The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - September 26, 2005 -7B

'M')
By Phil Solomon
For the Daily

enjoys mixed success

n

In its first return to the courts since its
successful inaugural season under head
coach Bruce Berque, the Michigan tennis
team yielded mixed results at the Tom Fal-
lon Invitational in South Bend. The Wol-
verines played 30 singles matches along
with 14 doubles matches during the three-
day event, which included eight teams.
Although the official matches did have
an impact on individual team members'
records and rankings, the teams were not
ranked in order of finish.
"The biggest use (of the Invitational)
was to get some matches, but also to pro-
vide a measuring stick for where we are
as a group right now and what we need to
work on," Berque said.
This especially pertained to the four
freshmen on the team - Peter Aarts,
Mike DiPietro, Andrew Mazlin and Steve
Bruckmann - who saw their first com-
petitive action at the collegiate level. Last
season, Michigan finished with a 15-10
record, good enough for third place in the
Big Ten, the team's best showing in five
years. But only half of the team returns
and there were questions whether the
four new players could fill the roles of the
departed seniors.
Some of those questions were
answered this weekend, as the freshmen
were fairly successful. Aarts, DiPietro
and Mazlin each won three of their four
matches, and Bruckmann split four con-
tests. The freshmen hardly played their
age, and showed their mettle and resolve
during their matches. Each newcomer
gritted out one grueling three-set victory

during the weekend. If the players were
awed or unnerved by the differences
between collegiate athletics and junior
tournaments, they did not show it.
"It was definitely a different experi-
ence," Aarts said. "There was a lot more
energy than juniors, a much different
atmosphere."
Coach Berque was also impressed.
"The freshmen all did a pretty good
job." Berque said. "All four new guys have
a lot of room for improvement. But I think
they're going to be much better players
four months from now."
The four returning players drew both
positives and negatives from the week-
end's matches. Juniors Ryan Heller and
Steve Peretz won three out of their com-
bined seven matches. Junior Brian Hung
split his four matches but pulled off a
three-set upset of No. 82 Jeremy Sonkin
of Wisconsin, in one of the best matches
of the weekend.
No. 42 sophomore Marko Maravic
started the weekend slowly with a loss to
No. 74 Stephen Bass of Notre Dame but

recovered to win his next two contests and
finish with a singles record of 2-1 for the
weekend. He had to shake off the rust on
Friday, after recovering most of the sum-
mer from an injury.
"I think I played pretty well in all my
matches," Maravic said. "My first match
was a little worse than my other two, but
I think I started playing better throughout
the weekend."
The Wolverines evenly split their 14
doubles matches, and Berque cited this as
his biggest area of concern for the upcom-
ing season.
"We only have one team that played a
lot of doubles together last year," Berque
said. "(With) all the new guys, we just
kind of paired them together in new com-
binations. That's one area we're just going
to spend some time with in practice."
Hung and Maravic are the only return-
ing doubles team from this past season.
They entered this weekend ranked No.
22 in the nation but lost two of their four
matches. Heller and Mazlin also split their
four contests.


Steve Peretz and the Michigan men's tennis team jumped back into action at the Tom Fallon Invitational.


PGA TOUR
Captain Jac
* "AINESVILLE, Va. (AP) - Chris DiMarco felt
eyey bone in his body shaking as he stood over a 15-
fot birdie putt late yesterday afternoon, captain Jack
Nicklaus sitting with the American team beyond the
hol and the Presidents Cup hanging in the balance.
Two people brought inspiration. An hour earlier,
the gigantic TV screen behind the 12th hole showed
Fred Couples making a 20-foot birdie on the 18th hole
for a stunning victory over Vijay Singh that essentially
assured the Americans a tie.
And there was Nicklaus.
"That's what our whole goal was as a team this
week, to win for him," DiMarco said. "We wanted
this bad. We wanted this for Mr. Nicklaus. And it's
nice to give him that."
Arms raised, his face awash in sheer joy over the
biggest putt of his life, DiMarco charged toward the
cup and then into the arms of the captain as the Amer-
icans won the Presidents Cup, sending Nicklaus into
retirement as a winner with an 18 1/2-15 1/2 victory.
Oil t'hi 'eeTiatches reached the 18th hole Sunday

leads Americans in Cup

- the dramatic birdie for Couples, a 4-foot birdie
by Phil Mickelson to square his match with Angel
Cabrera, and DiMarco's winning putt over Stuart
Appleby, the biggest shot of a competition loaded with
spectacular play.
"He is some competitor," International captain
Gary Player said of DiMarco, the American star at
Robert Trent Jones Golf Club by going 4-0-1 in his
matches.
Nicklaus already said farewell to the majors this
year at an emotional British Open. He doubts he'll be
a Presidents Cup captain again, wanting someone else
to get a chance, so this likely was his last time in the
spotlight, and his last chance to get a victory in this
event.
"It feels a lot better to have a win, there's no ques-
tion about that," said Nicklaus, whose team had lost
badly in Australia in 1998, and tied in South Africa
two years ago.
"As far as being something special, I may never
captain anotherteam, I may never play another round

of golf, and if I end my career this way, it's a pretty
good way to end it."
Nicklaus put Mickelson and DiMarco in the final
two matches, and they came through in the clutch.
Mickelson thought he had earned the clinching point
when he stuffed a wedge into 4 feet and made birdie
on the 18th hole to square his match with Cabrera.
But under new rules this year, every match had to go
extra holes until one team had enough points to claim
the cup.
Someone apparently forgot to tell Mickelson.
With the Americans already at 17 points, Mickelson
pounded his fist when the putt fell, removed his cap
to shake hands and was ready to start the celebration
when European tour rules official Andy McFee broke
the news - the match wasn't over.
Mickelson looked on with utter shock, and headed
to the first tee.
"I thought we had won, because I'm an idiot and
didn't read the rules of the game," Mickelson said as
his teammates laughed with him.



Will be holding interviews for
Analyst positions in its Investment Banking Group
On
Wednesday, October 19th 2995
Office of Career Development
Seniors interested in interviewing with us
should submit resumes and cover letters through M-Track
by September 29th
- 1- 1 l , 1 * r'i 1