Michigan
Indiana
Michigan Outlasts Indiana in Regular-Season Finale
4/23/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- In a match that lasted nearly five hours, the No. 39 University of Michigan men's tennis team closed out the regular season with an exhilarating 4-3 victory over No. 58 Indiana Sunday afternoon (April 23) at the Varsity Tennis Courts. Freshman Scott Bruckmann (Sarasota, Fla./Saint Stephens Episcopal School) stepped up and completed a three-set win over Arnaud Roussel at No. 6 singles to give the Wolverines (12-10) the victory and a fourth-place finish in the Big Ten Conference standings at 6-4. U-M also received singles wins at the top and bottom singles positions after sweeping the doubles competition.
Bruckmann played the best tennis of his young career when it mattered the most, first battling through two set points to win the first set, 7-6(0), before turning a 4-2 deficit into a 7-5 triumph in the third set. It was his first win in four matches and first Big Ten triumph in three tries this season.
The Hoosiers responded from a poor showing in doubles by claiming victories at Nos. 4 and 3 singles, respectively, to gain a 2-1 lead. Freshman Peter Aarts (Pound Ridge, N.Y./Fox Lane HS) made sure that Indiana would not gain any more momentum, as he posted a 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 victory over Michael McCarthy at No. 5 to tie the score at 2-2. Aarts, who earned his first career win at the fifth position, finishes the conference season with an impressive 6-3 record.
Junior Brian Hung (Hong Kong, China/Sagemont Virtual School) pulled the Wolverines ahead once again, outlasting 111th-ranked Dmytro Ishtuganov by a score of 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, for his first win at No. 1 this season. Michigan's lead was short-lived, however, as Indiana earned a three-set decision at No. 2 to set up Bruckmann's dramatics at No. 6.
Michigan made quick work of the Hoosiers in all three doubles matches. The Wolverines posted a pair of 8-3 victories at Nos. 2 and 3, while the No. 11-ranked tandem of Hung and sophomore Matko Maravic (Zagreb, Croatia/V. Gimnazija) clinched the doubles point with an 8-2 win at the top spot. Maravic sat out the singles competition for the second straight match to rest a sore back.
The Wolverines will enter the 2006 Big Ten Championship as the No. 4 seed and will face No. 5 seed Indiana in the quarterfinals on Friday (April 28, 10 a.m. CDT). The team tournament will be played April 27-30 at the University of Minnesota's Baseline Tennis Center in Minneapolis, Minn.
Following are match-by-match results:
Singles
No. 1 -- Brian Hung (U-M) d. #111 Dmytro Ishtuganov, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4
No. 2 -- David Bubenicek (IU) d. Ryan Heller, 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-3
No. 3 -- Dara McLoughlin (IU) d. Andrew Mazlin, 6-1, 4-6, 7-5
No. 4 -- Neil Kenner (IU) d. Steve Peretz, 6-4, 6-3
No. 5 -- Peter Aarts (U-M) d. Michael McCarthy, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1
No. 6 -- Scott Bruckmann (U-M) d. Arnaud Roussel, 7-6(0), 3-6, 7-5
Doubles
No. 1 -- #11 Hung/Maravic (U-M) d. Ishtuganov/McLoughlin, 8-2
No. 2 -- Heller/Mazlin (U-M) d. Peter Antons/Bubenicek, 8-3
No. 3 -- Aarts/Bruckmann (U-M) d. Kenner/McCarthy, 8-3
Order of Completion: Doubles 3-1-2, Singles 4-3-5-1-2-6
Q U O T E S
Michigan Head Coach Bruce Berque
On today's match and the importance of a Michigan win ... "We knew it was going to take a total team effort from all eight people we have on the team. We felt that we gave a pretty good effort against Penn State on Friday (April 21), but we didn't have it from all eight guys. We really wanted to stress that in our meeting last night. We kind of put it all on the line for them. Unfortunately we put ourselves in a position where we had to win this match to have a chance at an NCAA berth. If we didn't win today, then that goal would have been very tough to reach. We put that fact out there for them to think about, and we also had a first-round bye in the Big Ten Championship at stake. We told ourselves that we were going to go after this opportunity as a group and attack it instead of backing into it. We needed a competitive effort from all eight guys that was even better than the best effort we've shown before. I think that's exactly what we got. We've had some great efforts in the two years since I've been here, but without question this performance today tops everything because we had eight people who just poured their hearts into winning this match.
On Scott Bruckmann's match-clinching win at No. 6 ... "Scott really came through for us today. The guy he was up against is a very tough player to beat, he really makes you work to beat him. Scott saved a couple set points in the first before winning that one, and then he went down early in the third set before battling back. He knew the match was on the line and he realized that an NCAA berth was likely at stake. For a freshman who hasn't really been a staple in the singles lineup to come through the way he did was pretty impressive. He played probably the smartest tennis I've seen him play since he arrived at Michigan."
Contact: Marc Ressler (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
