Page 8-The Michigan Daily- Sports Monday- April 12, 1993
TENNIS
Continued from page 1
Michigan co-captain was about to
claim victory, Erlandsson roared
back to take the next six games and
the set, 6-4.
Erlandsson's hot streak contin-
ued into the third set, where she built
up a 4-1 lead and suddenly stood
only two games from what would
have been an impressive come-from-
behind victory.
It was not to be, though, as
Fielding settled down and raised the
level of her play significantly.
"I decided that if she was going
to win, she would have to earn every
last point," Fielding said.
A new-found, more "aggressive"
strategy paid off as Fielding fought
back, winning the last five games
and claiming a thrilling 6-2,4-6, 6-4
victory that raised her season record
to 23-9.
"I thought her opponent picked
up her (own) level of play," Michi-
gan coach Bitsy Ritt said. "However,
(Jaimie) did a great job of getting
back into the match."
Fortunately for Schlonsky and
Cyganiak, their third sets were not as
grueling as they prevailed, 6-1, 6-7
(8-6), 6-2 and 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 respec-
tively.
Michigan's victory marked the
third match and victory in a row
where at least three of the matches
went the full distance.
"We've proven that if we just
hang in there, we can win," Michi-
gan No. 1 singles player Kalei Bea-
mon said. Ritt agreed. "Minnesota
played really well. We're getting
used to three-set matches which is
why I think we played so well in
those (third) sets.
In the No. 1 and No. 3 doubles
matches, Michigan needed only two
sets. Fielding and Angie Popek
overcame a close second set in de-
feating the Golden Gophers No. I
duo of Culik and Vicky Kolaric, 6-1,
7-6 (7-2).
At the No. 3 position, Cyganiak
and Tara Graff rallied past Johnson
and Jennifer Marques by a 7-6 (7-5),
6-3 tally.
In yesterday's contest against the
Hawkeyes at the Track and Tennis
Building, the Wolverines wasted no
time in taking command by winning
all six singles matches. Only No. 4
Popek and Cyganiak needed three
sets.
After dropping a first-set tie-
breaker against Miyuki Moore, Cy-
ganiak stormed back by taking 12 of
the last 13 games and the match, 6-7
(8-6), 6-0, 6-1. As impressive as Cy-
ganiak was in her last two sets,
clearly the performance of the day
was turned in by Beamon.
Pitted against Beamon was
Iowa's Laura Dvorak, who recently
moved into the Intercollegiate Ten-
nis Association's (ITA) national
rankings tied at No. 72. Dvorak -
who has also built up a eight-match
Dvorak, who appeared in awe of
Beamon well after the conclusion of
the match, agreed. "(Kalei) just
played exceptionally well. I tried my
best but there really wasn't much I
could do," Dvorak said.
With the victory, Beamon raised
her Big Ten singles record to 9-3
amidst a four-match winning streak.
"I feel pretty good," Beamon
said. "My accuracy has gotten bet-
ter."
Another strong performance for
the Wolverines was turned in by No.
3 Simone Locher, who defeated
Iowa's Rhonda Fox, 6-2, 7-5.
Locher, whose season has been sad-
dled by knee and achilles injuries,
utilized a consistent baseline game
and a powerful serve to put away
Fox.
In the doubles competition, the
Hawkeyes gained some redemption
by taking two of the three matches.
Iowa was keyed by the No. 2 tandem
of Fox and Nikki Wilette who
knocked off Beamon and Locher, 7-
5, 6-3. Fox and Wilette have now
won seven matches in a row en route
to a 9-1 overall record and a 4-0
compilation in the Big Ten. Their
only loss came at the hands of No.
11 Arizona State.
Michigan's next meet will be this
Saturday at Wisconsin. The Badgers
currently stands in second place in
the Big Ten.
Beamon
winning streak in the process - was
outclassed by Beamon from the first
point as the Michigan senior rolled
to a 6-3, 6-3 victory.
"Kalei just played outstanding
today," Hawkeye coach Micki
Shillig said. "She's a big hitter. Even
when she's in trouble, she never
gives up."
These are the results of the men's tennis
team's 6-1 loss at Minnesota Saturday.
Singles
No. 1 Rick Naumoff (Minn.) def. Dan
Brakus (Mich.), 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
No. 2 Mehdi Benyebka (Minn.) def. John
Costanzo (Mich.), 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.
No. 3 Paul Pridmore (Minn.) def. Adam
Wager (Mich.), 6-3, 6-2.
No. 4 Dean Hiushko (Minn.) def. Grady
Burnett (Mich.), 6-2, 6-2.
No. 5 Ross Loel (Minn.) def. Peter Pusztai
(Mich.), 7-6. 7-6.
No. 6 Geoff Prentice (Mich.) def. Dominic
Rodriguez (Minn.), 6-3, 6-3.
Doubles
No. 1 Hiushko/Pridmore (Minn.) def.
Brakus/Chris Wyatt (Mich.), 8-2..
No. 2 Burnett/Costanzo (Mich.) def. Loel/
Naumoff (Minn.), 8-6.
No. 3 Roger Anderson/Erik Donley (Minn.)
def. Prentice/Greg Artz (Mich.), 8-6.
BEAMON
Continued from page 1
from East Lansing High School,
Beamon was given the majority of
her training from Ferman, who
coached her in private lessons and
summer camps.
"Rick really helped develop
her technical skills and her
confidence," Lehua said.
Kalei's talent in tennis didn't
take long to blossom as she began
qualifying for the United States
Tennis Association's (USTA)
nationally sanctioned events at age
12. A seven-day-a-week, two-
hour-a-day training regimen
helped Beamon achieve statewide
notice in 1989 when she took the
state title at No. 1 singles during
her sophomore year in high
school.
Consistently ranked in the top
ten in the Western Tennis
Association (WTA), Beamon was
able to qualify for the majority of
national tournaments during the
summers, where her results
usually yielded her a national
ranking in the 50s.
Despite all of her statewide,
regional and national matches, it
was a victory over former
Michigan tennis player Amy
Malik in the Western closed
qualifying event in 1989 that
ranks as one Beamon's finest
moments on the court.
"Amy and I were competing
for sixth place at the Western
closed," Kalei said. "Only the top
six finishers got trophies. The
match went into the third set
where I was fortunate enough to
win, 6-4. I was pretty happy as it
was the first time I ever got a
trophy in the Western closed
qualifiers."
Malik, however, was not so
happy, as she thought that a
questionable line call influenced
the outcome of the match. It
would not be the last time Beamon
and Malik would meet on or off
the tennis court.
When Kalei Beamon visited
Michigan on her recruiting trip,
she immediately fell in love with
the school and called Ritt the next
day to say she was coming to Ann
Arbor.
"The intensity, school spirit
and strong programs made
Michigan something I wanted to
be a part of," Kalei recalls.
Unfortunately for Kalei, there
was someone on the trip she was
not so fond of - Amy Malik. Malik
was already a freshman singles
player for the Wolverines when
Kalei made her visit. Realizing
they would have to play together
for three years, Beamon and Malik
were eventually able to put aside
their differences and become close
friends.
Beamon's first season at
Michigan was clearly a success.
Competing at the No. 3 singles
position, Kalei posted a 23-9
record, including a 10-5 Big Ten
mark. If any season was an
indicator that Beamon possessed a
special mental edge, it was her
first year. Despite significant
tournament experience, many
college tennis players are
frequently fazed at first by the big
jump in competition they face
upon entering NCAA competition.
For Beamon, it took only one
match to become mentally settled.
"My first match was in the
State of Michigan tournament
against Eastern Michigan," Kalei
said. "I was so nervous, I could
barely hold the racquet and not
surprisingly I lost. After that,
however, I got it together."
While it took Beamon only one
match to pull together mentally,
balancing athletics and academics
did not take any initial adjustment.
"Since the beginning of high
school, I had to combine tennis
and my school work," she said.
"Obviously, (at college), it's a bit
more intense, but it's nothing I
wasn't used to.... I do well
budgeting time when I'm under
pressure."
Under pressure is where
Beamon found herself in many
matches during her first season,
most noticeably in a doubles
match at the Big Ten tournament
against Northwestern. Michigan
had a 4-2 lead against the
Wildcats going into the double
matches that would all go the full
CREW
Continued from page 8
three sets. Beamon and Stacy Berg
lost their tightly contested match
in the third set. Unfortunately for
the Wolverines, they could not
claim either of the other three-set
matches and lost in heartbreaking
fashion, 5-4. Michigan finished
10th in the tournament after being
seeded fifth.
- "(The loss) kind of weighed in
heavily at the time, but it's
something I made up my mind not
to dwell on," Kalei said.
This sign of mental toughness
was only a microcosm of the
emotional edge Beamon would
display in her sophomore and
junior years where she compiled a
43-27 singles record and a 1992
final ranking of 21 in the
Intercollegiate Tennis Coaches
Association (ITCA) Midwest
region.
"I've seen Kalei play several
times now and every time she's
seems so mentally sound," Iowa
coach Micki Shillig said.
Laura Dvorak, No. 1 singles
player for the Hawkeyes, who has
borne the actual challenge of
playing Beamon, agrees with her:
coach's assessment.
"She has always been so
focused and relaxed," Dvorak
said. "To stay relaxed in tennis is
a really tough thing and she's beer
able to do that very well."
Now in her final season at
Michigan, Kalei continues to
excel on and off the court. After
moonlighting last season at the
No. 1 and 2 singles positions, she
now maintains a firm hold on the
No. 1 singles position, putting
together a 9-3 Big Ten record in
the process.
Amongst her accomplishments
during the 1992-93 season is a
current four-match winning streak
that began after a loss at the hands
of North Carolina's Cindy
Gurney, the No. 5 ranked player i
the nation. Yesterday, Beamon
handily defeated Dvorak 6-3, 6-3.
Going into the match, Dvoiak wa
riding a No. 72 national ranking
and an eight-match winning
streak.
Beamon attributes much of her
success and improvement to Ritt.
"Coach Ritt has helped a lot.
One of the reasons I've gotten a
lot better is because she finds
areas where I need to fine tune my
game," Beamon said.
In her typical manner, Kalei
sheds any mentioned credits or
achievements away from herself
and toward her coaches, parents
and teammates. When asked for
what her main goal is for this
season, it is not surprisingly team-
oriented.
"A Big Ten championship,"
Kalei states in a manner that
convinces you it's something
she's been thinking about for a
long time now. "If everyone is
playing well, we have a shot."
For Michigan to win a coveted
Big Ten crown, it will need to
rally behind Beamon's
emotionally charged leadership.
"You can always count on
Kalei to come out fighting,"
teammate Jaimie Fielding said. "If
she has a chance, she'll find a way
to win."
"Match in, match out, Kalei
Beamon's ready to play," Ritt
said. "She's a fighter."
While Beamon has several
matches left before her college
career comes to an end, she can
already reckon her emotions when
her competitive tennis days at
Michigan draw to a close.
"It's kind of a scary feeling.
Right now I'm just trying to
concentrate on each point I play."
When her last point is played,
Kalei, who is a film and video
studies major, would like to have
an internship at a television
agency. Eventually, she hopes to
receive her Masters degree in film
at New York University, Southern
California or UCLA, arguably the
three most competitive graduate
programs in film znd video
studies.
If Kalei Beamon approaches
these future goals with the same
focus and patience that she has
applied to her tennis game, it is
hard to believe that any obstacle
will prevent her from reaching
those goals.
Kalei's plan of attack: "I'll
just take it day by day and hope
for the best."
*1
DOUGLAS KANTER/Daily
Adam Wager dropped his match th
A straight sets to Minnesota's Paul Pridmore.
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"We've never come close to mak-
ing the finals. We're finally compa-
rable in speed," Maiorana said.
All...