Weekly Release #12
3/29/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Upcoming Schedule
Saturday, April 2 -- vs. Iowa (Varsity Tennis Center), 11 a.m.
Sunday, April 3 -- vs. Minnesota (Varsity Tennis Center), 11 a.m.
Saturday, April 9 -- at Purdue (West Lafayette, Ind.), 1 p.m. EST/CDT
Sunday, April 10 -- at Illinois (Champaign, Ill.), 11 a.m.CDT
This Week
The No. 41 University of Michigan women's tennis team (6-8, 1-2 Big Ten) returns home to host Iowa on Saturday (April 2) and Minnesota on Sunday (April 3). Both matches are scheduled to start at 11 a.m. at the Varsity Tennis Center.
Promotional Events for This Weekend's Matches
The Michigan women's tennis program will hold two promotional events this weekend at the Varsity Tennis Center. Saturday's match (April 2) against Iowa is High School Team Day, while all U-M faculty, staff and alumni are invited to come out and cheer on the Wolverines on Sunday (April 3) when they take on Minnesota.
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
Iowa -- The No. 55-ranked Hawkeyes (8-5, 2-0 Big Ten) look for their third straight Big Ten victory after defeating Ohio State (6-1) and Minnesota (5-2). Iowa, which returns four letterwinners from last year's team, is led by freshman Milica Veselinovic, who holds team-high totals in overall singles victories (21-5) and dual match wins (10-3). Head coach Daryl Greenan is in his first season at the helm of Hawkeye women's tennis program. Michigan holds a 20-9 record against Iowa in the all-time series. U-M was upset by the Hawkeyes (4-3) in the last meeting on April 3, 2004 in Iowa City, Iowa. Iowa on the Internet: www.hawkeyesports.com.
Minnesota -- The No. 57-ranked Golden Gophers (5-7 Big, 0-2 Big Ten), who visit Michigan State on Saturday (April 2), look for their first Big Ten victory after dropping matches to Ohio State (4-3) and Iowa (5-2). Minnesota returns six letterwinners from last year's team, including junior Nischela Reddy, who is ranked No. 89 in the national singles rankings. The Gophers are led by head coach Tyler Thomson. Michigan leads the all-time series 16-15 and came away with a 5-2 victory in the last meeting on April 4, 2004 in Minneapolis, Minn. Minnesota on the Internet: www.gophersports.com.
Michigan Goes 1-2 in Last Week's Matches
The Wolverines opened the Big Ten season with a home victory over Michigan State (6-1) and road losses to Northwestern (5-2) and Wisconsin (4-3). Last Wednesday (March 23) against the Spartans, Michigan allowed just four games during its sweep of the doubles competition and claimed straight-set victories in five of six singles matches. On Saturday (March 26), U-M managed just two singles victories in its loss to the No. 2-ranked Wildcats. The Wolverines held a 3-0 lead in their match against the Badgers on Sunday (March 27), but Wisconsin won the final four singles matches to steal the victory. Juniors Debra Streifler (Highland Park, Ill./Highland Park HS) and Nina Yaftali (Westlake Village, Calif./Westlake HS) both went undefeated in singles action during the week, combining for a 6-0 record at Nos. 5 and 6.
DaCosta, Rutherford Climbing Singles Chart
Seniors Michelle DaCosta (Huber Heights, Ohio/Wayne HS) and Leanne Rutherford (Calgary, Alberta/National Sports School) look to finish their Michigan careers ranked in the top 10 in career singles wins. With her 6-4, 6-3 win at No. 1 over Michigan State's Keri Thompson (March 23), DaCosta improved her career total to 70 and moved within one win of 10th place on Michigan's all-time singles wins list. DaCosta is tied with Amy Malik (1989-92) for 11th place on the list. Rutherford is currently in 14th place with a career record of 67-45.
DaCosta Joins 70/70 Club
Michelle DaCosta became just the 12th player in Michigan history to earn 70 or more career wins after defeating Michigan State's Keri Thompson (March 23). She holds a career record of 70-56 (.556) and a dual match mark of 48-35. DaCosta reached her 70th career doubles victory on March 16, teaming with sophomore Kara Delicata (LaSalle, Ontario/Sandwich Secondary) for an 8-4 victory over Western Michigan's Rattiya Hiranrat and Malena Remysne at No. 1. DaCosta has compiled a career doubles record of 72-53 (46-36 dual).
Streifler Tearing Through Dual Match Season
Debra Streifler carries a seven-match winning streak into the week and holds a dual match record of 8-2 at Nos. 5 and 6. Streifler holds a perfect mark of 4-0 at the No. 5 position and has not surrendered a set against her last seven opponents. She holds a career record of 56-24 (.700), which puts her in fifth place on Michigan's all-time career winning percentage list, and holds impressive career totals of 31-11 in dual match action and 18-5 against Big Ten opposition. Streifler has also collected a career doubles mark of 55-24 (.696), including a 4-1 dual match record with sophomore Elizabeth Exon (Irvine, Calif./Woodridge HS) in 2005.
Yaftali Steps Back Into Single Lineup
Nina Yaftali, who returned to the singles lineup for the first time in nearly three weeks, went undefeated in three matches at No. 6 last week. Yaftali holds a team-best overall singles record of 16-9 in 2004-05 and is one of two Wolverines with an unblemished record in Big Ten play (3-0). Yaftali is second on the team in dual match singles victories (7-4) and holds a remarkable 12-2 mark against Midwest regional opponents in her first season at Michigan. She holds an overall doubles mark of 12-10, including a 4-5 dual match record at Nos. 2 and 3 with Elizabeth Exon.
Michigan No. 41 in ITA National Rankings
With a 1-2 record in last week's action, the Wolverines dropped two spots to No. 41 in the most recent Intercollegiate Tennis Association national team rankings, released Tuesday, March 29. In addition to the team ranking, the Wolverines have two student-athletes ranked nationally in both singles and doubles. Michelle DaCosta is listed No. 50 in the national singles rankings and teams with Kara Delicata for a No. 13 national ranking 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 263-228 (.536) 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 hit the road next weekend for two Big Ten matches. U-M will take on Purdue on Saturday (April 9, 1 p.m. EST/CDT) at the Lafayette Sports Center in West Lafayette, Ind., before finishing up against Illinois on Sunday (April 10, 11 a.m. CDT) at the Atkins Tennis Center in Champaign, Ill.
Contact: Marc Ressler (734) 763-4423
