Weekly Release #6
3/7/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Saturday, March 11 -- at Louisiana-Lafayette (Lafayette, La.), 1 p.m. CST
Sunday, March 12 - at Tulane (New Orleans, La.), 1 p.m. CST
Sunday, March 19 -- at Minnesota (Minneapolis, Minn.), 9 a.m. CST
Saturday, April 1 -- at Illinois (Champaign, Ill.), Noon CST
Wolverines Head to Louisiana
The Michigan men's tennis team will travel to Louisiana this weekend for back-to-back matches (March 11-12) against Louisiana-Lafayette (formerly Southwestern Louisiana) and Tulane. The Wolverines lead the series with Louisiana-Lafayette 1-0 (5-1 in 1983-84 at Wichita State Invitational), while Tulane won the only matchup with Michigan (9-0 in New Orleans during the 1954-55 season).
Stellar Start
The Wolverines are off to an excellent start in dual match competition, winning all six matches out of the gates. Michigan is off to its best start since the 1979 dual season when it won the first 16 matches of the year. The men's tennis program has had double-digit win strings to start the season seven times in school history, with five of those seasons ending undefeated.
Longest Winning Streaks to Start Season
Matches Year 19 1979 14 1977 13 1955 12 1956 12 1957 10 1966 13 1968 9 1950 8 1927 8 1945 8 1949 7 1978 6 1953 6 1974 6 2000
Beam and Long Eye 15th Wins
Sophomore Henry Beam (Kalamazoo, Mich./Loy Norrix HS) and senior co-captain John Long (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron HS) look to gain their 15th singles victories of this season during the trip to Louisiana. Beam currently has a 14-5 overall record, while Long has a 14-6 overall mark. Long is currently on a four-match winning streak and Beam has claimed victories in six straight contests.
Trio Seeks 10th Victories
Sophomores Ben Cox (Spring Lake, Mich./Spring Lake HS) and Danny McCain (Largo, Fla./Canterbury School) as well as senior Ron Nano (Great Neck, N.Y./South HS) head into this weekend's matches looking to capture their 10th wins of the season. Cox has a 9-7 overall record and is 4-2 in dual match competition. McCain and Nano have 9-6 overall singles records this season, while McCain has compiled a 4-2 dual match record (1-0 at No. 1 and 3-2 at No. 3). Nano has tallied a 5-1 dual match record this season and needs two victories to collect the 15th of his career (13-7 career mark).
The Wright Way
Senior Matt Wright (Wichita, Kan./Wichita Collegiate HS) still leads the team with 16 wins this year and is 4-1 at the No. 1 singles spot. Wright, ranked No. 51 in the ITA national singles rankings, suffered his first dual match setback of the season against San Diego State's Oliver Maiberger last week (March 1). Wright has claimed wins in nine of his last 11 matches and holds a 19-12 career dual match record at the No. 1 singles spot. Wright ranks ninth in career singles victories at Michigan with 80 (80-45) and needs one win to tie Ed Nagel (1985-88) for eighth all-time.
| | Name | Wins | Years |
| 1. | Dan Goldberg | 118-34 | 1985-89 |
| 2. | Peter Pusztai | 115-56 | 1992-96 |
| 3. | Dan Brackus | 101-46 | 1990-94 |
| 4. | Michael Leach | 99-18 | 1978-82 |
| | David Kass | 99-35 | 1988-92 |
| | William Farah | 99-53 | 1996-99 |
| 7. | Jon Morris | 87-35 | 1985-88 |
| 8. | Ed Nagel | 81-23 | 1985-88 |
| 9. | Matt Wright | 80-45 | 1997- |
| 10. | Matt Horwitch | 79-17 | 1977-81 |
Wright and McCain Ranked 36th in Doubles
Michigan's No. 1 doubles' team of senior Matt Wright and sophomore Danny McCain remains No. 36 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association national doubles rankings. They have a record of 5-1 at the No. 1 spot. Wright and McCain lead the team in doubles with an 8-4 overall record.
Wolverines Overcome Aztecs
The team improved to 6-0 after narrowly defeating San Diego State 4-3 on March 1. Senior Ron Nano and sophomore Henry Beam won the deciding doubles match with a victory in the tie-breaker at the No. 3 spot. Leading by a 1-0 score, the Wolverines overcame three singles setbacks with three straight wins to finalize the score. Beam overpowered Dan Castro with a convincing 6-2, 6-2 victory at the No. 4 spot. Long and Nano overcame opening-set losses to win their three-set matches.
Next Week
Michigan resumes Big Ten Conference play after returning from a trip to Louisiana. The Wolverines face the Minnesota Gophers in Minnesota on March 19. Michigan is 47-17-2 overall against the Gophers.
1999-2000 Michigan Men's Tennis Information
Overall Record: 6-0 (1.000)
Big Ten Record: 0-0 (.000)
Home: 3-0
Away: 2-0
Neutral: 1-0
Current ITA National Rank: No. 28
Head Coach: Mark Mees (Michigan, 1985)
Years at Michigan: First
Michigan Record: 6-0
Overall Record: 6-0
Big Ten Record: 0-0
Assistant Coach: Dan Goldberg (Michigan, 1989)
Years at Michigan: Eighth
Michigan All-Time Record: 903-351-14 (103 years)
Home Facility: Varsity Tennis Center
Trainer: Rick Bancroft
Tennis Center Phone: (734) 998-8844
Tennis Center Fax: (734) 998-8840
Contact: David Ablauf (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
