Michigan
Wilson/ITA Midwest Regional Championships
Mahtani Falls in Semifinals at ITA Midwest Regional
10/22/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Varsity Tennis Center)
Event: Wilson/ITA Midwest Regional Championships
Scoring: No Team Scoring
Next U-M Match: Friday, Nov.2 --Thunderbird Invitational(Tempe, Ariz.)
Postmatch Quotes
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- University of Michigan women's tennis sophomore Tania Mahtani's(Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif./Palos Verdes Peninsula HS) quest for the Wilson/ITA Midwest Regional Championships singles title came to a close Monday (Oct. 22), as she dropped a straight-set decision to second-seeded Samantha Murray of Northwestern in the semifinals of the 64-player main draw at the Varsity Tennis Center.
Murray, who is ranked 35th in the nation, broke Mahtani in the fourth game of the first set to jump out to a 3-1 lead and then took care of her remaining service games to clinch a 6-2 victory in the first set.
The second set saw Murray earn back-to-back breaks en route to a 6-1 win that sent her to the championship match against teammate Georgia Rose.
Mahtani got off to a brilliant start in her morning semifinal match, breaking Iowa's No. 108-ranked Jacqueline Lee's serve twice while holding serve three times to establish a 5-1 lead. Lee stayed in contention by claiming back-to-back breaks of her own to cut the deficit to 5-4, but Mahtani stayed poised and earned a break in the final game to wrap up a 6-4 win in the first set.
Both players held serve through the first six games of the second set until Lee broke serve to go up 4-3. Mahtani responded by winning three straight games to take the set, 6-4, and seal a trip to the semifinals against Murray.
Mahtani, who posted a 4-1 record and defeated two nationally ranked opponents during the three-day singles tournament, is the second U-M player in as many years to reach the semifinals of the regional event. Junior Chisako Sugiyama(Parsippany, N.J./The Montclair Kimberley Academy) earned four straight-set wins to advance to the semifinals at last year's regional in East Lansing, Mich.
Mahtani and her Wolverine teammates close out the fall season next weekend (Nov. 2-4), when they travel to Tempe, Ariz., to compete in the Thunderbird Invitational, to be held at Arizona State University's Whiteman Tennis Center.
Following are U-M's complete main draw results:
SINGLES
Lindsey Howard
First Round -- l. #108 Jacqueline Lee (Iowa), 6-1, 6-4
Finished with a 0-1 record
Tania Mahtani
First Round -- d. #110 Colleen Rielley (Notre Dame), 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-2
Second Round -- d. Tijana Koprivica (Minnesota), 6-0, 6-2
Third Round -- d. Maria Mosolova (Northwestern), 6-4, 6-3
Quarterfinal Round -- d. #108 Jacqueline Lee (Iowa), 6-4, 6-4
Semifinal Round -- l. #35 Samantha Murray (Northwestern), 6-2, 6-1
Finished with a 4-1 record (semifinalist)
#68 Chisako Sugiyama
First Round -- d. Christina Keesey (Ohio State), 6-2, 6-3
Second Round -- l. Kali Krisik (Notre Dame) 6-4, 1-6, 6-4
Finished with a 1-1 record
Whitney Taney
First Round -- l. #91 Brook Buck (Notre Dame), 3-6, 7-6(6), 6-0
Consolation -- d. #110 Colleen Rielley (Notre Dame), 6-4, 6-2
Finished with a 1-1 record
Rika Tatsuno
First Round -- l. Suzie Matzenauer (Northwestern), 6-3, 6-4
Finished with a 0-1 record
Kari Wig
First Round -- l. #45 Cosmina Ciobanu (Notre Dame), 6-2, 6-2
Consolation -- l. Stephanie Wooten (Purdue), 6-0, 6-1
Finished with a 0-2 record
DOUBLES
Tanvi Dudhela/Kari Wig
First Round -- l. Emily Thayer/Anna Volkova (Youngstown State), 8-6
Consolation -- l. Brooke Beier/Cigdem Duru (Purdue), 8-6
Finished with a 0-2 record
Lindsey Howard/Rika Tatsuno
First Round -- d. Haly Calderwood/Sophie Quist (Ball State), 8-1
Second Round -- d. Maha Guirguis/Martina Wodzinski (Toledo), 9-7
Third Round -- l. #9 Brook Buck/Kelcy Tefft (Notre Dame), 8-2
Finished with a 2-1 record
Tania Mahtani/Denise Muresan
First Round -- d. Lilian Asuaje/Brooke Forsberg (Northern Illinois), 8-2
Second Round -- l. Alexis Conill/Maria Mosolova (Northwestern), 8-1
Finished with a 1-1 record
Chisako Sugiyama/Whitney Taney
First Round -- d. Christine Bader/Stephanie Kebler (Michigan State), 8-6
Second Round -- d. Dunja Antunovic/Kirsten Gambrell (DePaul), 8-5
Third Round -- d. Karina Chiarelli/Alessandra Ferrazzi (Minnesota), 8-1
Quarterfinal Round -- l. Lauren Lui/Georgia Rose (Northwestern), 8-3
Finished with a 3-1 record
Contact: Marc Ressler (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
