Western Michigan Edges U-M With Strong Singles Play

Saturday, January 18

Ann Arbor, Mich.

10:00 AM

Michigan

Western Michigan

1/18/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan men's tennis team dropped its dual match opener Saturday afternoon (Jan. 18), falling to Western Michigan 4-3 at the Varsity Tennis Center. Michigan (0-1) got on top early by winning the doubles point, but the Wolverines surrendered four of the six singles matches to give the Broncos their first win over U-M in 26 tries.

Michigan gained the advantage early, winning two of three matches in the doubles competition. Senior Chris Rolf (Midland, Mich./Midland HS) and sophomore Vinny Gossain (Okemos, Mich./Okemos HS) teamed up to give U-M its first win of the day, earning a hard-fought victory over Western Michigan's Tommy Dennis and Mike Findling 8-5 at No. 2. Minutes later, the Wolverines secured the doubles point as junior Anthony Jackson (Glendale, Wis./Nicolet HS) and sophomore Josef Fischer (Nuremberg, Germany/Brandenton Academy, Fla.) defeated WMU's Dan Grupp and Jose Orozco 8-5 at No. 3. Michigan was unable to complete the sweep though, as Western Michigan's Ravi Pathanjali and Ryan Maarschalk outlasted U-M's tandem of senior Chris Shaya (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Saddlebrook Academy, Fla.) and sophomore Michael Rubin (Canton, Ohio/Canton Central Catholic HS), posting an 8-4 win at the top spot. 

In singles play, sophomore David Anving (Tvaaker, Sweden/Varbergs Gymnasieskola) started things off by defeating Justin Kates in straight sets (6-4, 6-1) at No. 4. The Broncos then reeled off four straight wins to clinch the overall victory. With the match already decided, Rubin closed out the afternoon with a tough 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 win over Pathanjali at No 1.

The Wolverines will next be in action against DePaul tomorrow afternoon. The match is slated to start at noon at the Varsity Tennis Center.

Following are match-by-match results:

Singles
No. 1 -- Michael Rubin (U-M) d. Ravi Pathanjali, 6-3, 3-6, 7-5
No. 2 -- Ryan Maarschalk (WMU) d. Anthony Jackson, 7-6(6), 6-4
No. 3 -- Tommy Dennis (WMU) d. Chris Shaya, 7-5, 6-4
No. 4 -- David Anving (U-M) d. Justin Kates, 6-4, 6-1
No. 5 -- Erik Lindroos (WMU) d. Josef Fischer, 7-6(8), 6-4
No. 6  -- Jose Orozco (WMU) d. Vinny Gossain, 7-5, 6-3

Doubles
No. 1 -- Pathanjali/Maarschalk (WMU) d. Shaya/M. Rubin, 8-4
No. 2 -- Chris Rolf/Gossain (U-M) d. Dennis/Mike Findling, 8-5
No. 3 -- Jackson/Fischer (U-M) d. Dan Grupp/Orozco, 8-5