2B - The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - Monday, April 15, 1996 TENNIS Wolverines stay in 1st place in Big Ten by sweeping Indiana, Ohio State By Richard Shin and 9-10 overall. Daily Sports Writer The doubles point was won by the first two In April, the Michigan men's tennis team has doubles positions, as Wolverines Pusztai and We're in control of oup been like a rain shower to a May flower- perfect. Costanzo recorded a 8-4 victory over Jason The Wolverines have gone 5-0 this month, grab- Homorody and Scott Wiles. Ohio State's Doug own destiny, provided we bing wins against Indiana on Saturday and Ohio Bloom and Marc Wurtzman dropped a decisive 8- State yesterday. 3 match to Michigan's tandem of Swan and Prentice. win the match against With the pair of victories, Michigan remained in Buckeyes Vo Chu and Ben Basil were victorious first place in the Big Ten at 8-1. The Wolverines are at third doubles, handing Raiton and Farah their lowa 13-7 overall. second consecutive loss, 8-6. - Brian Eisner Saturday, Michigan bounced the Hoosiers, 6-1, "Ohio State is a very dangerous team," Eisner Michigan men's tennis coach in Bloomington, winning five of six singles matches said. "They have very good personnel throughout and the doubles point. Winning at singles for the the entire lineup. They are the kind of team that can Wolverines were first singles Peter Pusztai, No. 2 beat anybody on a given day. "Most of the matches were very decisive wins f Arvid Swan, No. 4 Geoff Prentice, No. 5 William "We played a good match outside today." us," Eisner said. "It was a good win and an impoW Farah and Jake Raiton at sixth singles. Suffering his second defeat in three matches was tant win for us outside." "We played a good solid match," Eisner said. Michigan No. I singles Pusztai, who lost a hard The race for first place in the Big Ten tightens as "We came away with a good win on the road for fought 6-2, 5-7, 7-6 (8-6), match to Buckeye Doug Minnesota, Illinois and Northwestern are close us." Bloom. behind Michigan with two losses each coming into Michigan's top two doubles teams continued Pusztai, who fell to 33-12 on the season, led the the weekend. Illinois and Northwestern each have their torrid play, both recording 8-6 victories. The second set 4-0, and held several match points in the two matches remaining in the Big Ten, while Mim- two tandems have also gone undefeated in April. third set before succumbing in the third set nesota faced Penn State over the weekend in the The only matches the Hoosiers won were at No. tiebreaker. Gophers' last conference match. A Wolverine vic- 3 singles and third doubles. "Pusztai was ahead the whole match," Eisner tory against Iowa on April 20 would simplify things. Indiana's Derek Pope defeated Michigan's David said. "He had a couple of match points in the third "We're in control of our own destiny, provide Paradzik, 6-3, 7-6. set and did everything but win the match, unfortu- we win the match against Iowa," Eisner said. "We And at third doubles, Mike Filipek and Kevin nately." will have one loss, and we will go in with the No. Gable of Indiana defeated the Wolverine tandem of Fortunately for the Wolverines, Pusztai's team- I seed in the Big Ten tournament." Jake Raiton and William Farah, 8-6. mates had better luck, as Costanzo and Swan re- Even though Michigan has played well the past Against Ohio State, Michigan captured four corded two-set victories at No. 2 and No. 3. month, Eisner is not making any predictions about singles matches and won the doubles point to hand At No. 4 singles, Paradzik rebounded from a loss the team's prospects at the NCAA tournament in the Buckeyes a 5-2 defeat outdoors in Columbus Saturday to defeat Wurtzman 6-1, 6-3. late May. yesterday. It was the first match outdoors for Michi- Rounding out the singles victories for the Wol- "We've got too many other things to worry about gan in April. verines was Farah at No. 6 singles. Farah lost the now before (nationals)," Eisner said. "So that's not The loss was the fifth for Ohio State in the first set, 6-4, but came back to defeat Chu in the something we want to talk about or think about at conference. The Buckeyes are 3-5 in the Big Ten final two sets, 6-2, 6-4. this stage." JOSH BIGGS/Daily Michigan's Jake Raiton dropped a pair of doubles matches over the weekend. Michigan finds itselfin familiar position after weekend sweep By Richard Shin Daily Sports Writer Ifthe Michigan men'stennisteam feels like it has been in this position before, it is for good reason. Oneyearagoto- day, the Wolver- ines defeated Ohio State and con- trolled their own destiny in the race for the Big Ten title. Fast forward to 1996. Teebso Notebook secutive wins on the road after a success- ful three-match homestand. Yesterday, Michigan defeated Ohio State, 5-2, in an important Big Ten matchup to stay atop the conference. Just like last year's team, the Wolverines control their own destiny as they head into the final match. That's where Michigan hopes the simi- larities end. Last year, in the tournament, Minnesota upset the top-seeded Wolver- ines in the finals. A victory against Iowa on April20 will lock up the top seed for Michigan in the Big Ten championships on April 25-28. STREAKING WOLVERINES: Michigan's top two doubles teams are worthy of the The Wolverines are coming off con- GoIGR&TuLA~iONS $raE4Ite.I title, "en feugo." The Wolverines' top team ofPeter Pusztai andJohn Costanzo have been "on fire" in April, winning five consecutive matches. The last defeat that the No. 24 team suffered came at the hands of Northwestern on March 30. Pusztai and Costanzo have improvedtheir record to 17-8 with the six-match streak. The Wolverines' No.2 tandem ofArvid Swan and Geoff Prentice has been equally unbeatable. Thepair has also won six in a row, most recently, an 8-4 win over Ohio State yesterday. The duo has the best doubles record on the team at 20- 6. Together, the terrific twosomes have secured the doubles point in the past six matches, forcing Michigan's opponents to rely on singles victories. BROKEN RECORD: Michigan coach Brian Eisner recorded his 400th career victory as coach of the Wolverines on March 20. Eisner has coached Michigan teams to 18 Big Ten titles in his 27-year career, but has been shut out in the 1990s. He has been named coach of the year in the Big Ten four times, including last season. Overall, Eisner is 406-171 as Michigan coach and 482-201-1 in 33 years. BETTER WITH AGE: Michigan's Pusztai has won a career-high 33 matches this season at No. 1 singles. At the first posi- tion, Pusztai won 14 consecutive Big Ten matches before falling to Michigan State's Alberto Brause. He carries the No. 22 ranking in the nation at singles. JOSH BIGGS/ Michigan's John Costanzo beat Ohio State's Jason Homorody yesterday, 6-4, 6-2 In a Big Ten dual match in Columbus. NEED A STUDY BREAK? The First Annual Bursley Street Party Tuesday, April 23rd 3-9pm Front Lawn - Bursley Hall Picnic Style Dinner w/ Meal Credit Including Performances By : The Gentlemen - A Cappella 3:15 pm Aaron Radatz - Illusionist/Magician 4 pm Home Improv-ment - Comedy Troupe 5:30 pm Amazin' Blue - A Cappella 6:30 pm S3 'IEL AND SO MUCH MORE... All Day D.J. Velcro Wall The Gentlemen Sumo Wrestling Moonwalk Home Improv-ment