Michigan
Riviera/ITA All-American Qualifying
Kuehn and Delicata Wrap Up Play at ITA All-American
10/4/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Event: Riviera/ITA All-American Championships
Scoring: No Team Scoring
Next U-M Match: Thursday, Oct. 19 -- Qualifying at Wilson/ITA Midwest Regional Championships (East Lansing, Mich.)
Kuehn and Delicata Wrap Up Play at ITA All-American
PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. -- Seniors Kara Delicata (LaSalle, Ontario/Sandwich Secondary School) and Jenny Kuehn (Leipzig, Germany/Sportgymnasium Leipzig) represented the University of Michigan women's tennis team in qualifying action at the 2006 Riviera/ITA All-American Championships, held Tuesday and Wednesday (Oct. 3-4) at the Riviera Tennis Club. Kuehn advanced to the second round of the 64-player singles draw before being eliminated, and Kuehn and Delicata suffered a first-round exit in the 32-team doubles bracket before splitting a pair of matches in consolation play.
Kuehn posted an impressive victory in her career debut as a Wolverine, upsetting Clemson's No. 40-ranked Federica van Adrichem by a dominating score of 6-0, 6-3 in the opening round of singles play Tuesday. The second-round match later that day saw Kuehn outlast Miami's (Fla.) No. 71-ranked Audrey Banada by a 7-6(9) margin in the first set. The 100th-ranked Kuehn had an opportunity to put away the match, having gained leads of 3-0 and 3-1 in the second and third sets, respectively. Banada, however, came out on top in both sets (7-5, 6-3) to advance.
Kuehn and Delicata dropped a tight 8-6 decision to Southern Cal's No. 57-ranked Judy DeVera and Amanda Fink in the first round of the doubles competition on Tuesday. The Wolverine tandem, which is ranked No. 32 in the nation, went on to split a pair of consolation matches on Wednesday, knocking off Tennessee-Chattanooga's No. 47-ranked pair of Lindsey Ballard and Anastasia Zhukova (8-6) before falling to UCLA's No. 15-ranked duo of Yasmin Schnack and Riza Zalameda (8-2).
Kuehn made her second career appearance at the Riviera/ITA All-American Championships after competing in the qualifying singles draw and the main doubles draw while at Tulane in 2003. It marked Delicata's third straight trip to the national tournament, as she competed in the main doubles draw with Michelle DaCosta (2002-05) in 2004 and in the qualifying doubles draw with Nina Yaftali (2005-06) in 2005.
Kuehn and Delicata will return home and join their teammates at the 2006 Wilson/ITA Midwest Regional Championships, to be held Oct. 19-24 at Michigan State's Indoor Tennis Facility in East Lansing, Mich.
Following are match-by-match results:
Jenny Kuehn
First Round -- d. #40 Federica van Adrichem (Clemson), 6-0, 6-3
Second Round -- l. #71 Audrey Banada (Miami, Fla.), 6-7(9), 7-5, 6-3
Finished with a 1-1 record
Kara Delicata/Jenny Kuehn
First Round -- l. #57 Judy DeVera/Amanda Fink (Southern Cal), 8-6
Consolation First Round -- d. #47 Lindsey Ballard/Anastasia Zhukova (Tennessee-Chattanooga), 8-6
Consolation Second Round -- l. #15 Yasmin Schnack/Riza Zalameda (UCLA), 8-2
Finished with a 1-2 record
Q U O T E S
U-M Assistant Coach Teryn Ashley
On Jenny Kuehn' s performance in singles... "She played extremely well in the first match and picked up a great win. The second set was more of a battle. She went up 3-0 in the second set and 3-1 in the third, but she just wasn't able to close it out against a very competitive opponent. I think she learned a lot from that match and will be able to take some things away from the weekend that will help her in future matches."
On the play of Kara Delicata and Jenny Kuehn... "They know that they still have a lot to improve on. They lost to a very good UCLA team today. They're going to do well together, but they realize that they still have a lot to work on. It was a pretty good week, but now we have to get back and focus on making those improvements. I think they will complement each other very well once they figure out what their individual roles are."
Contact: Marc Ressler (734) 763-4423
