Michigan
Kentucky
Wolverines Keep Kentucky Off the Board for Home Triumph
2/5/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Feb. 5, 2011
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Varsity Tennis Center)
Result: #7 Michigan 7, Kentucky 0
Records: U-M (4-0), Kentucky (0-3)
Next U-M Match: Thursday, Feb. 10 -- at Notre Dame (South Bend, Ind.), 4 p.m.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 7-ranked University of Michigan women's tennis team won all nine matches against the University of Kentucky in a 7-0 shutout win on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 5) at the Varsity Tennis Center.
U-M came out strong in doubles play, taking 4-2 leads across the board in the early going. The No. 3 duo of senior Rika Tatsuno (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif./Palos Verdes Peninsula) and junior Michelle Sulahian (Valley Glen, Calif./Campbell Hall School) were first off court with an 8-2 win. Michigan's No. 2 pairing of freshman Sam Critser (Mountainview, Calif./Mountainview) and sophomore Mimi Nguyen (Long Beach, Calif./Millikan) clinched the point with an 8-3 victory.
Michigan completed the doubles sweep when freshman Brooke Bolender (Delray Beach, Fla./Kaplan) and senior Denise Muresan (Lincolnshire, Ill./Adlai. E Stevenson) combined for an 8-5 triumph at the No. 1 position, their first time at the top spot this season.
Muresan was first off court in singles play with a convincing 6-1, 6-1 win over Megan Broderick at the top spot to stake the Wolverines a 2-0 lead. Nguyen followed with a 6-2, 6-3 win at No. 4 and Sulahian won moments later at No. 6 (6-3, 6-4) to clinch U-M's fourth straight victory.
U-M continued its winning ways after the match had been decided as Tatsuno grabbed a 6-1, 6-4 decision at No. 5. Bolender was then victorious at No. 2, winning 6-4, 7-6 (6) after falling behind 5-2 in the second-set tiebreaker. The freshman took over the breaker from there, winning six of the next seven points for the straight-set win.
Critser was once again the final Wolverine on court, splitting her first two sets. She lost the first set, 6-4, before taking the second, 6-1. With the team match already decided, a 10-point tiebreaker was played in lieu of a full third set. Critser jumped out to a 3-0 advantage en route to a 10-5 win to keep the Wildcats off the board.
The Wolverines hit the road for the first time in 2011 for a Thursday (Feb. 10) match at Notre Dame. Doubles are slated for a 4 p.m. start.
Following are match-by-match results:
Singles
No. 1 -- No. 11 Denise Muresan (U-M) d. Megan Broderick (UK), 6-1, 6-1
No. 2 -- Brooke Bolender (U-M) d. Jessica Stiles (UK), 6-4, 7-6 (6)
No. 3 -- No. 105 Sam Critser (U-M) d. Khristina Blajkevitch (UK), 4-6, 6-1, 1-0 (10-5)
No. 4 -- Mimi Nguyen (U-M) d. Caitlin McGraw (UK), 6-2, 6-3
No. 5 -- Rika Tatsuno (U-M) d. Marni Venter (UK), 6-1, 6-4
No. 6 -- Michelle Sulahian (U-M) d. CeCe Witten(UK), 6-3, 6-4
Doubles
No. 1 -- Muresan/Bolender (U-M) d. Broderick/Stiles (UK), 8-5
No. 2 -- Nguyen/Critser (U-M) d. Venter/McGraw (UK), 8-3
No. 3 -- Tatsuno/Sulahian (U-M) d. Blajkevitch/Witten (UK), 8-2
Order of Completion: Doubles 3-2-1, Singles 1-4-6-5-2-3
N O T E S
• Sam Critser won her 12th consecutive singles match.
• U-M won the doubles point for the third time in four tries this season.
• Michigan is 4-0 for the second consecutive season.
• Denise Muresan and Brooke Bolender played at the No. 1 doubles slot for the first time this season. The pair has played at each of the three doubles positions.
• Denise Muresan has 93 career victories, putting her at No. 5 on the all-time list. She needs 12 more wins to become the program leader.
• U-M moves to 4-8 all-time against Kentucky, defeating the Wildcats for the first time during Ronni Bernstein's tenure.
Q U O T E S
Michigan Head Coach Ronni Bernstein
On doubles ... "It is always good to win all three pro sets at the beginning. It really sets the tone for the rest of the match. I thought we looked pretty good out there today. We need to keep working hard in practice and continue to get better. I am really happy to sweep all three doubles matches today, especially after losing the point in our last match against Southern California."
On winning all six singles matches ... "We won everywhere, which was nice. We need to keep getting better as the season goes on. I think we really need to step up when we need to instead of letting others dictate the play of the match. I think that once we start doing that in some different spots, we will be that much better. Kentucky is a good SEC team and this was a good win for us today."
On Michelle Sulahian stepping into the lineup today ... "Michelle is all about the team and always will be. She knew to be ready and always is on match day. I have total confidence in her and her game. She has done so much for the program since coming to Michigan. There is not a drop off when you put Michelle into the lineup. I know that she can go in there and get it done. It is good for her to get matches so that she can continue to be ready throughout the season."
On Thursday's match at Notre Dame ... "We are excited to play Notre Dame. They are a great team and it will be a good test for us to see where we are. We have been fortunate to be home for the first month of the season, but you have to go on the road at some point. We are going to go in there and battle for every point; that will be our mindset. We will give it our all. Hopefully what we have done so far in matches and in practice will be enough to go in there and try to get a win from a great team. We are excited for the challenge."
Contact: Sarah VanMetre (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
