Critser Receives Big Ten Athlete of the Week
10/19/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Oct. 19, 2011
PARK RIDGE, Ill. -- Sophomore Sam Critser (Mountain View, Calif./Mountain View HS) of the University of Michigan women's tennis team was named Big Ten Conference Athlete of the Week on Wednesday (Oct. 19) in recognition of her weekend performance at the Bulldog Tennis Classic (Fri-Sun., Oct. 14-16). The honor is the first for the Wolverines this season and the second for Critser in her collegiate career.
Critser, who is ranked No. 48 in the ITA preseason poll, posted a perfect 3-0 singles record and teamed with freshman Sarah Lee (Los Angeles, Calif./Campbell Hall School) to register a 2-1 mark in doubles.
Critser opened singles play with back-to-back wins over ranked opposition, earning her most decisive victory of the weekend against Virginia's No. 74 Erin Vierra, 6-2, 6-3, before rallying to defeat Virginia's Li Xi, who lists fifth among the ITA freshman/newcomer rankings, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4. The Wolverine sophomore wrapped up the weekend with a 6-4, 6-4 decision over Georgia's Kate Fuller to improve to 4-1 on the season.
After dropping their debut as a doubles team, Critser and Lee won their final two matches at the Bulldog Classic, including an 8-4 decision against Virginia's No. 8-ranked tandem of Emily Fraser and Hana Tomljanovic.
The Wolverines will return to competition this weekend at the ITA Midwest Regional Championships, scheduled for Oct. 21-25 at Ohio State's Varsity Tennis Center in Columbus, Ohio.
Contact: Leah Howard (734) 763-4423
