Michigan
Arkansas
Michigan Drops NCAA First-Round Match to Arkansas
5/13/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
COLUMBUS, Ohio. -- The No. 39 University of Michigan men's tennis team dropped a 4-1 decision to No. 25 Arkansas in the first round of the 2006 NCAA Championship Saturday afternoon (May 13) at Ohio State's Stickney Tennis Center and Jesse Owens West Recreational Center. The Wolverines lost a tight doubles point and three of the top four singles matches during their first appearance at the national tournament in four years. Michigan concludes its second season under head coach Bruce Berque with a 13-12 record.
U-M's No. 12-ranked pairing of junior Brian Hung (Hong Kong, China/Sagemont Virtual School) and sophomore Matko Maravic (Zagreb, Croatia/V. Gimnazija) gave the Wolverines the early advantage in doubles with an 8-4 triumph over Rohan Gajjar and Blake Strode at No. 1. Hung and Maravic stand at 25-9 overall in 2005-06 and have been victorious in 25 of their last 32 matches dating back to the fall season.
Michigan's momentum was short-lived, as the Razorbacks (18-10) claimed victories at the two remaining doubles positions to clinch the first team point. Junior Ryan Heller (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North HS) and freshman Andrew Mazlin (Altamonte Springs, Fla./Lyman HS) fell 8-4 to Colin Mascall and Matt Roberts at No. 2, while freshmen Peter Aarts (Pound Ridge, N.Y./Fox Lane HS) and Scott Bruckmann (Sarasota, Fla./Saint Stephen's Episcopal School) lost a close match to Austin King and Adrians Zguns at No. 3, 8-6.
The doubles competition was contested outdoors at the Stickney Tennis Center before rain forced the singles matches to be moved indoors to the Jesse Owens West Recreational Center.
Arkansas jumped out to a 3-0 lead after a pair of nationally ranked Razorback players posted straight-set singles wins at Nos. 2 and 4. Maravic, who is ranked No. 43 in singles, pulled a huge upset at No. 1 to keep the Wolverines alive. He battled back to defeat the 17th-ranked Zguns by a score of 1-6, 6-1, 6-2 to give Michigan its first and only point. It was Maravic's third win against a top-20 opponent this season.
The Wolverines saw their season come to an end in heartbreaking fashion, as Heller lost his No. 3 match against the 74th-ranked Roberts in the third-set tiebreaker. After the two players traded sets, Roberts was able to outlast Heller by a 15-13 margin in the tiebreaker to give the Razorbacks their fourth and decisive team point.
Hung and Maravic will represent Michigan at the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships, to be held May 24-28 at Stanford University's Taube Family Tennis Center in Palo Alto, Calif. Maravic will compete in the 64-player singles draw and will team with Hung in the 32-team doubles bracket.
Following are match-by-match results:
Singles
No. 1 -- #43 Matko Maravic (U-M) d. #17 Adrians Zguns, 1-6, 6-2, 6-1
No. 2 -- #118 Rohan Gajjar (UA) d. Brian Hung, 6-4, 6-4
No. 3 -- #74 Matt Roberts (UA) d. Ryan Heller, 1-6, 6-3, 7-6(13)
No. 4 -- #121 Blake Strode (UA) d. Andrew Mazlin, 6-4, 6-2
No. 5 -- Colin Mascall (UA) led Steve Peretz , 5-4 (abandoned)
No. 6 -- Peter Aarts (U-M) tied with Michael Jung, 3-3 (abandoned)
Doubles
No. 1 -- #12 Hung/Maravic (U-M) d. Gajjar/Strode, 8-4
No. 2 -- Mascall/Roberts (UA) d. Heller/Mazlin, 8-4
No. 3 -- Austin King/Zguns (UA) d. Aarts/Scott Bruckmann, 8-6
Order of Completion: Doubles 1-2-3, Singles 4-2-1-3
Q U O T E S
Michigan Head Coach Bruce Berque
On the losing the doubles point ... "Matko (Maravic) and Brian (Hung) once again did a great job at No. 1 doubles. We just didn't execute well enough at No. 2, and at No. 3 we were up an early break but unfortunately didn't do a good job of sticking to the game plan. I felt like we had a good chance of winning the doubles point, which would have definitely been a big turning point in the match."
On Michigan's singles play ... "We did a much better job of competing in singles, everyone gave a strong effort. We knew going into the match that Arkansas had a very strong singles lineup at Nos. 1-4 but that they were a little susceptible at Nos. 5 and 6. I thought that our best chance of winning the match was to win the doubles and get maybe one or two of the top four in singles."
On the singles matches at Nos. 1 and 3 ... "Matko (Maravic) played a very smart match. He got killed in the first set but made some adjustments and stuck to his game plan to come out on top. Ryan (Heller) got off to a really strong start and lost in the third-set tiebreaker. He had a couple of match points, so that one could have easily gone either way. The doubles loss and Ryan's match were pivotal because if we would have won those points, we would have had a strong chance to win with Nos. 5 and 6 singles still on the courts."
On the experience of competing at the NCAA Championship ... "It was nice for our team to have a taste of it this year, but we're definitely disappointed. We thought it was a match we were capable of winning, and hopefully it's a great learning experience for our team. When we come back next year, we'll be that much hungrier to not be satisfied with just getting in the tournament."
Contact: Marc Ressler (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
