6B - The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - February 2, 1998 First dual meet no problem for Blue 'M' women's tennis4 dominates in duals By Mark Francescutti Daily Sports 4Xritcr The question marks about the Michigan men's tennis team were erased yesterday at the Varsity Tennis Center as Michigan trounced Virginia, 4-3, in its first dual match of the sea- son. A subpar performance two weekends ago at the Big Ten Singles champi- onships clouded the possibility of Michigan's chances to reign as a nationally ranked team this season. Then, No. 31 Virginia came to Ann Arbor to try and deepen No. 42 Michigan's doubts. But the Wolverines, as they did all fall season with their opponents, dominated the Cavaliers. The meet started with three doubles matches. After the first two matches split, it was up to the team of senior Miki Pusztai and junior Will Farah to come from behind against the Virginia 4duoof Bear Schofield and [lyon Yoo. "I was kind of nervous at first," said Pusztai. "Will and I, we seemed to gel in practice and that seemed to carry over into the match against a tough Virginia team." Pusztai''s doubles match yesterday was his first match of the season, after he sat out during the fall to prepare for the winter season. "It felt good to get out there and play a good team, with a good crowd, Pusztai said. "We just played big on the big points, and that's what was the dif- ference," Pusztai said. After falling behind in the tiebreaker, the two Wolverines rattled off seven straight points to win 9-8. This earned the team a vital point and meant that Virgina would have to win four singles matches to claim a victory. "Will had a couple good serves and good volleys," Pusztai said. "When No. 2 doubles had won, Will and I looked at each other and said 'this is the decider; we need this point."' The Wolverines then went on to win the three singles matches they needed - all in straight sets. Farah, after the hard-fought doubles win, cruised to a 6-4, 6-0 victory over Justin Smith. Senior David Paradzik dealt with Virginia's Schofield easily, 6-1, 6-3, in the deciding match for Michigan. But the crucial match of the day was sophomore Matt Wright taking on nationally ranked Yoo. Yoo and Wright battled back-and-forth in the first three games of each set, but the top Virginia player couldn't withstand Wright's serve and return. Wright won, 6-4, 6-2, to seal the victory for the Wolverines. "There were times I felt myself get- ting a little bit nervous," Wright said. "Fortunately it worked in my favor for me - (the victory) sure gave me a boost of confidence." Virginia also played on Saturday, beating Ball State 6-1. But that game didn't seem a factor in the loss to the Wolverines. "I don't think (Ball State) pressed Virginia," Pusztai said. "It probably helped Virginia more than it hurt them." For the Wolverines, playing at home was a big plus. "It's so hard to play on the road; you don't get any claps and its hard to get By Drew Beaver For the Daily Domination. Pure and simple. There's no wav around it. The Michigan women's tennis team absolutely domi- nated the competition this weekend. It began with a 9-0 sweep of Western Michigan on Friday night and was fol- lowed by a 7-2 victory over Marquette on Saturday. On Friday, the Wolverines came out strong in singles play, winning five of the six singles matches in straight sets. Only Michigan senior Sora Moon took three sets :o dispense with her opponent in the No. 5 singles match. Friday also featured a rematch between Michigan sophomore Brook& Hart and Western Michigan senior Heidi Cakans. Cakans defeated Hart in last fall's ITA/Rolex Midwest Regional championships. Friday was a different story, as Hart exacted her revenge in straight sets. Hart never trailed during the match and won, 6-3, 6-3. The other three sophomores in Michigan's lineup, No. 2 singles player Danielle Lund, No. 4 Erryn Weggenman and No. 6 Jen Boylan, also played exceptionally well. Weggenman and Boylan gave up just one game apiece and Lund won, 6-1, 6-1. Boylan, who was confined to doubles play last year because of injury, was excited about her return to singles. "It -felt great," Boylan said. "I felt like it was about time, after two years. I was definitely nervous, but overall it was a great experience." In doubles play, the Wolverines con- tinued to dominate the Broncos. At No. I doubles, Michigan's tandem of Hart and Lund got off to a 4-1 start en route to ai 8-4 victory over Western's team of Cakans and Kristen DeVall. The No. 2 and No. 3 doubles teams fared equally well, winning 8-2 and The Wolverines continued their strong play Saturday. Marquette's strength was at the top of its lineup, featuring the fourth- and ninth-ranked players in the Midwest at No. I and No. 2 singles. At No. 2 singles, 16th-ranked Danielle Lund upset her higher-ranked opponent, Ana Fernandez, in convincing fashion, 6-2, 6-2. Michigan coach Bitsy RItt never doubted Lund's ability "I'm really pleased for Danielle, 4 verx happy with her good win, but I'm not surprised," Ritt said. The highlight of the weekend took place at center court. Marquette's Elisa Penalvo battled Hart at No. I singles. The first set of the match went to a tiebreak, and Hart won 8-6. After Penalvo took the second set, 6-3 Hart fell behind 4-0 in the third. But Hart held serve in the fifth game, and br Penalvo twice to bring the set to a 5-5. Hart took a 6-5 lead, but Penalvo forced another tiebreak. In the tiebreaker, Hart fell behind 5-1, but again battled back to a 5-5 tie and went on to win 9-7 and take an upset victory in the match. "Brooke Hart's win showed the fight that she has and that we have as a team," Ritt said. . Penalvo and Fernandez did manage to take some revenge for their losses.At No. I doubles, Penalvo and Fernan beat Hart and I.und in a 9-8 tiebreak. But Michigan's No. 2 and No. 3 doubles teams won to complete the victory. PAUL TALANIAN/Daily Jake Raiton and the rest of the Michigan men's tennis team swatted Virginia, 4-3, at the Varsity Tennis Center yesterday. some momentum going," Pusztai said. "A lot of times when you are playing at home one person starts cheering and you can see people getting good streaks of points." Wright also mentioned that the team last year, while it had the same compo- sition, was nothing like this season:s team. "We learned a lot from last year and I have a lot of confidence in this year's team," Wright said. "The difference between this year's and last year's team is night and day. We're now a national- ly competitive team., The Wolverines take a three-week break before continuing dual-meet play at William and Mary on Feb. 28. Men's track finishes tHird in state meet Women crush local competition at state Intercollegiate meet By Josh Borkin "DailySports Writer The Michigan men's track and field 'team traveled to Michigan State for the Michigan Intercollegiate in hope of cap- turing state bragging rights, but left with disappointed with its third-place finish. Eastern Michigan won Saturday with 167 points, followed by Western Michigan with 109 points and Michigan with 104. The annual race consisted sole- ly of Michigan universities, so state brag- ging rights were at stake. But Michigan All American Kevin Sullivan felt that the team did not enter this race aiming to get a victory. "We didn't go in with the mentality to win,"Sullivan said. "We didn't double-up in events and that didn't allow us to cap- ture as many points as we could have." Michigan usually doubles up its run- ners - primarily its distance runners - but coach Jack Harvey wanted solid per- formances in just one event per runner. "We were looking for solid perfor- mances,' Sullivan said. "Obviously we were not satisfied with our final team result, but in individual circumstances we succeeded." The majority of Michigan's points were earned by the distance squad. John Mortimer returned to competi- tion this week, after acting as a pacer last weekend at the Red Simmons Invitational. Mortimer was victorious in two events Saturday, placing first in the mile (4:09.65) and the 3000,meter run (8:37.58). Kevin Sullivan was not able to follow up last week's stellar perfornance with a similar one this week. Sullivan finished second in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:51.26, after last week he recorded the best 3000-meter (7:51) time this year. "I was not very pleased with my per- formance," Sullivan said. "I felt that my effort was not bad, but I just didn't run the pace I needed to." Don McLaughlin finished fifth in the 800 (1:56.60), while Jay Cantin had a quiet performance, finishing sixth in the 800 (1:56.73). The sprint squad, plagued by a lack of depth, continued to show improvement. Steve Jenkins ran a personal best in the 55-meter dash (6.37), missing out on a first-place finish by a hundredth of a second. Kevin Bowman improved on his per- sonal best, with a fifth-place finish in the 200 (22.21), while captain Brian Theisen was able to garner two third-place finish- es in the 55 hurdles (7.60) and 200 (22.14). By Chris Duprey Daily Sports Witer At last, the Michigan women's track team can call itself state champion. The Wolverines dominated five in- state teams to win the Michigan Intercollegiate Saturday, crushing the field with 226 points. Eastern Michigan was runner-up, but still failed to eclipse the century mark, with 95 points. Big Ten rival Michigan State, the only con- ference foe at the Intercollegiate, man- aged just 54 points for fourth place. Distance runner Elizabeth Kampfe expressed a hint of surprise at the squad's performance. "We were confident we could win the meet," Kampfe said. "But we didn't know we could dominate." The Wolverines won 10 of the 14 events, further reinforcing the sentiment that conference rivals such as Illinois and Wisconsin had better be wary of Michigan at the Big Ten championships, which start Feb. 28. Tania Longe proved her versatility as a multi-events athlete by placing in four events. Longe followed a record-setting performance last week with another one Saturday, winning the 55-meter hurdles in 7.88. She followed up her victory in the hurdles with second-place finishes in both the long jump (19-0 3/4) and the triple jump (39-4). "I'm always happy with improve- ment," Longe said. "I was especially pleased with my jumping." Longe scored 28 points in the meet by herself. Detroit Mercy scored only 21 points as a team. Solid performances in the field events continued with Nikki Keith's victory in the shot put (46-0). Stephanie Wigness - _ MARGARET MYERS/Daily The Michigan track team couldn't stake claim to the title of state's best, as they finished behind Eastern and Western Michigan in the Michigan Intercollegiate. WE'RE NO. 1! Buy the book, the poster, and authentic replicas of Charles Woodson's Heisman Trophy at 420 Maynard. While supplies last. MiCHIGAN jJJ'e 5 Ef01 real music. provided depth with a third place, throw- ing 43-8. Nicole Forrester has been carrying the load for the Wolverines in the high jump. Forrester bettered her previous NCAA provisional height and set a meet re, by clearing the 6-foot bar. With all the talk about super-sprint freshmen Tamika Craig and Regine Caruthers, fellow freshman Adrignne I hunter has almost been forgotten. " But afl three gave a glimpse of the future, combining to give Michigan a I- 2-3 finish in the 400. Craig won the racL in a time of 56.66, followed by Caruthers (57.44) and Hunter (57.54). Craig a placed third ir the 200 meters. - Maria Brown put together a fine day in the sprint events. Her time of 6.96 was good enough for second place in the 55 meters. She finished second in the 200. It was all Michigan from there on out. The Wolverines swept the top three spots in both the 800 meters and the mihtun. Sarah Hamilton led the charge in the 800, finishing in 2:10. Distance specia- ist Katie McGregor (2:11) and freshman Erin White (2:15) followed. In the mile, McGregor (4:54) edb J teammate Lisa Ouellet by less than u second to earn the victory. Freshman Lena VanHaren completed a Wolverine trifecta with her third-place finish in 5:03. The Wolverines were able to place two runners faster than 10 minutes in the 3000 meters. Both Ouellet (9:57) and Michelle Slater (9:59) broke the mark, earning first and second place resp tively. Kampfe stole the show in the 5000. Her finish in 16:38 is the best time in the nation so far this season, not to mention an NCAA provisional qualifying time. Kampfe finished more than a minute ahead of the closest competitor, setting a meet record. "It wasn't quite perfection," Kampfe said modestly. "My last mile would have to be stronger." Michigan swept both relays to cf* out the day. The 1600-meter relay team captured the victory in 3:53, while the distance medley was won by the Wolverines in 11:59. Although all signs point to an exciting run at the Big Ten title, the Wolverines are cautious about their early success. "We're making really good results;' Longe said. "(But) the other schools are getting better, so we have to be comp tive within our team to improve." II. __ -900 K V N I VE RS I T 0 scheduled for a a a a(tU49 ay) wilit "lielA" oarkc 99 Cad aien ',yieA whde supplies 1last .Now -two Q t I , . 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