Michigan
Minnesota
Wolverines Upend Minnesota in Big Ten Tournament Quarterfinals
4/29/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
April 29, 2011
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Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Varsity Tennis Center)
Event: Big Ten Tournament (Quarterfinals)
Result: #10 Michigan 5, Minnesota 0
Records: U-M (21-3), Minnesota (8-16)
Next U-M Match: Saturday, April 30 -- vs. Ohio State - Big Ten Tournament Semifinals (Varsity Tennis Center), 10 a.m.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 10-ranked and top-seeded University of Michigan women's tennis team cruised to a 5-0 defeat of Minnesota in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament on Friday afternoon (April 29) at the Varsity Tennis Center. Michigan won the doubles point and the first four singles matches off court for the win.
Michigan won the doubles point by virtues of wins at No. 3, followed by the clinching decision at No. 2. At the No. 3 slot, freshman Sam Critser (Mountain View, Calif./Mountain View) and sophomore Mimi Nguyen (Long Beach, Calif./Millikan) took a commanding 8-1 win, before the senior duo of Whitney Taney (Edina, Minn./Edina) and Rika Tatsuno (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif./Palos Verdes Peninsula) put the point away with an 8-5 victory at the middle position.
Freshman Brooke Bolender (Delray Beach, Fla./Kaplan) was the first Wolverine off the court in singles, taking a 6-1, 6-1 win at the No. 2 position to stake Michigan a 2-0 lead. Taney finished moments later at the No. 3 slot, grabbing a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Alessadra Ferrazzi to put Michigan on the brink of advancing.
Nguyen did the honors with a 6-1, 6-2 triumph at the bottom of the lineup over Yuliana Umanets. As Nguyen's match was ending, Critser was in the middle of a point. Allowing the point to end, Critser came away with a 6-1, 6-1 win to end the match with a rare 5-0 postseason score.
Michigan advances to the Big Ten Tournament semifinals to face Ohio State tomorrow (Saturday, April 30) at 10 a.m. at the Varsity Tennis Center.
Following are match-by-match results:
Singles
No. 1 -- No. 7 Denise Muresan (U-M) vs. No. 83 Natallia Pintusava (Minn), 6-3, 4-1 abandoned
No. 2 -- No. 74 Brooke Bolender (U-M) d. Alexa Palen (Minn), 6-1, 6-1
No. 3 -- No. 100 Whitney Taney (U-M) d. Alessandra Ferrazzi (Minn), 6-3, 6-1
No. 4 -- No. 66 Sam Critser (U-M) d. Magdalena Wiecha (Minn), 6-1, 6-1
No. 5 -- Rika Tatsuno (U-M) vs. Doron Muravnik (Minn), 6-4, 3-5 abandoned
No. 6 -- Mimi Nguyen (U-M) d. Yuliana Umanets (Minn), 6-1, 6-2
Doubles
No. 1 -- No. 9 Brooke Bolender/Denise Muresan (U-M) vs. Natallia Pintusava/Alessandra Ferrazzi (Minn), 7-6 abandoned
No. 2 -- No. 65 Whitney Taney/Rika Tatsuno (U-M) d. Alexa Palen/Mariana Spilca (Minn), 8-5
No. 3 -- Sam Critser/Mimi Nguyen (U-M) d. Magdalena Wiecha/Peta Forsyth (Minn), 8-1
Order of Completion: Doubles 3-2, Singles 2-3-6-4
N O T E S
• With her singles win, Brooke Bolender tied the single-season win mark with 34 singles victories. Sarah Cyganiak, who was in attendance today, set the mark.
• Michigan won its 11th consecutive match and has not lost since falling, 4-3, at North Carolina on March 13.
• Matches in postseason play are abandoned once the match is clinched.
• U-M shut out Minnesota for the second time this season.
• The Wolverines have won the doubles point in 21 of 24 matches this season, carrying a 20-1 mark when winning the first point of the match.
• U-M is serving as host of the Big Ten Championships for the first time since 2000.
Contact: Sarah VanMetre (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
