota (Tenn), 6-4, 6-2
No. 2 -- No. 105 Sam Critser (U-M) d. No. 20 Brynn Boren (Tenn), 7-6, 7-5
No. 3 -- Brooke Bolender (U-M) d. No. 87 Rosalia Alda (Tenn), 7-6, 2-6, 6-3
No. 4 -- Mimi Nguyen (U-M) d. No. 116 Maria Sorbello (Tenn) , 6-4, 6-0
No. 5 -- Kata Szekely (Tenn) d. Rika Tatsuno (U-M), 7-5, 6-1
No. 6 -- Millie Nichols (Tenn) d. Michelle Sulahian (U-M), 7-6, 6-0
No. 7 -- Whitney Wofford (Tenn) d. Kari Wig (U-M), 1-6, 7-5, 7-5
Georgia Tech vs. Washington
No. 1 -- No. 6 Denise Dy (UW) d. Christina Ngo (GT), 6-2, 6-2
No. 2 -- No. 55 Venise Chan (UW) d. Jillian O'Neill (GT), 6-2, 6-3
No. 3 -- Lynn Blau (GT) d. Samantha Smith (UW), 6-3, 6-3
No. 4 -- Andjela Nemcevic (UW) d. Sasha Krupina (GT), 6-4, 7-5
No. 5 -- Caroline Lilley (GT) d. Lina Xu (UW), 6-0, 6-3
No. 6 -- Muriel Wacker (GT) d. d. Vanja Radunovic (UW), 7-5, 6-3
No. 7 -- Elizabeth Kilborn (GT) d. Aleksandra Krsljanin (UW), 6-1, 6-2
DOUBLES
Michigan vs. Georgia Tech
No. 1 -- Krupina/Lilley (GT) d. Critser/Nguyen (U-M), 8-5
No. 2 -- Taney/Tatsuno (U-M) d. Ngo/O'Neill (GT), 9-8 (6)
No. 3 -- Bolender/Muresan (U-M) d. Kilborn/Blau (GT), 8-4
No. 4 -- Lopez/Wacker (GT) d. Sulahian/Wig (U-M), 8-4
Tennessee vs. Washington
No. 1 -- Chan/Dy (UW) d. Pluskota/Boren (Tenn), 8-4
No. 2 -- Nichols/Alda (Tenn) d. Smith/Nemcevic (UW), 8-2
No. 3 -- Sorbello/Meredith (Tenn) d. Xu/Krsljanin (UW), 8-1
STANDINGS
Singles
Denise Muresan (U-M) -- 24
Sam Critser (U-M) -- 20
Denise Dy (UW) -- 15
Brynn Boren (Tenn) -- 15
Venise Chan (UW) -- 14
Lynn Blau (GT) -- 12
Millie Nichols (Tenn) -- 10
Caroline Lilley (GT) -- 9
Mimi Nguyen (U-M) -- 9
Whitney Wofford (Tenn) -- 9
Kata Szekely (Tenn) -- 9
Natalie Pluskota (Tenn) -- 8
Samantha Smith (UW) -- 6
Rosalia Alda (Tenn) - 6
Christina Ngo (GT) -- 6
Rika Tatsuno (U-M) -- 6
Brooke Bolender (U-M) -- 6
Andjela Nemcevic (UW) -- 5
Sasha Krupina (GT) -- 5
Whitney Taney (U-M) -- 5
Michelle Sulahian (U-M) -- 4
Elizabeth Kilborn (GT) -- 3
Muriel Wacker (GT) -- 2
Rocio Lopez (GT) -- 1
Doubles
Chan/Dy (UW) -- 24
Nichols/Alda (Tenn) -- 21
Lopez/Wacker (GT) -- 15
Taney/Tatsuno (U-M) -- 15
Critser/Nguyen (U-M) -- 13
Ngo/O'Neill (GT) -- 12
Bolender/Muresan (U-M) -- 12
Pluskota/Boren (Tenn) - 8
Krupina/Lilley (GT) -- 8
Blau/Kilborn (GT) -- 7
Sorbello/Meredith (U-M) -- 6
Sulahian/Wig (U-M) -- 5
FORMAT OF PLAY
Each team will play three rounds of doubles and three rounds of singles. There will be eight flights in singles and four flights in doubles. Each day will consist of eight doubles matches and 16 singles matches. The third set will be played to completion in singles. Points will be allotted for each win based on the following decreasing point value to determine the champion (singles and doubles) at the end of the weekend.
Win at No. 1 position -- 8 points
Win at No. 2 position -- 7 points
Win at No. 3 position -- 6 points
Win at No. 4 position -- 5 points
Win at No. 5 position -- 4 points
Win at No. 6 position -- 3 points
Win at No. 7 position -- 2 points
Win at No. 8 position -- 1 point
• Previous Results: Day 2 | Day 1
Q U O T E S
Michigan Head Coach Ronni Bernstein
On what to take away from the weekend ... "I think we played three very high quality teams. The competition was good and allowed us to see where we are heading into the dual-match season. We played well against some great teams, but there is still room for improvement. We are still working on the doubles lineup right now, so it was good to get out there against these types of teams. We saw some things that we need to work on, both in singles and doubles. It is nice that we had this so we know what we need to work on for next weekend against Western Michigan."
On the tough competition at the tournament ... "I think that before the real season starts, you want to get the toughest matches you can. We don't have time to work our way into the season. We have Western Michigan next weekend, followed by the ITA Kick-Off here. It starts up pretty quickly. Competitive-wise, this was exactly what we needed. They had to fight through some really tight matches all weekend long."
On who stood out ... "I thought Denise (Muresan) winning all three of her matches at the top was big. Sam (Critser) also went unbeaten, which was great to see. Sam had three really tough, close matches against some really good players. She is playing well and playing with a lot of confidence right now."
Contact: Sarah VanMetre (734) 763-4423
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Players Mentioned
