Michigan
Ohio State
Michigan Cruises in Road Match Against Ohio State
4/21/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Today's victory sets the stage for U-M's showdown with No. 27-ranked Indiana (18-5, 8-1 Big Ten) on Sunday (April 22, 10 a.m.) at the IU Tennis Center in Bloomington, Ind. Should the Maize and Blue defeat the Hoosiers, Michigan will be the No. 2 seed in the Big Ten Championship, which will be hosted by Minnesota next week (April 26-29).
The Wolverines took an early 1-0 lead thanks to wins at the top two doubles positions. Graduate senior Jenny Kuehn (Leipzig, Germany/Sportgymnasium Leipzig) and sophomore Chisako Sugiyama (Parsiappany, N.J./The Montclair Kimberley Academy) defeated Julie Blackmore and Ciara Finucane by a score of 8-3 for their 10th victory in 11 tries at the top spot. Senior Kara Delicata (LaSalle, Ontario/Sandwich Secondary School) and freshman Tania Mahtani's (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif./Palos Verdes Peninsula HS) eighth straight win at No. 2, a close 9-7 decision over Caitlin O'Keefe and Sonia Ruzimovsky, clinched the first team point for the Maize and Blue. U-M has taken the doubles point in 10 of its last 11 matches.
The 91st-ranked Kuehn posted a 7-5, 6-1 triumph over Blackmore at No. 1 singles to give Michigan a 2-0 lead. Kuehn has won eight straight matches and stands 8-1 in the Big Ten.
The 95th-ranked Sugiyama provided the Wolverines with a commanding 3-0 advantage thanks to a 6-4, 6-1 win over Ally Mueller at No. 2. Sugiyama has been victorious in her last 11 outings and remains undefeated in conference play at 9-0.
Delicata's 6-3, 6-2 decision over Christina Keesey at No. 3 proved to be the clincher for Michigan. Delicata became the third Wolverine to reach 20 overall singles wins in 2006-07 (20-9). After losing in the Big Ten opener against Northwestern on Feb. 23, Delicata has been undefeated in eight conference matches.
The Maize and Blue closed out the match with victories on two of the three remaining courts. Mahtani handed Ruzimovsky a 6-3, 6-4 loss at No. 4 to keep her perfect league record intact at 9-0. Senior Elizabeth Exon (Irvine, Calif./Woodbridge HS) picked up a 7-6(3), 6-0 win over O'Keefe for her seventh win in 10 tries at the fifth position.
Following are match-by-match results:
Singles
No. 1 -- #91 Jenny Kuehn (U-M) d. Julie Blackmore, 7-5, 6-1
No. 2 -- #95 Chisako Sugiyama (U-M) d. Ally Mueller, 6-4, 6-1
No. 3 -- Kara Delicata (U-M) d. Christina Keesey, 6-3, 6-2
No. 4 -- Tania Mahtani (U-M) d. Sonia Ruzimovsky, 6-3, 6-4
No. 5 -- Elizabeth Exon (U-M) d. Caitlin O'Keefe, 7-6(3), 6-0
No. 6 -- Julie Voss (OSU) d. Allie Shafner, 6-2, 6-2
Doubles
No. 1 -- Kuehn/Sugiyama (U-M) d. Blackmore/Ciara Finucane, 8-3
No. 2 -- Delicata/Mahtani (U-M) d. O'Keefe/Ruzimovsky, 9-7
No. 3 -- Angela DiPastina/Keesey (OSU) d. Lindsey Howard/Shafner, 9-7
Order of Completion: Doubles 1-2-3, Singles 1-2-3-6-4-5
Q U O T E S
U-M Head Coach Amanda Augustus
On the tight win at No. 2 doubles ... "Even though the score was 9-7 at No. 2, I felt like Kara (Delicata) and Tania (Mahtani) were in control of the match. They got the points they needed when they needed them. Although I didn't coach that match, I was feeling confident that they would pull it out. They just made a few unforced errors. That's why the score was as close as it was."
On Michigan's strong singles play ... "Jenny (Kuehn) transitioned better than she has in awhile and really worked the girl around. She looked really comfortable playing outside again. Considering we haven't played outside since March 2, I think we did a really good job. Ohio State has had more outside matches than we have, and they were definitely fired up to play us today. We did such a good job of taking care of business and working through tough patches. I was also very happy for Liz (Exon) for getting through the tiebreaker and then dominating in the second set."
On what the team can expect from Indiana tomorrow ... "Indiana's results have been up and down, so it will be interesting to see how they come out tomorrow. I'm a big believer in preparing consistently for every match, regardless of who you're playing. It's our last match and it's an important one, but all the Big Ten matches have been important for us to get to our goal of winning the tournament. We're aware that Indiana is going to be fired up to play us, but we won't approach it any differently."
Contact: Marc Ressler (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
