Weekly Release #13

Upcoming Schedule
Saturday, April 19 -- vs. Northwestern (Varsity Tennis Center), Noon
Sunday, April 20 -- vs. Wisconsin (Varsity Tennis Center), Noon
Thu-Sun., April 24-27 -- at Big Ten Championship (Evanston, Ill.)

Regular Season Closes at Home
The University of Michigan men's tennis team (7-12, 1-7 Big Ten) closes the regular season with a pair of matches at the Varsity Tennis Center. The Wolverines will host Northwestern on Saturday (April 19) and Wisconsin on Sunday (April 20). Both matches are scheduled to start at noon.

Scouting The Opponents
Northwestern -- The No. 51-ranked Wildcats enter the week with a 10-9 record in dual match play, including a 3-5 mark in the Big Ten Conference. Northwestern completed its 2001-02 campaign with a 13-10 overall record and a fourth-place finish in the conference. NU returns six letterwinners from last year's team, including 2002 Big Ten Freshman of the Year Tommy Hanus. Hanus, Northwestern's No. 1 player, holds a team-best 20-14 singles record, including an 11-7 mark at the top spot. Paul Torricelli is in his 20th season at the helm of the Northwestern men's team and has a career record of 294-207. Michigan fell to the Wildcats 4-3 last season in Ann Arbor but still leads the all-time series 58-25. NU will travel to East Lansing, Mich., to face Michigan State (April 18) before its meeting with the Wolverines.
Northwestern on the Internet: www.nusports.com

Wisconsin -- The Badgers head into the week with a 5-14 dual match record and a 2-6 mark in the Big Ten. Senior captain Blake Baratz leads a young team into Ann Arbor and has compiled a 6-13 record in dual match action this season. Head coach Pat Klingelhoets is in his 21st season at the helm of the Badgers tennis program and holds a career record of 274-255. Wisconsin finished last season with a 9-13 record and a tie for ninth place in the conference. Michigan defeated the Badgers 5-2 in Madison, Wis., last year to improve its all-time series advantage to 65-7.
Wisconsin on the Internet: www.uwbadgers.com

Two Seniors to be Honored
The Wisconsin match will be the final home match for the Wolverines' two seniors -- Chris Rolf (Midland, Mich./Midland HS) and Chris Shaya (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Saddlebrook Academy, Fla.). The team will honor its two co-captains before the match.

Michigan Concludes Road Schedule With Two Losses
The Wolverines looked to add to their two-match winning streak last weekend but were unable to come away with victories at Purdue and Illinois. U-M lost the doubles point and picked up just two wins in singles in a 5-2 loss to the Boilermakers on Saturday (April 12). Michigan finished the weekend with a match against No. 1-ranked Illinois on Sunday (April 13). The Fighting Illini took all three in doubles and five of six in singles to post a 6-1 win and remain undefeated on the season.

U-M Climbs 10 Spots in National Rankings
After a 4-3 upset of then No. 28-ranked Indiana, Michigan moved to No. 58 in the most recent ITA National Rankings released on Wednesday, April 9. It is U-M's highest since an identical ranking of No. 58 back on March 12.

Jackson Upsets Illinois' No. 13-Ranked Stolt
Junior Anthony Jackson (Glendale, Wis./Nicolet HS) provided Michigan with its only point against top-ranked Illinois last Sunday (April 13), upsetting No. 13-ranked Phil Stolt 7-6(4), 4-6, 1-0(11) at No. 2. It was just Stolt's fourth loss in 29 singles matches this season. With the win, Jackson reached his 15th win of 2002-03. Jackson holds a season record of 15-15, including an 8-11 dual match mark at No. 2.

Anving Seeks 25th Career Singles Win
With a 15-11 overall singles record in 2002-03, sophomore David Anving (Tvaaker, Sweden/Varbergs Gymnasieskola) needs two wins to reach 25 for his career. In two years at U-M, Anving has collected a career singles mark of 23-20. This season Anving is tied atop the list for overall singles wins (15), dual match wins (12) and conference victories (3).

Fischer Picks Up 10th Singles Victory of 2002-03
Sophomore Josef Fischer (Nuremberg, Germany/Bradenton Academy, Fla.) earned his 10th singles win of the season with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory over Purdue's David Robinson last Saturday (April 12). Fischer has a singles mark of 10-13, including an 8-9 record in dual match play, primarily at No. 5.

Gossain Earns 15th Career Singles Win
With a 6-2, 6-4 triumph over Purdue's Colin Foster last Saturday (April 12), sophomore Vinny Gossain (Okemos, Mich./Okemos HS) claimed his 15th career singles win at Michigan. In his two years as a Wolverine, Gossain has collected a career singles mark of 15-20. Gossain has compiled an overall singles mark of 12-16 this season, including a 6-12 record in dual match action. Gossain also earned his 10th doubles win of the season with an 8-6 victory at No. 3 against the Boilermakers.

Rubin Eyeing Record Books
With 23 singles wins this season, sophomore Michael Rubin (Canton, Ohio/Canton Central Catholic HS) is moving up Michigan's list for most singles wins by a first-year player. If Rubin were a true freshman, his total would place him fourth all-time on U-M's list, three wins behind Ben Cox, who collected 26 wins during his freshman campaign in 1998-99. Rubin, who transferred from the University of Washington, is currently tied with Greg Novak, who accumulated 23 wins in 2000-01 after transferring to Michigan. Rubin leads the team in overall singles wins (23-11), overall winning percentage (.676) and regional victories (18-8). Rubin is also tied for lead in dual match victories (12) and conference wins (3).

Next Week
Michigan will head to the 2003 Big Ten Championship in Evanston, Ill., starting Thursday (April 24) and running through Sunday (April 27). Northwestern will host the annual team tournament at the Vandy Christie Tennis Center.

Contact: Marc Ressler, David Ablauf (734) 763-4423