Weekly Release #4
1/25/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Upcoming Schedule
Wednesday, Jan. 26 -- at Notre Dame (South Bend, Ind.), 4 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 29 -- vs. Alabama (Varsity Tennis Center), 11 a.m.
Friday, Feb. 4 -- at South Carolina (Columbia, S.C), Time TBA
Saturday, Feb. 5 -- vs. Maryland (Columbia, S.C.), Noon
This Week
The No. 20 University of Michigan women's tennis team (1-1) will travel to South Bend, Ind., on Wednesday (Jan. 26) for a mid-week meeting with Notre Dame at the Eck Tennis Pavilion at 4 p.m., then return home to host Alabama on Saturday (Jan. 29) at the Varsity Tennis Center at 11 a.m.
Live Scoring!
Match-by-match results will be regularly updated on the internet throughout each home competition. A "live scoring" link will be available at the top of the main tennis page, mgoblue.com/tennis-w.
Scouting the Opponents
Notre Dame -- The No. 21-ranked Fighting Irish (1-1) are coming off a 6-1 home loss to No. 6 Vanderbilt last weekend (Jan. 23) after opening the season with a 6-1 win at Ohio State (Jan. 22). Notre Dame returns eight letterwinners from last year's team, which finished 12-12 overall and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Championship. Sophomore Catrina Thompson is listed No. 69 in the most recent ITA national singles rankings and teams with sister, Christian, for a No. 2 ranking in doubles. Head coach Jay Louderback, who is in his 15th season at the helm of the UND women's tennis program, has led his teams to 10 NCAA Championship appearances in the past 11 years. The Wolverines knocked off Notre Dame 4-3 in the teams' last meeting on Jan. 29, 2004, but the Irish still lead the all-time series 14-8. Notre Dame on the Internet: www.und.com.
Alabama -- The No. 32-ranked Crimson Tide (1-0) opened the 2005 dual match season with a 6-1 triumph over Denver at home last weekend (Jan. 22). Alabama returns five letterwinners from last year's team, which finished 13-11 overall and notched its fourth consecutive trip to the NCAA Championship. Junior Robin Stephenson is listed No. 8 in the ITA national singles rankings and teams with classmate Ashley Bentley for a No. 12 ranking in doubles. Head coach Jenny Mainz is in her eighth season at Alabama, having captured the school's first Southeastern Conference Western Division Championship in 2003. The Wolverines have never defeated Alabama (0-3), with the Tide handing U-M its first loss of 2004 season (4-3) in the last meeting in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Mar. 14. Alabama on the Internet: www.rolltide.com.
Last Week
Michigan was unable to pull off an upset of No. 6 Vanderbilt, falling 5-2 last Saturday (Jan. 22) at the Varsity Tennis Center. After earning a closely contested doubles point to start the match, the Commodores won the first three matches in singles to send the Wolverines to their first defeat of the season. Junior Nina Yaftali (Westlake Village, Calif./Westlake HS) and sophomore Elizabeth Exon (Irvine, Calif./Woodridge HS) provided U-M with its lone doubles win at No. 3, while sophomore Kara Delicata (LaSalle, Ontario/Sandwich Secondary) and senior Leanne Rutherford (Calgary, Alberta/National Sports School) recorded wins at No. 3 and No. 4 singles. With the loss, Michigan falls to 0-2 all-time against Vanderbilt.
DaCosta, Rutherford Climbing Singles Chart
Seniors Michelle DaCosta (Huber Heights, Ohio/Wayne HS) and Leanne Rutherford look to finish their Michigan careers ranked in the top 10 in career singles wins. With a 6-2, 6-2 victory over DePaul's Beatrix Csordas on Jan. 15, DaCosta moved her career record to 64-48 and into sole possession of 13th place on U-M's career singles chart. Rutherford, who is currently at 63-38 for her career, is tied for 14th place with Paula Reichert (1983-86).
Streifler Approaching 50/50 Club
With a 6-1, 6-0 dismantling of DePaul's Bojana Murisic Jan. 15, junior Debra Streifler (Highland Park, Ill./Highland Park HS) moved within one victory of reaching 50 for her career. She holds a career singles mark of 49-23, which ranks her in fifth place on Michigan's all-time career winning percentage chart (.681). Streifler reached her 50th career doubles victory at the 2005 Michigan Invitational, teaming with sophomore Lindsey Goldstein (Highland Park, Ill./Highland Park HS) for a 9-7 triumph over Georgia Tech's Esther van Londen and Whitney McCray on Jan. 9.
Net Points
Michelle DaCosta holds identical career records of 64-50 (.561) in singles and doubles. She is two wins shy of 40 for her dual match doubles career (38-33).
Leanne Rutherford reached her 40th career dual match singles victory with a 6-4, 4-6 1-0(9) win over Vanderbilt's Annie Menees at No. 4 (Jan. 22).
Debra Streifler is one win away from 25 for her dual match singles career (24-10).
Michigan in the National Rankings
The Wolverines entered the 2005 dual match season ranked No. 20 by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, which released its first national poll of the year last Tuesday (Jan. 11). U-M is one of two Big Ten Conference teams ranked in the top 25, with Northwestern securing the No. 5 spot. In addition to the team ranking, the Wolverines have three student-athletes ranked nationally in both singles and doubles. Michelle DaCosta is listed No. 44 in the national singles rankings, while Elizabeth Exon debuts at No. 95 on the chart. DaCosta and Kara Delicata are ranked No. 15 nationally in doubles.
DaCosta, Exon Among Top 10 in Regional Singles Rankings
Michelle DaCosta and Elizabeth Exon entered the dual match season ranked among the elite singles players in the Midwest Region. DaCosta collected a 5-4 record during the fall season, including a trip to the round of 16 at the ITA Midwest Regional Championships between first-round victories at the ITA National Indoor and ITA All-American Championships. Exon, who finished the fall at 7-4, also reached the round of 16 at the ITA Midwest Regional Championships. DaCosta and Exon were listed No. 34 and No. 57, respectively, in the ITA preseason national singles rankings (Sept. 10).
U-M Doubles Pair Listed No. 3 in Regional Doubles Poll
Michigan's top doubles tandem of Michelle DaCosta and Kara Delicata entered the dual match season listed No. 3 in the Midwest Region. The pair posted a 6-4 record during the fall season, including an 8-1 upset over Arizona's No. 1-ranked team of Maja Mlakar and Dianne Hollands in the first round of the ITA National Indoor Championships. DaCosta and Delicata, who also advanced to the quarterfinals at the ITA Midwest Regional Championships, listed No. 8 in the ITA preseason national doubles rankings (Sept. 10).
Seniors Named Captains for 2005
Head coach Bitsy Ritt announced that Michelle DaCosta and Leanne Rutherford will serve as co-captains for the 2005 dual match season. It marks the first nomination for both athletes.
The Leader of the Wolverines
Head coach Bitsy Ritt is in her 21st season at the helm of the U-M women's tennis program, having compiled a career record of 258-221 (.539) since her appointment in 1984. Ritt has guided the Wolverines to the NCAA Championship seven times in the last 10 seasons, including the NCAA Southeast Championship in 1997. She has instructed 12 NCAA individual qualifiers, three Big Ten Conference Players of the Year and 10 All-Big Ten honorees. Ritt has been named the Big Ten Coach of the Year three times during her career and the ITA Midwest Regional Coach of the Year twice. Her athletes have also succeeded in the classroom, with a total of 27 players having earned 49 Academic All-Big Ten citations during their careers and four student-athletes having received ITA Scholar-Athlete honors.
Michigan Hosts 2004 ITA National Indoors
The University of Michigan and the Varsity Tennis Center played host to the ITA National Indoor Championships for the second consecutive year (Nov. 4-7). In the 32-player singles bracket, wild-card entry Michelle DaCosta won a pair of tiebreakers to upset No. 7-ranked Hollands 7-6(2), 7-6(5) in opening round action, but eventually lost to Nebraska's Gitte Osterman (6-4, 6-4) in the round of 16. DaCosta and Kara Delicata advanced to the doubles quarterfinals by upsetting Arizona's No. 4-seeded Maja Mlakar and Dianne Hollands (8-1) in the opening round of the 16-team field. The U-M tandem then dropped an 8-6 decision to UCLA's No. 17-ranked duo of Daniela Bercek and Riza Zalameda in the quarterfinals. It was Michigan's first-ever appearance in the tournament's women's singles and doubles quarterfinals.
On the Horizon
The Wolverines will travel to Columbia, S.C. next weekend for a pair of non-conference matches at the Maxcy Gregg Tennis Center. Michigan will face South Carolina on Friday (Feb. 4, time TBA) before finishing up with a neutral-site meeting against Maryland on Saturday (Feb. 5, noon).
Contact: Marc Ressler (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
