Sugiyama and Taney Named to All-Big Ten Team
4/24/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
PARK RIDGE, Ill. C Junior Chisako Sugiyama(Parsippany, N.J./The Montclair Kimberley Academy) and freshman Whitney Taney(Edina, Minn./Edina HS) of the No. 21-ranked University of Michigan womens tennis team were named to the 2008 All-Big Ten Conference team, the league office announced Thursday (April 24). It marks the fourth time in five years the Wolverines have placed two players on the All-Big Ten team in one season.
Sugiyama, a unanimous selection to the 12-member all-conference squad for the second straight season and the first U-M player to earn back-to-back All-Big Ten honors in four years, finished her third Big Ten campaign with an undefeated 10-0 record at both the No. 1 singles and doubles positions. She carries a team-best 24-10 overall singles record, including a 16-4 dual-match mark at the top two spots. A three-time Big Ten Athlete of the Week selection this year, Sugiyama has defeated her last 15 opponents in straight sets. Sugiyama and sophomore Tania Mahtani(Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif./Palos Verdes Peninsula) have gone 16-4 in dual-match play at No. 1 and have won 12 straight matches. Sugiyama holds a team-best 26-7 overall doubles record in 2007-08.
Taney, the first U-M freshman to earn All-Big Ten honors in four years, has been victorious in 20 of 27 singles matches in her first collegiate campaign. She closed out the regular season with wins in 12 of 13 outings at No. 2, bringing her dual-match record to 14-5 (8-2 Big Ten). Taney carries an overall doubles mark of 25-9, including a 13-7 dual-match record at No. 2 (7-3 Big Ten).
Senior Allie Shafner(Englewood, Colo./Cherry Creek HS) received the team's Big Ten Sportsmanship Award for 2008. The 11 student-athletes chosen are individuals who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. In addition, the student-athletes must be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting. These student-athletes are now candidates for the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award, as the conference office will honor one male and one female student-athlete from each institution at the end of the school year.
Shafner, who missed the fall portion of the schedule and most of the dual-match season while recovering from a right wrist injury, has compiled a 6-3 doubles record in her final campaign. She has won six of seven dual matches at Nos. 2 and 3 with Taney and junior Lindsey Howard(Richmond, Va./Mills E. Godwin HS), including four of five in conference play. Shafner has led Michigan as a co-captain in her last two years.
The Wolverines (16-4, 9-1 Big Ten) enter the 2008 Big Ten Championship as the No. 2 seed and will play No. 7 seed Iowa in the quarterfinals on Friday (April 25) at 2 p.m. The team tournament will be played April 24-27 at Purdue University's Schwartz Tennis Center in West Lafayette, Ind.
Contact: Marc Ressler (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
