Michigan
Indiana
Wolverines Cruise Past Indiana for Home Victory
3/26/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
March 26, 2011
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Varsity Tennis Center)
Result: #5 Michigan 6, Indiana 1
Records: U-M (12-3, 2-0 Big Ten), Indiana (10-5, 0-2 Big Ten)
Next U-M Match: Sunday, March 27 -- vs. Purdue (Varsity Tennis Center), 11 a.m.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 5-ranked University of Michigan women's tennis team swept all three doubles matches and won five-of-six singles matches in a 6-1 victory over Indiana on Saturday afternoon (March 26) at the Varsity Tennis Center.
Michigan won the doubles point for the second consecutive match, first winning at No. 3, followed by wins at No. 1 and then No. 2. At the third position, freshman Sam Critser (Mountainview, Calif./Mountainview) teamed with junior Michelle Sulahian (Valley Glen, Calif./Campbell Hall School) for an 8-3 victory. The No. 14 duo of senior Denise Muresan (Lincolnshire, Ill./Adlai E. Stevenson) and freshman Brooke Bolender (Delray Beach, Fla./Kaplan) clinched the point at the top spot, securing an 8-4 triumph.
With the point wrapped up, the senior duo of Whitney Taney (Edina, Minn./Edina) and Rika Tatsuno (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif./Palos Verdes Peninsula) made it a clean sweep for U-M, winning 8-6 at the No. 2 position to keep the Wolverines perfect in doubles over the last two matches.
Bolender was the first Wolverine off court in singles, making quick work of Charlotte Martin (6-2, 6-0) at the No. 3 slot to extend Michigan's lead to 2-0. The Wolverines then surrendered their only point of the match, dropping the No. 2 match.
Michigan responded by winning the next three matches in a matter of minutes, as sophomore Mimi Nguyen (Long Beach, Calif./Millikan) started the winning with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Myriam Sopel at No. 5. Tatsuno clinched the match moments later with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Sophie Garre at No. 6, battling back from a 2-0 hole in the second set to take the match. Muresan then rounded out the flurry of wins, winning easily at the top of the lineup (6-3, 6-2) over No. 58 Leslie Hureau.
Taney was the lone Wolverine to go to three sets, falling in the first, 6-3, before rebounding for a 6-3 second-set win. It was all Taney in the third as she coasted to a 6-2 victory to end the day for the Wolverines.
Michigan returns to the Varsity Tennis Center tomorrow (Sunday, March 27) for an 11 a.m. contest against Purdue.
Following are match-by-match results:
Singles
No. 1 -- No. 8 Denise Muresan (U-M) d. No. 78 Leslie Hureau (IU), 6-3, 6-2
No. 2 -- Evgeniya Vertesheva (IU) d. No. 63 Sam Critser (U-M), 6-1, 6-1
No. 3 -- No. 75 Brooke Bolender (U-M) d. Charlotte Martin (IU), 6-2, 6-0
No. 4 -- No. 94 Whitney Taney (U-M) d. Kayla Fujimoto (IU), 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
No. 5 -- Mimi Nguyen (U-M) d. Myriam Sopel (IU), 6-3, 6-2
No. 6 -- Rika Tatsuno (U-M) d. Sophie Garre (IU), 6-1, 6-4
Doubles
No. 1 -- No. 14 Muresan/Bolender (U-M) d. No. 53 Hureau/Sopel (IU), 8-4
No. 2 -- No. 55 Taney/Tatsuno (U-M) d. Fujimoto/Vertesheva (IU), 8-6
No. 3 -- Critser/Sulahian (U-M) d. Garre/Kyllman (IU), 8-3
Order of Completion: Doubles 3-1-2, Singles 3-2-5-6-1-4
N O T E S
• Michigan won its sixth consecutive match against Indiana.
• U-M has not dropped a regular-season Big Ten dual match since March 29, 2009.
• Whitney Taney won her 10th dual match of the season, putting her in double digits with Brooke Bolender (13-1) and Rika Tatsuno (12-1).
• Brooke Bolender won her eighth consecutive match, Rika Tatsuno won her seventh in a row and Whitney Taney won her sixth in a row.
• Michelle Sulahian played in a dual match for the first time since playing singles against Kentucky on Feb. 5. She paired with Sam Critser for an 8-3 doubles win. That pair is 6-1 on the season.
• Denise Muresan won the 99th singles match of her career. She is on the verge of becoming the third Wolverine in program history to reach the 100-win plateau.
Q U O T E S
Michigan Head Coach Ronni Bernstein
On the win ... "It was a solid Big Ten win for us today. It is always nice to get those conference wins. Indiana is a solid team and they definitely make you play. I am happy with how today went. I think that everybody did a good job across the board."
On Michelle Sulahian in the doubles lineup ... "Michelle has done a lot for us. She brings a lot of good energy out there on the court, which is what we are looking for in doubles. I feel like we are a pretty interchangeable team and can put anyone anywhere and get a positive result. We do not drop off by putting her in the lineup."
On starting the weekend off ... "It was a good start. Indiana always has a good team, year in and year out. You have to be ready to play them because they make you play a lot of balls. They are not a team that beats themselves. You have to go out there and beat them and I thought we did that today. You have to be ready to go every day now that the Big Ten is underway. We have an end goal in mind, but you cannot look ahead. We have to really focus in on every match. We are hoping to do the same tomorrow and be ready for Purdue."
Contact: Sarah VanMetre (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
