8B - The Michigan Daily - January 18, 2000 - SportsTuesday
- - eammates from both sides stood in a line on the
right side of the court, cheering on their respective
teams. All of the fans had their eyes glued on one
closely played match.
Michigan junior Szandra Fuzesi stared across the net
into the eyes of her older sister, Barbara, who anxiously
awaited to return her sister's serve, just like she has
countless times before, playing on the clay courts of
their native country, Hungary.
Kelemen, has been a close friend to both sisters for more
- :7.TER1Barbara's doubles partner in crime, freshman Szilvia
than12 years, and the reunion of these three Hungarians
Sproduced the most intriguing match of the day.
Not to be forgotten, the lone American in this contest,
Szandra's partner Erryn Weggenman, was competing
for the first time since injuring her wrist 15 months ago.
The Wolverines had already taken the doubles point
with victories in the first two matches against visiting
H unganan natives Szandr' and DePaul this past Saturday. But the dramatics in the final
Barbara.a Fuzesi came t the Unlited doubles confrontation exceeded all expectations and
overshadowed its superficial unimportance.
States fo a chan t o Szandra, whose team fought back from a 4-1 deficit
to come within 7-6, was looking defeat in the eye as she
began to serve. Matching her sister's Monica Seles-like
power and aggressiveness with finesse and perfect ball
placement, Szandra's timely shots tied it up, and the
momentum started shifting.
Whenickigan hosted DePaul, they The determined senior Weggenman started to get her
touch back after her long layoff and made some critical
got the chance to play/eac other shots down the stretch to send the match into a 10-point
tiebreaker.
The extra session followed a similar pattern, with the
sis-for-sis competition going back and forth, no team
having the ability to pull away. The physically stronger
Hungarian combination from DePaul - Barbara and
Szilvia - was relentless in its attack of the net, trying at
every opportunity to slam the ball past the two
BYjOESMITH Wolverines.
But the mental toughness of the Michigan duo kept
hope alive. Their patience frustrated the Blue Demons
into many unforced errors.
The combination of Weggenman's powerful serves
and Szandra's clever lob shots kept their opponents on
their toes and brought the tiebreaker to an 8-8 climax.
But every time Michigan looked like it might pull
away, DePaul's most valuable player and star senior
Barbara countered with an equally perfect shot of her
own, including a backhand that whizzed right past her
younger sister's outreached racket - ending the match
and the Wolverines hopes of sweeping the doubles com-
petition.
"It was just great to see them together and light up,"
DePaul coach Mark Ardizzone said.
The way college lineups are drawn, the sisters didn't
even know until 10 minutes prior to their match that they
would be meeting for the first time as collegians.
"You couldn't ask for anything more, with sisters
competing against each other - and in tennis that is
hard to find," Michigan coach Bitsy Ritt said.
After the match, it was only natural that the compar-
isons began.
"Barbara is more aggressive and straightforward, and
she says what's on her mind. Both are great students and
are very competitive; Ardizzone said.
The two sisters, who differ in age by a year and a half,
both have business aspirations. In fact, a main reason
Szandra chose Michigan over other universities was not
only the reputation of its tennis program, but its nation-
ally renowned School of Business Administration.
They probably took this common interest from their
parents, who were quite the entrepreneurs back home in
Budapest. With their father the director of a travel
agency and a sports recreational facility, and their moth-
er in charge of a clothing boutique, it's no wonder where
the two get their work ethic and love for business.
But as in every sibling rivalry, comparisons are noth-
ing new - especially for these two young women.
"We've always had the same professors, coaches and
even driving instructors," Szandra said. "They would
always say, 'Your sister did this faster or achieved this
award sooner."'
In many cases this might lead to resentment or friction
between sisters - with the younger in the shadow of
the older, or vice versa.
But the girls choose to take a different perspective on
things.
Photos by KIMITSU YOGACII/Oaily
Saturday's match was worth more than just a dou-
bles point for sisters Szandra and Barbara Fuzesi.
"When we were little, we would always be together,
because our parents would leave us together while they
went to work," Szandra said. "Now that we're apart,
once we get a chance to see each other, we just want to
enjoy each other's company."
That is exactly what they did at dinner on Friday
night, the eve of their impending matchup. Barbara's
first visit to Ann Arbor gave the two a rare chance to
reminisce.
"We're separated most of the time and go through dif-
ferent experiences, while meeting different kinds of peo-
ple along the way. We're from different worlds, and so
often times we share and learn a lot from each other,"
Barbara said.
In sports, where egos are often prevailing forces, a
family reunion of lifelong friends and a resilient come-
back from injury bring focus to the deeper - and hap-
pier - side of college athletics.
.. iti h"} s _
'M' slams DePaul, 5-2"
By Scott Waldman
For the Daily
The Michigan women's tennis team
began their 2000 dual-meet season with a
well-placed overhead smash as they
volleyed past DePaul 5-2 in its season
opener this past Saturday at Michigan's
Varsity Tennis Center.
At first singles, Michigan prevailed in
a battle of the captains, as senior co-cap-
tain trounced past Barbara Fuzesi 6-2, 6-
1. In other Michigan singles victories,
freshman Joanne Musgrove demolished
Kadi Hilpus 6-2, 6-0 at third singles, Jen
Vaughn defeated Charlotta Aronson 6-2,
6-3 at fifth singles and Alison Sinclair
emerged victorious at sixth singles over
Megan Stewart 6-1, 6-4.
The singles players weren't the only
girls having fun. The "Jen" combination
of Duprez and Vaughn at first doubles,
and 'the Brooke Hart and Joanne
Musgrove mix at third doubles made
their respected pro-set victories look easy
as they defeated their Blue Demon oppo-
nents 8-3 and 8-1, respectively.
Senior Danielle Lund, one of
Michigan's top singles players, did not
play in Saturday's match due to a stom-
ach injury. The senior said that she would*
be healthy for Jan. 28 against Western
Michigan.
Michigan suffered one loss in the dou-
bles competition in a sibling rivalry, as
DePaul's Barbara Fuzesi and Szilvia
Keleman edged out Michigan's Erryn
Weggenman and Szandra Fuzesi 9-8 (10-
8).
"The second doubles match was very
close,"junior Maya Canfield said.
"I thought that all of the doubles teams
played well. After struggling to get the1
doubles point last year, it was great to
come out and get (the point) today"
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