Michigan
Oregon
Michigan Blows Past Oregon
2/22/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Varsity Tennis Center)
Score: #21 Michigan 7, Oregon 0
Records: U-M (3-4), Oregon (5-3)
Next U-M Match: Thursday, Feb. 28 -- at Hawaii (Honolulu, Hawaii), 4 p.m. HST
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 21-ranked University of Michigan women's tennis team earned a convincing 7-0 victory over Oregon Friday afternoon (Feb. 22)at the Varsity Tennis Center. The Wolverines (3-4) claimed their third doubles point of the season to gain a 1-0 advantage before cruising to straight-set wins on all six singles courts.
U-M closed out matches at Nos. 1 and 3 doubles in less than an hour to gain the first team point. Junior Chisako Sugiyama(Parsippany, N.J./The Montclair Kimberley Academy) and sophomore Tania Mahtani(Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif./Palos Verdes Peninsula HS) struck first with an 8-3 decision over Stephanie MacFarlane and Celine Rolly at No. 1, and junior Lindsey Howard(Richmond, Va./Mills E. Godwin HS) and freshman Denise Muresan(Lincolnshire, Ill./Adlai E. Stevenson HS) handed Claudia Hirt and Carmen Seremeta an 8-2 defeat at No. 3 to give Michigan the 1-0 lead heading into singles play.
Freshman Rika Tatsuno(Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif./Palos Verdes Peninsula HS) recorded her second singles victory at the No. 5 position, as she dominated MacFarlane by a 6-0, 6-1 count to put the Wolverines in front 2-0. Mahtani, who made her career debut in the national singles rankings this week at No. 96, brought U-M within one point of the team win with a 6-3, 6-2 triumph over Seremeta at No. 3.
Freshman Whitney Taney(Edina, Minn./Edina HS) provided the clincher for the second time in three matches, claiming a commanding 6-1, 6-0 victory over Anna Powaska at No. 2. Minutes later, Howard put the Wolverines up 5-0 after disposing of Siobhan Cavan at No. 6 (6-4, 6-0). Muresan followed suit with a 6-3, 6-2 decision over Ana Cecilia Olivos at No. 4, and Sugiyama capped off the scoring with a 6-2, 7-5 win over Rolly at the top spot. Sugiyama, the reigning Big Ten Conference Player of the Week, leads the team in overall singles victories with 11.
The Wolverines begin a three-match road swing on Thursday (Feb. 28) against Hawaii during their Spring Break trip to Honolulu, Hawaii. The match is scheduled for a 4 p.m. HST start in the UH Tennis Complex.
Following are match-by-match results:
Singles
No. 1 -- #55 Chisako Sugiyama (U-M) d. Celine Rolly, 6-2, 7-5
No. 2 -- Whitney Taney (U-M) d. Anna Powaska, 6-1, 6-0
No. 3 -- #96 Tania Mahtani (U-M) d. Carmen Seremeta, 6-3, 6-2
No. 4 -- Denise Muresan (U-M) d. Ana Cecilia Olivos, 6-3, 6-2
No. 5 -- Rika Tatsuno (U-M) d. Stephanie MacFarlane, 6-0, 6-1
No. 6 -- Lindsey Howard (U-M) d. Siobhan Cavan, 6-4, 6-0
Doubles
No. 1 -- Mahtani/Sugiyama (U-M) d. MacFarlane/Rolly, 8-3
No. 2 -- Cavan/Powaska (Oregon) d. Taney/Tatsuno, 8-5
No. 3 -- Howard/Muresan (U-M) d. Claudia Hirt/Seremeta, 8-2
Order of Completion: Doubles 1-3-2, Singles 5-3-2-6-4-1
Contact: Marc Ressler (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
