Michigan Drops Regular-Season Finale to Indiana

Sunday, April 22

Bloomington, Ind.

10:00 AM

Michigan

Indiana

4/22/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The No. 25-ranked University of Michigan women's tennis team saw its 11-match winning streak come to an end with a 5-2 loss to No. 27-ranked Indiana Sunday afternoon (April 22) on the IU Tennis Center outdoor courts. The Wolverines (14-6, 8-2 Big Ten) dropped a close doubles point and lost singles matches at Nos. 3-6 to finish the Big Ten Conference regular season in third place.

The Hoosiers (19-5, 9-1 Big Ten) grabbed the early momentum, claiming an 8-5 win at No. 3 doubles, but senior Kara Delicata (LaSalle, Ontario/Sandwich Secondary School) and freshman Tania Mahtani (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif./Palos Verdes Peninsula HS) drew Michigan even with an 8-4 victory over Sigrid Fischer and Cecile Perton at No. 2. Delicata and Mahtani finished the Big Ten season undefeated at 9-0.

In the decisive match at No. 1, Indiana's No. 55-ranked pair of Alba Berdala and Laura McGaffigan handed graduate senior Jenny Kuehn (Leipzig, Germany/Sportgymnasium Leipzig) and sophomore Chisako Sugiyama (Parsippany, N.J./The Montclair Kimberley Academy) an 8-6 defeat to clinch the doubles point for the Hoosiers. It was just Kuehn and Sugiyama's fourth loss in 19 outings in 2006-07.

Fischer snapped Delicata's eight-match winning streak with a 6-4, 6-1 triumph at No. 3, allowing the Hoosiers to take a 2-0 advantage. The 95th-ranked Sugiyama kept the Maize and Blue in contention, defeating Berdala by a score of 6-3, 6-1 at No. 1. The win gave Sugiyama a perfect conference record for the season (10-0).

Indiana secured the team victory with straight-set decisions at Nos. 4 and 5. Mahtani fell for the first time in 13 matches, 6-4, 6-1, to Brianna Williams, and Perton provided the clincher with a 6-4, 6-3 triumph over senior Elizabeth Exon (Irvine, Calif./Woodbridge HS).

The 91st-ranked Kuehn gave U-M its second team point, earning a 5-7, 7-6(4), 1-0(4) comeback win over McGaffigan at No. 2. Kuehn -- who has won nine straight matches -- finished the Big Ten season at 9-1.

Lindsey Stuckey closed the match with a 6-7(6), 6-4, 1-0(4) victory over freshman Tanvi Dudhela (San Jose, Calif./Archbishop Mitty HS) at No. 6. It was Dudhela's first loss in four tries.

The Wolverines will enter the 2007 Big Ten Championship as the No. 3 seed and will play the winner of No. 6 seed Purdue and No. 11 seed Wisconsin in the quarterfinals on Friday (April 27) at 2 p.m. CDT. The team tournament will be played April 26-29 at the University of Minnesota's Baseline Tennis Center in Minneapolis, Minn.

Following are match-by-match results:

Singles
No. 1 -- #95 Chisako Sugiyama (U-M) d. Alba Berdala, 6-3, 6-1
No. 2 -- #91 Jenny Kuehn (U-M) d. Laura McGaffigan, 5-7, 7-6(4), 1-0(4)
No. 3 -- Sigrid Fischer (IU) d. Kara Delicata, 6-4, 6-1
No. 4 -- Brianna Williams (IU) d. Tania Mahtani, 6-4, 6-1
No. 5 -- Cecile Perton (IU) d. Elizabeth Exon, 6-4, 6-3
No. 6 -- Lindsey Stuckey (IU) d. Tanvi Dudhela, 6-7(6), 6-4, 1-0(4)

Doubles
No. 1 -- #55 Berdala/McGaffigan (IU) d. Kuehn/Sugiyama, 8-6
No. 2 -- Delicata/Mahtani (U-M) d. Fischer/Perton, 8-4
No. 3 -- Erin Clark/Williams (IU) d. Lindsey Howard/Allie Shafner, 8-5

Order of Completion: Doubles 3-2-1, Singles 3-1-4-5-2-6

Contact: Marc Ressler (734) 763-4423