Michigan
Purdue
Eight in a Row: Wolverines Blow Past Boilermakers
4/7/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- The No. 23-ranked University of Michigan women's tennis team remained near the top of the Big Ten Conference standings thanks to a 6-1 victory over No. 46-ranked Purdue on Saturday afternoon (April 7) at the Schwartz Tennis Center. The Wolverines (11-5, 5-1 Big Ten) claimed their fifth straight doubles point and wins on five of six singles courts to clinch their eighth straight victory dating back to March 10.
Junior Allie Shafner (Englewood, Colo./Cherry Creek HS) and sophomore Lindsey Howard (Richmond, Va./Mills E. Godwin HS) continued to excel at the No. 3 doubles position, earning a dominating 8-3 decision over Alejandra Boeker and Anna Dzeva to give U-M the early momentum and extend their winning streak to three matches.
Michigan's top doubles team of graduate senior Jenny Kuehn (Leipzig, Germany/Sportgymnasium Leipzig) and sophomore Chisako Sugiyama (Parsippany, N.J./The Montclair Kimberley Academy) lost for the first time in dual match play, as the pair saw their seven-match winning streak come to an end with an 8-4 defeat to Purdue's No. 45-ranked duo of Brooke Beier and Mallory Voelker at No. 1. It was just the third loss in 15 outings for Kuehn and Sugiyama.
With the first team point on the line, senior Kara Delicata (LaSalle, Ontario/Sandwich Secondary School) and freshman Tania Mahtani (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif./Palos Verdes Peninsula HS) stepped up and delivered an 8-6 triumph over Cigdem Duru and Neela Vaez at No. 2 to improve their dual match record to 6-1. The Wolverine tandem holds a team-best five-match winning streak.
Delicata carried the momentum over into singles action, defeating Vaez by a score of 6-3, 6-1 for her fifth straight win at the No. 3 position. The victory moves Delicata's overall record to 17-9, which matches her career-best win total from her freshman season in 2003-04 (17-8).
Freshman Tanvi Dudhela (San Jose, Calif./Archbishop Mitty HS) recorded her second straight victory, posting a convincing 6-1, 6-3 decision over Boeker at No. 6 to push the Maize and Blue lead to 3-0. Dudhela remains undefeated in the Big Ten at 2-0, and she is the sixth Wolverine to reach a double-digit win total in 2006-07 (10-11).
Kuehn, the reigning Big Ten Athlete of the Week, slammed the door on the Boilermakers with a 6-2, 6-1 triumph over Beier at No. 2. The 84th-ranked Kuehn has won five straight and stands at 10-5 in dual match play. She is steadily closing in on 100 career singles victories (92-37).
Michigan was victorious on two of the three remaining singles courts. The 85th-ranked Sugiyama outlasted Voelker by a 7-5, 7-6(5) margin at No. 1 for her team-leading 25th singles win of 2006-07. Mahtani moved past Duru by a score of 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 at No. 4 to improve to 22-9 overall. Sugiyama and Mahtani both hold a 13-3 dual match record, and each remain perfect in conference play at 6-0.
The Wolverines return to action Easter Sunday (April 8) against Illinois at the Atkins Tennis Center in Champaign, Ill. The match is scheduled for a noon CDT start.
Following are match-by-match results:
Singles
No. 1 -- #85 Chisako Sugiyama (U-M) d. Mallory Voelker, 7-5, 7-6(5)
No. 2 -- #84 Jenny Kuehn (U-M) d. Brooke Beier, 6-2, 6-1
No. 3 -- Kara Delicata (U-M) d. Neela Vaez, 6-3, 6-1
No. 4 -- Tania Mahtani (U-M) d. Cigdem Duru, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
No. 5 -- Anna Dzeva (PU) d. Elizabeth Exon, 6-1, 6-2
No. 6 -- Tanvi Dudhela (U-M) d. Alejandra Boeker, 6-1, 6-3
Doubles
No. 1 -- #45 Beier/Voelker (PU) d. Kuehn/Sugiyama, 8-4
No. 2 -- Delicata/Mahtani (U-M) d. Duru/Vaez, 8-6
No. 3 -- Lindsey Howard/Allie Shafner (U-M) d. Boeker/Dzeva, 8-3
Order of Completion: Doubles 3-1-2, Singles 3-6-2-5-1-4
Contact: Marc Ressler (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
