Michigan
Alabama
Michigan Earns Dominating Road Win Against Alabama
2/12/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- The No. 42 University of Michigan men's tennis team earned a solid non-conference road victory Sunday afternoon (Feb. 12), defeating Alabama by a score of 6-1 at the Hank Crisp Indoor Tennis Facility. The Wolverines improved to 5-2 in dual match play after earning two of three doubles matches followed by five wins in singles action.
Michigan's top doubles team of junior Brian Hung (Hong Kong, China/Sagemont Virtual School) and sophomore Matko Maravic (Zagreb, Croatia/V. Gimnazija) recorded its 12th victory in its last 15 matches, defeating Joseph Jung and Mathieu Thibaudeau by an 8-4 margin to give the Wolverines the early advantage.
Junior Ryan Heller (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North HS) and freshman Andrew Mazlin (Altamonte Springs, Fla./Lyman HS) provided U-M with its first team point after narrowly defeating Dan Buikema and Andrew Felsenthal, 8-6, at No. 2.
Hung rebounded from a tough singles loss on Friday (Feb. 10) by dominating Thibaudeau, 6-2, 6-4, at No. 2 to improve his season record to 5-2 and put the Wolverines on top 2-0 in the match. Mazlin gave Michigan a comfortable 3-0 lead with a three-set victory over Mertz at No. 4. After dropping the first set 7-6(4), Mazlin stormed back and claimed the final two sets, 6-2, 6-0, to earn his team-leading 11th overall win.
Heller snapped a two-match losing skid and gave the Wolverines the clinching victory at No. 3. The 62nd-ranked Heller held the momentum throughout a majority of his match against the 87th-ranked Bes, claiming 6-0 wins in the first and third sets to gain his 10th victory of 2005-06.
After the 100th-ranked Jung fought back to defeat No. 58 Maravic at No. 1 (3-6, 6-3, 6-3), Michigan closed out the match with a pair of convincing wins at Nos. 5 and 6. Junior Steve Peretz (Brooklyn, N.Y./The Dwight School) remained undefeated at the No. 5 position (6-0) after handing Felsenthal a 6-1, 6-3 loss, while freshman Scott Bruckmann (Sarasota, Fla./Saint Stephens Episcopal School) notched his first career dual match singles victory with a 6-2, 6-3 triumph over Sammy Struyf at No. 6.
The Wolverines return home to the Varsity Tennis Center to host Notre Dame next Saturday (Feb. 18) at 6 p.m.
Following are match-by-match results:
Singles
No. 1 -- #100 Joseph Jung (Alabama) d. #58 Matko Maravic, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3
No. 2 -- Brian Hung (U-M) d. Mathieu Thibaudeau, 6-2, 6-4
No. 3 -- #62 Ryan Heller (U-M) d. #87 Javier Bes, 6-0, 4-6, 6-0
No. 4 -- Andrew Mazlin (U-M) d. Billy Mertz, 6-7(4), 6-2, 6-0
No. 5 -- Steve Peretz (U-M) d. Andrew Felsenthal, 6-1, 6-3
No. 6 -- Scott Bruckmann (U-M) d. Sammy Struyf, 6-2, 6-3
Doubles
No. 1 -- Hung/Maravic (U-M) d. Jung/Thibaudeau, 8-4
No. 2 -- Heller/Mazlin (U-M) d. Dan Buikema/Felsenthal, 8-6
No. 3 -- Bes/Mertz (Alabama) d. Bruckmann/Peretz, 9-8(1)
Order of Completion: Doubles 1-2-3, Singles 2-4-3-1-5-6
Q U O T E S
Michigan Head Coach Bruce Berque
On today's win ... "I was very happy with the match. The guys competed very hard and we played pretty well. It was nice to see them bounce back after a disappointing loss to Louisiana State on Friday. LSU is definitely a very good team, but I think we let an opportunity slip by without putting our best tennis on the court. Everyone who stepped on the court today fought very hard and also showed some improvement in their game from the previous match."
On the singles play of Scott Bruckmann ... "Scott played very well. It didn't look like it was his first dual match win. He's really been the most improved player on our team in the last couple of weeks. Scott has also added a lot to the doubles lineup. He and Steve (Peretz) have played well and have added to the competitive makeup of our doubles lineup."
On Ryan Heller's match-clinching singles victory ... "Ryan came out firing and played very aggressively. By the second set, the balls were getting a little fluffier and a little more difficult for Ryan to play as aggressively as he had been to finish the points. They got new balls for the third set and Ryan returned to his aggressive play and it ended up working out for him. He won a couple long games that could have gone either way and he built on that momentum."
Contact: Marc Ressler (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
