Michigan
Michigan Invitational
Delicata Leads Wolverine Efforts at Michigan Invitational
1/15/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan women's tennis team wrapped up its tournament portion of the 2005-06 schedule by hosting California, Georgia Tech and Louisiana State at the fourth annual Michigan Invitational, Friday through Sunday (Jan. 13-15) at the Varsity Tennis Center. In its final tune-up before the dual match season begins, the Wolverines earned overall records of 10-13 in singles and 5-3 in doubles against three teams that are all ranked in the top 50 in the Fila Collegiate Tennis Rankings.
The Wolverines got off to a successful start by sweeping the No. 43-ranked LSU Tigers in five singles matches on Friday (Jan. 13). Michigan also won one of three doubles matches against the No. 4-ranked Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on the first day, as senior Debra Streifler (Highland Park, Ill./Highland Park HS) and freshman Chisako Sugiyama (Parsippany, N.J./The Montclair Kimberley Academy) upset No. 42 Kelly Anderson and Whitney McCray by a score of 8-5.
The second day of action (Saturday, Jan. 14) saw the Wolverines win two of seven singles matches against the No. 17-ranked Cal Golden Bears. The highlight of the day was junior Kara Delicata's (LaSalle, Ontario/Sandwich Secondary School) 6-0, 6-3 upset of No. 34 Marion Ravelojaona. Sugiyama also posted her second straight victory of the tournament, defeating Jessica Shu 6-2, 6-3. Michigan also swept both of its doubles matches against LSU on day two.
Delicata and Sugiyama recorded Michigan's only victories against Georgia Tech on the final day of competition (Sunday, Jan. 15). Delicata picked up another solid victory against a ranked opponent, as she handed No. 71 Lyndsay Shosho a 6-3, 6-4 defeat. Sugiyama posted perhaps her most impressive win as a Wolverine, as she upset No. 35 Kelly Anderson 7-5, 7-5.
Junior Elizabeth Exon (Irvine, Calif./Woodbridge HS) also earned a quality win on the third day, knocking off California's No. 92-ranked Cristina Visico in straight sets, 6-1, 6-3.
The Maize and Blue capped off the Michigan Invitational by claiming two of three in doubles against California. Delicata and sophomore Allie Shafner (Englewood, Colo./Cherry Creek HS) provided the biggest U-M victory of the weekend, earning a huge upset over the No. 7-ranked pair of Suzi Babos and Zsuzsanna Fodor by a 9-8(4) margin.
The Michigan Invitational was based on a dual match format, where teams square off against each other but the outcome of the match is not scored as a team effort. However, each match counts toward the individual players' records and rankings.
The Wolverines open their 33rd dual match season next Saturday (Jan. 21) against DePaul at 2 p.m. The match is part of a tripleheader at the Varsity Tennis Center, as the Michigan men's team opens its dual match season that day with matches against Western Michigan (10 a.m.) and Ball State (6 p.m.).
N O T E S
The Wolverines finished the three-day competition with a 10-13 record in singles and a 5-3 mark in doubles. U-M was 6-9 against individuals or doubles teams ranked in the Fila Collegiate Tennis Rankings.
Kara Delicata finished the Michigan Invitational with a team-best 3-0 singles mark, including wins over ranked opponents Marion Ravelojaona (No. 34) of California and Lyndsay Shosho (No. 71) of Georgia Tech.
Chisako Sugiyama finished her first Michigan Invitational with a 3-1 singles record, including a 7-5, 7-5 victory over No. 35-ranked Kelly Anderson of Georgia Tech on Sunday (Jan. 15).
Elizabeth Exon finished the weekend with a 2-2 singles record, including a 6-1, 6-3 upset of California's No. 92-ranked Cristina Visico on Sunday (Jan. 15).
Exon reached 50th career singles victories at Michigan by defeating Louisiana State's Anastasiya Dubova, 6-0, 1-6, 6-2, on Friday (Jan. 13). Exon holds a career singles record of 51-35 (.593).
Nina Yaftali recorded her 40th career collegiate singles victory by defeating Louisiana State's Lauren Seaman, 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-1, on Friday (Jan. 13). Yaftali holds a career singles record of 40-27 (.597).
Kara Delicata and Allie Shafner finished the Michigan Invitational with a team-best 2-1 doubles record, including a 9-8(4) upset of California's No. 7-ranked pair of Suzi Babos and Zsuzsanna Fodor on Sunday (Jan. 15).
Debra Streifler and Chisako Sugiyama were victorious in their only doubles match of the weekend, as they upset Georgia Tech's No. 42-ranked pair of Kelly Anderson and Whitney McCray by a score of 8-5 on Friday (Jan. 13).
The Wolverines hold a singles record of 51-33 and a doubles mark of 27-12 in four years of competition at the Michigan Invitational.
Contact: Marc Ressler (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
