4B - Monday, April 2, 2007 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Netters take two on road By KIRK SHEFFERLY For the Daily The 25th-ranked Michigan men's tennis team faced the daunting task of winning back-to-back road matches over the weekend. Despite the tough schedule, the Wolverines came away with a clean sweep, beating No. 29 Minnesota 5-2 on Saturday and Iowa 6-1ton Sun- day. The first step in claiming these two key victo- ries was defeating Minnesota, a team Michigan had not beaten since 1999. The Wolverines got off to a good start, taking all three doubles matches. "One of the keys to winning (Saturday) was gettingthe doubles point," Michigan coach Bruce Berque said. "It got us off to a good start." Although Michigan swept the doubles con- tests, all three were closely contested. "It was a good match because we were able to get some close wins," Berque said. "It was very competitive in the doubles matches." Saturday's singles matches were as close as the doubles side. After splitting the first four singles matches, the Wolverines looked to fresh- man Mike Sroczynski to seal the overall victory. Sroczynski didn't disappoint, defeating Dino Bilankov in three sets to secure a crucial confer- ence dual win. The Wolverines lost no momentum as they traveled to Iowa for their Sunday match with the Hawkeyes. Just as it did the day before, Michigan dominated in doubles, winning all three match- es. And once again, the maize-and-blue clad singles players performed just as well. The Wol- verines came out on top in five of the six singles matches, with four of those victories coming in straight sets. As they did on Saturday, senior co-captains WOMEN'S TENNIS Indoor sweep stepping stone to postseason 4 By CHRIS MESZAROS Daily Sports Writer It was 70 degrees on Saturday, perfect weather to play tennis. It was too bad the Michigan women's tennis team had to play its match against Iowa inside. But the Wolverines were eager to enjoy a beautiful spring day and defeated the Hawkeyes 6-Ito complete a sweep of their opposi- tion this weekend. Michigan started the weekend on a high note with its 7-0 sweep of Minnesota on Friday. The Wolverines were propelled by a strong effort on all fronts, and seniors Jenny Kuehn and Kara Delicata led the Wolverines with stellar performances in both sin- gles and doubles. "My momentum is increasing and my confidence is increasing," Kuehn said. "I am able to concen- trate on tennis and my work has shown on the court." Sunday's effort was similar. Led by Kuehn's near flawless 6-2, 6-0 victory over Iowa's Jacque- line Lee, the Wolverines quickly clinched the match. Michigan combined to win all of its match- es on Sunday in straight sets. "I'm really pleased how we played this weekend," Augustus said. "We competed and played really well against some tough competition in Iowa. We did a really good job lifting the level of our game and taking it to them." The return of sophomore Lindsey Howard at No. 3 doubles provided a boost for Michigan at that position. Augustus has been searching for a solid No. 3 com- bination to complement her now- dominant No. l and No. 2 doubles teams. Howard played with junior Allie Schafner against Iowa and they earned an 8-4 victory. Michigan extended its dual winning streak to seven and is now 5-1 in the Big Ten. This streak comes at the right time for Michigan as the regular season comes to a close. "It was the best that we played in a long time and puts us back on track for our goal to be Big Ten Champions," Augustus said. To prepare for this aspiration, Augustus plans to take her team outside more. She hopes to take advantage of the warming weather, but also plans prepare for postseason play, which generally takes place outside. It may not seem as if the tran- sition from playing inside to outside would be difficult, but playing with wind makes it a challenge. Many of the Wolverines will enjoy this transition, because a majority of the team is from warmer climates. "Most of our players grew up playing outside," Augustus said. "You just have to make some adjustments and move your feet more and expect longer points. We just have to work on our fit- ness to make sure we can play longer points." If Michigan hopes to win the Big Ten Championship, it will need every advantage it can get. By beating other conference teams, Michigan hopes it can bet- ter prepare for the postseason. "We're all really confident about our play," Delicata said. "We're in the meat of our sea- son heading toward the Big Ten Tournament and it helps us to know that we've beaten these teams." The Wolverines continue their regular season calendar with road contests at Purdue and Illi- nois this Saturday and Sunday. I Michigan senior Ryan Heller was solid all weekend at No. 2 singles. Michigan improved its Big Ten record to -". Brian Hung and Ryan Heller led the way on the dence as we move forward." singles side, playing in the No. 1 and No. 2 spots, Michigan is currently rolling through its respectively. They were followed up by strong schedule, picking up its fifth straight win and performances from sophomore Andrew Mazlin fourth straight in the Big Ten. Despite their suc- and Sroczynski, both of whom also collected vic- cess, the Wolverines still feel there is room for tories against Minnesota. improvement. The Wolverines improved their conference "I think we need to get more consistent as a record to 5-1 and their overall record to 14-4 with team in order to succeed later in the season," Ber- the two big road wins. que said. "These wins were definitely important," Ber- The Wolverines will look to continue their que said. "We had some tough matches and to success when they take on No. 6 Illinois in Ann win both gives us better momentum and confi- Arbor on April 6. 4 'hi NOTE Michigan splits with ACC opponents on their home water 810 S. State St. 222.4822 1906 Packard 995.9940 btbburrito.com On historic Lake Monticello, in the shadows of Thomas Jefferson's VirginiahometheNo.19Michigan women's rowing team fell to Vir- ginia in the first and second varsity eights on Saturday morning. The second-ranked Cavaliers won by nearly three seconds in the first varsity eight and the second by 10 seconds. NOW YOU CAN GET GOOD MONEY FOR YOUR- BOOKS AND IT'S PAINFULLY EASY FREE PICK-UP IN ANN ARBOR In the varsity fours, Virginia was once again the cream of the crop, beating Michigan by nearly nine seconds. The afternoon session was kind- er to the Wolverines as they beat Duke in each race. Michigan will compete against Ohio State and Tennessee Satur- day in Columbus. For coverage of the water polo team's weekend action, go to our website at michigandaily. com. And while you're at it, check out our blog, The Game. nORO~RrPFp = "TL aN HE Ln NO ON EnSa OW E e Ewyt sl ne 4 *D StudentUniverse.com I