Michigan
Wolverine Invitational
Michigan Opens Season by Hosting Wolverine Invitational
9/30/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Varsity Tennis Center)
Event: Wolverine Invitational
Scoring: No Team Scoring
Next U-M Match: Tuesday, Oct. 2 -- Qualifying at Riviera/ITA All-American Championships (Pacific Palisades, Calif.)
Postmatch Quotes | Complete Results
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan women's tennis team opened the 2007-08 season by hosting the ninth annual Wolverine Invitational Friday through Sunday (Sept. 28-30) at the Varsity Tennis Center. The Maize and Blue put forth a solid effort in Ronni Bernstein's U-M head coaching debut, finishing the three-day event with combined records of 13-8 in singles and 9-6 in doubles.
Freshman Kari Wig(Cochrane, Alberta/Cochrane HS) fared well in her first collegiate competition, claiming runner-up honors in the 16-player Blue singles flight. After defeating Notre Dame's Denise Ellison (7-5, 6-2) for her first career victory, Wig outlasted Purdue's Alejandra Boeker and Notre Dame's Kali Krisik in super-tiebreaker sets to advance to the championship match against second-seeded Katie Potts of Notre Dame. Potts got the better of Wig in the final, claiming a 6-4, 6-0 decision for the title.
Fellow freshman Rika Tatsuno(Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif./Palos Verdes Peninsula HS) also won three of four matches in her first tournament as a Wolverine. Tatsuno split a pair of matches in the Maize singles draw but finished strong by claiming impressive consolation victories over Notre Dame's Kristen Rafael (6-4, 7-5) and No. 125-ranked Kelcy Tefft, 2-6, 6-2, 1-0(6).
Freshman Denise Muresan(Lincolnshire, Ill./Adlai E. Stevenson HS) earned a fourth-place finish in the Blue singles bracket. Muresan reached the semifinal round thanks to a pair of dominating wins over Marquette's Shannon Brown (6-0, 6-1) and Western Michigan's Emily Dudzik (6-0, 6-0).
Junior Chisako Sugiyama(Parsippany, N.J./The Montclair Kimberley Academy) also reached the semifinals in her draw, claiming straight-set triumphs over Marquette's Rachael Hush (6-0, 6-2) and Rafael (7-5, 6-2).
Sugiyama and freshman Whitney Taney(Edina, Minn./Edina HS) reeled off three convincing victories to reach the championship match of the 16-team doubles competition, but the tandem was unable to play together in the final because Sugiyama was feeling under the weather at the time of the match. Taney and Sugiyama's replacement, sophomore Tania Mahtani(Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif./Palos Verdes Peninsula HS), dropped an 8-2 decision to Krisik and Tefft in the title match.
Sugiyama will begin qualifying action at the Riviera/ITA All-American Championships this Tuesday (Oct. 2) at the Riviera Tennis Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif. She hopes to earn one of eight spots into the 32-player main draw, which begins Thursday (Oct. 4). Sugiyama will then return home and join her teammates at the Wilson/ITA Midwest Regional Championships, which Michigan will host Oct. 18-23 at the Varsity Tennis Center.
Following are U-M's individual results:
SINGLES
Tanvi Dudhela
Blue First Round -- l. Elly Strother (Marquette), 2-6, 6-1, 1-0(9)
Blue Consolation First Round -- d. Yuka Kobayashi (Western Michigan), 6-0, 6-2
Blue Consolation Second Round -- d. Shannon Brown (Marquette), 6-2, 6-2
Blue Consolation Third Round -- l. Anna Dzeva (Purdue), 6-0, 7-5
Finished with a 2-2 record
Tania Mahtani
Maize First Round -- d. Cigdem Duru (Purdue), 6-2, 7-6(6)
Maize Second Round -- l. #125 Kelcy Tefft (Notre Dame), 4-6, 7-5, 1-0(2)
Finished with a 1-1 record
Denise Muresan
Blue First Round -- d. Shannon Brown (Marquette), 6-0, 6-1
Blue Second Round -- d. Emily Dudzik (Western Michigan), 6-0, 6-0
Blue Semifinal Round -- l. Katie Potts (Notre Dame), 6-4, 3-6, 1-0(6)
Third-Place Match -- l. Kali Krisik (Notre Dame), 6-4, 6-4
Finished with a 2-2 record
#68 Chisako Sugiyama
Maize First Round -- d. Rachael Hush (Marquette), 6-0, 6-2
Maize Second Round -- d. Kristen Rafael (Notre Dame), 7-5, 6-2
Maize Semifinal Round -- l. #110 Colleen Rielley (Notre Dame), 6-4, 6-3
Finished with a 2-1 record
Rika Tatsuno
Maize First Round -- d. Kylie Moore (Marquette), 6-2, 6-4
Maize Second Round -- l. #45 Cosmina Ciobanu (Notre Dame), 7-6(2), 7-5
Maize Consolation First Round -- d. Kristen Rafael (Notre Dame), 6-4, 7-5
Maize Consolation Second Round -- d. #125 Kelcy Tefft (Notre Dame), 2-6, 6-2, 1-0(6)
Finished with a 3-1 record
Kari Wig
Blue First Round -- d. Denise Ellison (Notre Dame), 7-5, 6-2
Blue Second Round -- d. Alejandra Boeker (Purdue), 3-6, 6-3, 1-0(6)
Blue Semifinal Round -- d. Kali Krisik (Notre Dame), 6-2, 2-6, 1-0(8)
Blue Championship Match -- l. Katie Potts (Notre Dame), 6-4, 6-0
Finished as Blue flight runner-up with a 3-1 record
DOUBLES
Tanvi Dudhela/Denise Muresan
Play-In Match -- l. Kylie Moore/Margaret Wilson (Marquette), 8-2
Consolation First Round -- d. Denise Ellison/Bailey Louderback (Notre Dame), 8-4
Consolation Second Round -- d. Ashley Moccia/Noriko Saruta (Western Michigan), 8-2
Consolation Third Round -- l. Cosmina Ciobanu/Katie Potts (Notre Dame), 8-2
Finished with a 2-2 record
Lindsey Howard/Kari Wig
First Round -- d. Ashley Moccia/Noriko Saruta (Western Michigan), 9-8(7)
Second Round -- l. Kali Krisik/Kelcy Tefft (Notre Dame), 8-2
Consolation First Round -- l. Kylie Moore/Margaret Wilson (Marquette), 8-4
Finished with a 1-2 record
Tania Mahtani/Rika Tatsuno
First Round -- d. Yuka Kobayashi/Amanda Moccia (Western Michigan), 8-5
Second Round -- d. Kristen Rafael/Colleen Rielley (Notre Dame), 8-6
Semifinal Round -- l. Chisako Sugiyama/Whitney Taney (Michigan), 8-2
Finished with a 2-1 record
Chisako Sugiyama/Whitney Taney
First Round -- d. Rachael Hush/Christian Ruiz (Marquette), 8-3
Second Round -- d. Emily Dudzik/Yumi Matsuto (Western Michigan), 8-0
Semifinal Round -- d. Tania Mahtani/Rika Tatsuno (Michigan), 8-2
Finished with a 3-0 record
Tania Mahtani/Whitney Taney*
Championship Match -- l. Kali Krisik/Kelcy Tefft (Notre Dame), 8-2
Finished with a 0-1 record
Lindsey Howard/Rika Tatsuno
Additional Match -- d. Shannon Brown/Maria Calbeto (Marquette), 8-2
Finished with a 1-0 record
*Sugiyama did not play in the championship match due to illness. Mahtani was her replacement.
Contact: Marc Ressler (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
