Michigan
Purdue
Muresan Wins 100th, Wolverines Blank Purdue
3/27/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
March 27, 2011
• Notes & Quotes | Photo Gallery 
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Varsity Tennis Center)
Result: #5 Michigan 7, Purdue 0
Records: U-M (13-3, 3-0 Big Ten), Purdue (8-5, 2-1 Big Ten)
Next U-M Match: Saturday, April 2 -- at Minnesota (Minneapolis, Minn.), 11 a.m. CDT
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Senior Denise Muresan (Lincolnshire, Ill./Adlai E. Stevenson) won the 100th singles match of her career as the No. 5-ranked University of Michigan women's tennis team blanked Purdue, 7-0, on Sunday afternoon (March 27) at the Varsity Tennis Center.
Michigan swept all three doubles matches to grab the first point of the match, racing out to big advantages on the No. 1 and No. 2 courts. With the No. 1 tied at 1-1, the pair of Muresan and freshman Brooke Bolender (Delray Beach, Fla./Kaplan) battled back from a 40-0 deficit on Muresan's serve in the third game, using an ace from the senior to keep the match on serve at 2-1. The Wolverines never looked back, rattling off the next six games for the 8-1 win.
On court No. 2, the senior duo of Whitney Taney (Edina, Minn./Edina) and Rika Tatsuno (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif./Palos Verdes Peninsula) jumped out to a 6-0 lead before coasting to another 8-1 win to clinch the point for the Maize and Blue. At No. 3, junior Michelle Sulahian (Valley Glen, Calif./Campbell Hall) and freshman Sam Critser (Mountainview, Calif./Mountainview) kept the Wolverines perfect on the day with an 8-5 victory.
Critser was the first Wolverine off court once singles began, dominating Mara Schmidt at the No. 3 slot, coming away with a 6-2, 6-0 win to extend Michigan's lead. Sophomore Mimi Nguyen (Long Beach, Calif./Millikan) followed next with a 6-2, 6-3 victory at No. 6 to stake U-M a 3-0 lead, setting up Bolender for the clinching point at No. 2. Bolender won in straight sets over Bhavani Tirumurti, 6-3, 6-4, to give Michigan its third Big Ten victory of the season.
Taney extended Michigan's advantage to 5-0 with a 6-1, 6-2 decision at No. 4 over Anna Dushkina. Muresan then rallied to win her 100th singles match, dropping the first set, 6-3, to Purdue's Jennifer Rabot before bouncing back for a pair of 6-1 wins in the second and third sets to become the third Wolverine in program history with 100 singles victories.
Tatsuno wrapped up the Michigan victories on the afternoon, winning in three sets (6-1, 4-6, 6-4) at No. 5, keeping her win streak alive at eight in a row.
The Wolverines hit the road for a pair next weekend, traveling to Minnesota on Saturday (April 2) and Wisconsin on Sunday (April 3). Both matches are slated for an 11 a.m. CDT start.
Following are match-by-match results:
Singles
No. 1 -- No. 8 Denise Muresan (U-M) d. Jennifer Rabot (PU), 3-6, 6-1, 6-1
No. 2 -- No. 75 Brooke Bolender (U-M) d. Bhavani Tirumurti (PU), 6-3, 6-4
No. 3 -- No. 63 Sam Critser (U-M) d. Mara Schmidt (PU), 6-2, 6-0
No. 4 -- No. 94 Whitney Taney (U-M) d. Anna Dushkina (PU), 6-1, 6-2
No. 5 -- Rika Tatsuno (U-M) d. Imogen Golder (PU), 6-1, 4-6, 6-4
No. 6 -- Mimi Nguyen (U-M) d. Gisella Pere (PU), 6-2, 6-3
Doubles
No. 1 -- No. 14 Denise Muresan/Brooke Bolender (U-M) d. Rabot/Schmidt (PU), 8-1
No. 2 -- No. 55 Whitney Taney/Rika Tatsuno (U-M) d. Pere/Dushkina (PU), 8-1
No. 3 -- Sam Critser/Michelle Sulahian (U-M) d. Golder/Tirumurti (PU), 8-5
Order of Completion: Doubles 1-2-3; Singles 3-6-2-4-1-5
• Denise Muresan joins Chisako Sugiyama (2006-09) and Sarah Cyganiak (1994-97) as the only players to record at least 100 wins in a career. Sugiyama holds the record at 104.
• Brooke Bolender won her ninth consecutive match, while Rika Tatsuno won her eighth in a row and Whitney Taney won her seventh in a row.
• Mimi Nguyen and Sam Critser both won their 20th matches of the season today. U-M now has four players with at least 20 wins.
• With Sam Critser's win at No. 3, Michigan moves to 14-1 at the No. 3 slot this season.
• Michigan won its seventh consecutive match against Purdue, improving its all-time record to 31-11 over the Boilermakers.
• It was the second consecutive match that Sam Critser and Michelle Sulahian played doubles together. The pair is 2-0 in dual matches and 7-1 overall.
• Michigan has won the doubles point in all three Big Ten matches, compiling an 8-1 record.
• U-M is 16-2 in singles during Big Ten play.
• U-M has not dropped a regular-season Big Ten dual match since March 29, 2009.
• The Wolverines improved to 9-0 at home this season and to 39-2 in Ann Arbor during Ronni Bernstein's tenure.
Q U O T E S
Michigan Head Coach Ronni Bernstein
On today's match ... "It is good to sweep and keep a team off the board. Purdue came in here with good energy and had two quality Big Ten wins before today. When you sweep a team like this, it means that everyone stepped up across the board. We talk about getting a total team effort and that is what we got today. It was good to see Denise (Muresan) come back after dropping that first set and get a win. I was happy with Rika (Tatsuno) continuing to play hard and win that last match even though the team match was decided. She kept playing hard and competing; that is the type of team we have. I really feel like we are hitting our stride and everyone is stepping up. We just want to continue to take it one match at a time as we move forward in Big Ten play."
On Denise Muresan winning her 100th match ... "From the day she came onto campus, she has been working hard. She sets a high standard for herself and is always working to meet that. She is a true competitor. She came in here and started lower in the lineup and just continually worked her way up it. She has done some incredible things for us at the top of the lineup the past two years. It is a tribute to her and the program that she has been able to accomplish that."
On dominating the doubles ... "We are happy with the way we are playing right now. We work on it a lot, about being basic and making start decisions. We are never going to be a flashy team; we want to make teams play. We have good combinations going, but we can continue to mix if we need it. We can put anyone anywhere and feel like we can be successful."
Contact: Sarah VanMetre (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
