Sugiyama, Taney Conclude Play at ITA Summer Nationals
8/14/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Two members of the University of Michigan women's tennis team competed in the 2007 Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) National Summer Championships, held this week (Aug. 11-14) at Indiana University's Varsity Tennis Center. Junior Chisako Sugiyama(Parsippany, N.J./The Montclair Kimberley Academy) and freshman Whitney Taney(Edina, Minn./Edina HS) advanced to the fourth and third rounds of singles play, respectively, and the two Wolverines teamed together to reach the quarterfinals in doubles action.
Both U-M players entered the 128-player singles draw seeded, and as a result, received a first-round bye. Sugiyama knocked off a pair of Big Ten Conference foes in the first two rounds, defeating Ohio State's Angela DiPastina (6-4, 6-1) and Wisconsin's Elizabeth Carpenter (7-6, 6-4). The fourth-round match saw Sugiyama retire due to sickness trailing 6-0, 2-1 to Brown's Bianca Aboubakare.
Taney earned a commanding 6-0, 6-2 victory over Joelle Kissell (Greater Latrobe High School) in the second round before falling to Louisiana State's Mykala Hedberg in a super-tiebreaker, 3-6, 6-4, 1-0(5).
Sugiyama and Taney posted a pair of convincing 8-1 wins to advance to the quarterfinals of the 32-team doubles competition. Their run ended with an 8-2 loss to eventual champions Melissa Mang and Tory Zawacki of Duke.
The ITA National Summer Championships presented by the United States Tennis Association (USTA) are the pinnacle of the ITA Collegiate Summer Circuit, which was played at 23 regional sites throughout the country last month. This year's participation total of 2,589 players was the second highest ever and just shy of last year's record of 2,624.
The singles and doubles champions from the ITA National Summer Championships earn wild cards into the first national tournaments of the 2007-08 collegiate tennis season -- the Polo Ralph Lauren Men's and Riviera/ITA Women's All-American Championships in October.
Following are match-by-match results:
SINGLES
Chisako Sugiyama
First Round -- Bye
Second Round -- d. Angela DiPastina (Ohio State), 6-4, 6-1
Third Round -- d. Elizabeth Carpenter (Wisconsin), 7-6, 6-4
Fourth Round -- l. Bianca Aboubakare (Brown), 6-0, 2-1 ret.
Finished with a 2-1 record
Whitney Taney
First Round -- Bye
Second Round -- d. Joelle Kissell (Greater Latrobe Senior HS), 6-0, 6-2
Third Round -- l. Mykala Hedberg (Louisiana State), 3-6, 6-4, 1-0(5)
Finished with a 1-1 record
DOUBLES
Chisako Sugiyama/Whitney Taney
First Round -- d. Jeremie Benjamin (Akron)/Cameron Benjamin, 8-1
Second Round -- d. Katie Kilborn/Amanda Taylor (Vanderbilt), 8-1
Quarterfinals -- l. Melissa Mang/Tory Zawacki (Duke), 8-2
Finished with a 2-1 record
Contact: Marc Ressler (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
