Michigan
Texas
Michigan Stays Unbeaten With Upset of No. 12 Texas
1/27/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 32-ranked University of Michigan men's tennis team earned its biggest win in nearly five years on Saturday night (Jan. 27), upsetting No. 12-ranked Texas by a score of 5-2 in front of a record crowd of 442 at the Varsity Tennis Center. The Wolverines (3-0) earned a doubles sweep and victories on four of six singles courts to complete its biggest upset since a 4-3 home triumph over No. 4 Notre Dame on March 27, 2002.
Today marks one of the most successful days ever for Michigan's tennis programs, as the women's team posted a 4-3 upset victory over No. 12 Vanderbilt earlier this afternoon at the Varsity Tennis Center.
The play of No. 2 doubles partners Ryan Heller (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North HS) and Andrew Mazlin (Altamonte Springs, Fla./Lyman HS) proved to be a main catalyst to Michigan's strong start. The pair posted an 8-5 victory over Bernhard Deussner and Josh Zavala to further energize an already fired-up Wolverine squad.
That momentum carried over to the No. 1 court, where U-M's No. 2-ranked tandem of senior Brian Hung (Hong Kong, China/Sagemont Virtual School) and junior Matko Maravic (Zagreb, Croatia/V. Gimnazija) outlasted Miguel Reyes Varela and Jon Wiegand by 9-7 margin to clinch the first team point for the Maize and Blue. Hung and Maravic improve to 11-2 overall and 3-0 in dual match play with the victory. The win also marked Hung's 75th doubles triumph as a Wolverine.
Michigan completed its second straight doubles sweep thanks to the solid play of freshmen George Navas (Tampa, Fla./Tampa Preparatory School) and Mike Sroczynski (Chatham, N.J./Laurel Springs School), who gutted out an 8-7(6) decision over Jonah Kane-West and Milan Mihailovic at No. 3. Navas and Sroczynski now stand at a perfect 4-0 in 2007.
Mazlin's third straight singles win, a 6-4, 6-2 triumph over Kane-West at No. 5, gave the Wolverines a 2-0 cushion. Soon after, the 59th-ranked Hung closed out Dimitar Kutrovsky by a score of 6-4, 6-3 at No. 1 to put Michigan one win away from completing the upset. Hung has won four straight matches and is a perfect 2-0 at the top singles position this season.
Maravic's 50th career singles victory proved to be one of his most important, as his 6-3, 6-4 triumph over No. 96-ranked Mihailovic at No. 2 clinched the team win for the Maize and Blue. The 44th-ranked Maravic stands at 50-37 for his collegiate career.
Senior Steve Peretz (Brooklyn, N.Y./The Dwight School) was the other singles victor for Michigan; he outlasted Deussner in a super-tiebreaker, 6-1, 5-7, 1-0(10), at No. 6. Peretz is a perfect 3-0 in dual match play this year.
The Wolverines return to the Varsity Tennis Center next weekend to host Western Michigan and Harvard. Michigan will square off against the Broncos on Friday (Feb. 2) at 6 p.m. before a meeting with the Crimson on Saturday (Feb. 3) at 5 p.m. It will be the last two matches the Maize and Blue will play at home for over a month, as U-M hits the road for six straight road matches through February and the beginning of March.
Following are match-by-match results:
Singles
No. 1 -- #59 Brian Hung (U-M) d. Dimitar Kutrovsky, 6-4, 6-3
No. 2 -- #44 Matko Maravic (U-M) d. #96 Milan Mihailovic, 6-3, 6-4
No. 3 -- Miguel Reyes Varela (Texas) d. Ryan Heller, 1-6, 7-6(6), 1-0(7)
No. 4 -- Josh Zavala (Texas) d. George Navas, 7-5, 6-2
No. 5 -- Andrew Mazlin (U-M) d. Jonah Kane-West, 6-4, 6-2
No. 6 -- Steve Peretz (U-M) d. Bernhard Deussner, 6-1, 5-7, 1-0(10)
Doubles
No. 1 -- #2 Hung/Maravic (U-M) d. Reyes Varela/Jon Wiegand, 9-7
No. 2 -- Heller/Mazlin (U-M) d. Deussner/Zavala, 8-5
No. 3 -- Navas/Mike Sroczynski (U-M) d. Kane-West/Mihailovic, 8-7(6)
Order of Completion: Doubles 2-1-3, Singles 5-1-2-4-6-3
Contact: Marc Ressler (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
