Michigan
Iowa
Michigan Defeats Iowa for Seventh Straight Victory
4/1/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 35-ranked University of Michigan womens tennis extended its winning streak to seven matches with a convincing 6-1 triumph over No. 59-ranked Iowa Sunday afternoon (April 1) at the Varsity Tennis Center. The Wolverines (10-5, 4-1 Big Ten) pulled off their second doubles sweep of the weekend before claiming straight-set victories at the top five singles positions.
Junior Allie Shafner (Englewood, Colo./Cherry Creek HS) and sophomore Lindsey Howard (Richmond, Va./Mills E. Godwin HS) captured their second win in three days, defeating Kayla Berry and Kelcie Klockenga by a score of 8-4 at No. 3 to get the Maize and Blue off on the right note in doubles. It marked Michigan's first two-match winning streak at the third position this season.
Graduate senior Jenny Kuehn (Leipzig, Germany/Sportgymnasium Leipzig) and sophomore Chisako Sugiyama (Parsippany, N.J./The Montclair Kimberley Academy) remained perfect in Big Ten Conference play, posting an 8-3 victory over Jacqueline Lee and Milica Veselinovic at No. 1 to clinch the doubles point for U-M. Kuehn and Sugiyama hold a team-best overall record of 12-2, including an unblemished 7-0 dual match mark at the top position.
Senior Kara Delicata (LaSalle, Ontario/Sandwich Secondary School) and freshman Tania Mahtani (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif./Palos Verdes Peninsula HS) battled back from a 4-0 deficit to beat Merel Beelen and Hillary Mintz by an 8-6 margin at No. 2 and complete the doubles sweep. Delicata and Mahtani are also undefeated in league play at 4-0.
The 87th-ranked Sugiyama found herself in a 3-0 hole at No. 2 to begin singles play, but she found her rhythm and won 12 of the next 13 games to wrap up a 6-4, 6-0 triumph. Moments later, the 69th-ranked Kuehn closed out Lee by a score of 6-2, 6-0 at No. 1 to put Michigan on top 3-0. Delicata's 6-3, 6-4 win over Mintz at No. 3 proved to be the clincher, and Mahtani's 6-2, 6-0 decision over Berry -- her team-leading eight straight victory -- pushed the U-M lead to 4-0.
Senior Elizabeth Exon (Irvine, Calif./Woodbridge HS) kept the U-M momentum rolling, earning a 6-1, 7-5 win over Klockenga at No. 5. After starting the dual match season 1-7, Exon has picked up straight-set victories in six of her last seven outings.
Shafner fell just short of forcing a super-tiebreaker at No. 6, falling 6-4, 7-6(1) to Beelen.
The Wolverines will hit the road next weekend to face Purdue and Illinois. Michigan will take on the Boilermakers on Saturday (April 7, 11 a.m.) at the Schwartz Tennis Center in West Lafayette, Ind., and finish the trip with a meeting against the Fighting Illini Sunday (April 8, noon CDT) at the Atkins Tennis Center in Champaign, Ill.
Following are match-by-match results:
Singles
No. 1 -- #69 Jenny Kuehn (U-M) d. Jacqueline Lee, 6-2, 6-0
No. 2 -- #87 Chisako Sugiyama (U-M) d. Milica Veselinovic, 6-4, 6-0
No. 3 -- Kara Delicata (U-M) d. Hillary Mintz, 6-3, 6-4
No. 4 -- Tania Mahtani (U-M) d. Kayla Berry, 6-2, 6-0
No. 5 -- Elizabeth Exon (U-M) d. Kelcie Klockenga, 6-1, 7-5
No. 6 -- Merel Beelen (Iowa) d. Allie Shafner (U-M), 6-4, 7-6(1)
Doubles
No. 1 -- Kuehn/Sugiyama (U-M) d. Lee/Veselinovic, 8-3
No. 2 -- Delicata/Mahtani (U-M) d. Beelen/Mintz, 8-6
No. 3 -- Lindsey Howard/Shafner (U-M) d. Berry/Klockenga, 8-4
Order of Completion: Doubles 3-1-2, Singles 2-1-3-4-5-6
Contact: Marc Ressler (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
