6B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - April 3, 2006 sMhmEN'S TENNIS Freshman sparks big win over Iowa M WOMEN'S TENNIS Blue can't escape middle of the pack * By Jamie Josephson Daily Sports Writer Yesterday against Iowa, Michigan coach Bruce Berque put him on the ros- ter to play in his first singles contest of the dual-match season. But freshman Mike DePietro M 7 appeared unfazed. No. 29 Michigan was looking for a victory following a disappointing defeat on Saturday at the hands of Minnesota, 5-2. But Mike DePietro appeared unfazed. The first set was so tight that it had to be decided in tie-breaker fashion. But Mike DePietro appeared unfazed. After his match, though, the freshman came clean. "I admit, I was a little nervous in the beginning - being my first time playing (in a dual-match singles contest)," DePi- etro said. "But you've got to get through that and realize you're not going tohave many opportunities to get out there. So TRACK Continued from page 1B but the showings ofthe middle- and long- distance runners in California were less surprising, but even more impressive. The Wolverines captured one automatic and one provisional national qualifying time as well as eight automatic regional qualifying times. Redshirt junior Rebecca Walter, who captured an automatic national bid in the 10,000-meter run, led the you've got to take advantage of the ones you have." The rookie certainly thrived in this opportunity, defeating Iowa's Kyle Markham, 7-6 (1),6-4. The victory added fuel to Michigan's fire, and the Wolver- ines swept the Hawkeyes at the Varsity Tennis Center, 7-0. DePietro stayed calm and composed throughout the match, relying on several groundstroke winners that consistently caught the lines with precision. "Mike's been narrowing the gap (between him and the other freshmen) a bit;' Berque said. "Particularly in practice last week, he was beating several guys. So we were more confident in giving Mike a crack." The win came after Michigan's first Big Ten loss of the season, to the Golden Gophers on Saturday. "(Yesterday's match) was important not only to win the match but to do it in the right way" Berque said. "It was important that we showed no signs of (Saturday's) loss (yesterday) in terms of the way we approached the match competitively and way. She took second place with a career-best 33:09:61, nearly two min- utes better than her previous career mark of 34:52:82. The end result was certainly remark- able, but the way in which she captured it may have been even more astound- ing. Pacing herself from the very start, Walter got stronger as the race progressed, running her second 5,000 meters 21 seconds faster than her first. Associate head coach Mike McGuire has come to expect great things from bounced back emotionally." "Bouncing back" was a gross under- statement. The Wolverines (4-1 Big Ten, 10-7 overall) didn't have a single blemish on the scoreboard yesterday against Iowa (0-4, 5-8). Michigan swept the doubles competition, with a dominating victory from the No.8 duo of junior Brian Hung and sophomore Matko Maravic. Michi- gan's top-dog tandem made it look easy against J.P. Ritchie and Brett Taylor. It rolled over the Hawkeyes, 8-2, improv- ing the Wolverine duo's doubles record to 13-4. At No. 2 doubles, junior Ryan Heller and freshman Andrew Mazlin made a strong statement that they, too, are com- ing into their own as a strong partner- ship. The duo's 8-6 edging of Iowa's Chaitu Malempati and Bart van Mon- sjou sealed the doubles point for the Wolverines. Mazlin's strong serves com- bined with Heller's improved net game proved to be too much for the Hawkeyes to handle. "I think we've really improved,' Heller his experienced runner but even her race caught him off guard. "Nothing surprises me with Rebec- ca," McGuire said. "But I think her time was faster than we both expected. She just ran the second-fastest 10,000- meter in the nation so far." Walter was not the only Wolver- ine with a performance worthy of the national level. Fifth-year senior Ana Gjesdal took runner-up in the second heat of the 10,000-meter run with atime of34:38:41 said. "(Yesterday), Andrew played very well. He definitely had his Wheaties (yes- terday) morning. That really helped me out since I didn't really play my best. I think we're really there for each other and know what we need to do to help each other out." Despite his modesty, Heller also impressed with his singles performance against Ritchie. Berque moved Heller up in the roster to the No. 2 position, where the co-captain won his third consecutive singles victory in stride, 6-3,6-2. "Ryan has been playing a lot better the whole year, especially this last month,' Berque said. "He's playing a lot more high-percentage tennis and cutting down on his errors because of the shots that he's choosing." At every other singles position, Michi- gan posted a "W,"including a hard-fought three-set victory by Hung. Despite Saturday's loss, Michigan fol- lowed DePietro's unfazed example with its Sunday sweep - ending its weekend homestand with an undeniable exclama- tion point. - 12 seconds better then her previous career best. The time was good enough for a provisional national qualifier and was yet another step toward the Wolver- ines' goal for the season. With aspirations of lifting another Big Ten Championship trophy at sea- son's end, the Wolverine's start has them headed down that track. "We had a great meet," McGuire said. "We came to California to get regional marks early in the season, and we certainly accomplished that today." By Mark Giannotto Daily Sports Writer To be the best, you have to beat the best. In recent weeks, the Michigan wom- en's tennis team has had the oppor- tunity to make a statement in the - Big Ten standings. And yesterday, for the second weekend in a row, the Wolverines made the wrong kind of statement. No. 32 Michigan (3-2 Big Ten, 9-6 overall) fell to No. 40 Iowa 5-2. It was the Wolverines' second straight dual- match loss to a ranked conference opponent. Last weekend, No. 6 North- western shut Michigan out 7-0. "I knew (Iowa) would be a good test for us," Michigan coach Bitsy Ritt said. "We came up short, so I'm disappoint- ed with the result." The highly anticipated matchup of the contest was the No. 1 singles match, which pitted Michigan junior Kara Delicata, who is ranked No. 97 in the country, against Iowa junior Meg Racette, ranked No. 33 in the nation. But Delicata failed to put together the complete match she would've need- ed to defeat a player of Racette's level. Racette won in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3. The loss put Delicata's singles record at 1-4 in Big Ten play and 9-15 overall. "I thought Kara had her opportuni- ties in the second set, but she couldn't capitalize on them," Ritt said. "Kara needed to redeem some of her unforced errors, but wasn't able to do that. Racette is a good player, and you have to play well to beat her" Straight sets were a prevailing theme for both teams in the singles competi- tion. Besides Racette's victory at No. 1 singles, the Hawkeyes also got straight- set wins at No. 3, 4 and 6 singles. Michigan's lone singles point came from freshman Chisako Sugiyamo, who defeated Iowa freshman Kayla Berry in straight sets, 6-4, 6-0. "(Sugiyamo) has been playing more consistently lately," Ritt said. "She's done a good job and has been able to come in as a freshman and make a dif- ference for us" The outlook for the Wolverines was not as bleak when the match got under- way. Michigan claimed the doubles point courtesy of an 8-3 win by senior Debra Streifler and Delicata and an 8-5 win from the duo of senior Nina Yaftali and freshman Lindsey Howard. Sugiyamo's 19th singles win of the year gave the Wolverines an early 2-0 lead. Unfortunately for Michigan, it would be its only two points of the afternoon. "We played well in the doubles, and I was surprised we didn't perform better in singles," Ritt said. "I was surprised it wasn't a more competitive match." On Saturday afternoon, the Wolver- ines made easy work of Minnesota, defeating the Gophers 5-2. Michigan won four out of the six singles matches and collected the doubles point. But the Iowa loss kept the Wol- verines in the middle of the Big Ten pack. Michigan now trails Northwest- ern, Indiana and Iowa in the confer- ence. Despite the loss, the Wolverines' uncertain status in the standings does not have them concerned. "We're focused on playing well," Ritt said. 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