The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
WOMEN'S TENNIS
Blue advances to Sweetl6
By CARLY BODDY "It has been an incredible four years had a great year," Michigan coach
For the Daily with this program." Ronni Bernstein said. "We felt good
Muresan is ranked eighth in the going in, but you've got to go out and
A confident crowd came out to nation, and will also be competing play and compete every time. Today,
watch the first two rounds of the individually this coming weekend. we did that. I'm happy for the girls,
NCAA Ann Arbor Regional this She was joined by freshman Sam and especially for the seniors."
weekend. And the Michigan faithful Critser and sophomore Mimi Nguy- Michigan will head to take on
went away happy. en in adding singles wins to their No. 7 Miami in the Sweet 16 this
With a 4-0 win over Akron on doubles point, sending the Wolver- Friday. The Wolverines faced the
D
i
)oubles point dooms
M' in season finale
40
Saturday and a 4-1 finish against
Tulsa on Sunday, the eight mem-
bers of the No. 10 Michigan wom-
en's tennis team will head to Palo
Alto, Calif. for the remainder of the
NCAA Tournament.
Against the Zips at the Var-
sity Tennis Center, the Wolverines
secured the doubles point with a
win from seniors Rika Tatsuno and
Whitney Taney and another vic-
tory from the senior-freshman duo
of Denise Muresan and Brooke
Bolender.
Bolender and Muresan will also
be competing in California as a dou-
bles team. With four seniors say-
ing their goodbyes to the Michigan
program, performing one final time
will be bittersweet for the fresh-
man-senior doubles team.
"I'm excited for California, but I
really can't believe this was my last
home match," Muresan said Sunday.
ines to a convincing victory over
Akron. On Sunday, the Wolverines
continued to face a talented Gold-
en Hurricane squad in the second
round of the Regional.
Against No. 22 Tulsa, Michigan
won the doubles point for the sec-
ond day in a row, with Taney and
Muresan taking the first two singles
points to give Michigan a 3-1 lead.
Minutes later, they were joined by a
victorious Critser to finish up with
a win at home - and effectively
punch their ticket to Palo Alto.
Following Crister's game-win-
ning point, the team gathered
around her to sing a round of 'The
Victors' before walking off of the
court of their last home match this
season. For seniors Muresan, Taney
and Tatsuno, the 4-1 win over the
Golden Hurricane marked their
final performance inAnn Arbor.
"Tulsa was a great team and they
Hurricanes earlier this season in
Coral Gables, Fla., where they were
defeated 4-3.
"It definitely wasn't our best
tennis," said Muresan of their first
meeting with Miami.
The team will head out to Califor-
nia early this week to start prepar-
ing in hopes to advancing to the next
round of competition the following
Sunday. That matchup, as well as
the remainder of the tournament,
will be held at Stanford in Palo Alto.
Michigan traveled to the final site
of the tournament last year, but was
eliminated with a 4-0 loss to Ten-
nessee.
"Last year we went and we were a
little overwhelmed," Bernstein said.
"We didn't handle it that well, but
now we know what it's all about. We
got a taste last year and that will be a
big help when we head out there this
week."
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By ALEX STEINHOFF
Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan men's tennis
team has seen its share of success
in Durham, N.C. In January, the
Wolverines split a pair of matches
against Virginia Tech and Duke.
Michigan returned a month later
to upset then-No. 6 Duke.
This time, the Wolverines' trip
to Durham was with their season
on the line. In order to see the Blue
Devils for the third time this sea-
son, Michigan needed to beat No.
44 Maryland first on Friday. And
Michigan couldn't overcome a
strong effort from Maryland, fall-
ing 4-2 in the NCAA first round.
The Wolverines didn't get the
start they wanted - dropping the
doubles point once again. The No.
2 duo of sophomores Evan King
and Chris Cha started the day
with a victory. But the No. 3 team
of freshman Barrett Franks and
senior Chris Madden fell, leaving
the doubles point in the hands of
senior Jason Jung and freshman
Shaun Bernstein.
Despite falling behind early,
Jung and Bernstein clawed back
to 6-S in the pro-set before fall-
ing 8-6. Had Jungwonthe doubles
match, he would have inched one
win closer to the 90-win plateau
for first all-time in Michigan his-
tory. Instead, Jung's win total
stalled at 88.
The loss at No. 1 doubles gave
the edge to the Terrapins, who
clinched the doubles point and the
early 1-0 dual-match lead.
"Maryland played well and
it's in some way a little replica or
microcosm of our season," Michi-
gan coach Bruce Berque said. "We
lost doubles, and that's been fairly
difficult in most of the matches we
played, and it catches up to you
when you lose doubles over and
over again."
As singles got underway, the
Wolverines started just as theyhad
all season. At No. 1, King jumped
out to an early first-set lead, cruis-
ing to a quick two-set win to knot
the dual at 1-1. King's victory gave
him win No. 28 in his second year.
on the heels of King's finish,
freshman Justin Rossi was able
to take control of the second set,
sending his match to a third set at
No.6. But Cha was unable to do the
same, as he fell in straight sets at
No. 5 singles, surrendering a lead
to Maryland in the dual.
But the Terrapins wouldn't
have the lead for long. Bernstein
tied the dual at two by finishinghis
strong straight-set match at No. 3
singles.
"It was 2-2 for a while, and then
hard fought on froln there," King
said. "Everyone was doing what
they possibly could to win and it
was just a battle overall."
Ahead 5-4 in the final set, Jung
appeared to have a stranglehold on
the match. But John Collins fought
off Jung to tie the second set at 5
games. Collins went on to win the
next game, shifting the pressure
back to Jung, and one game away
from sending the match to a third
set. While Jung was fighting to
clinch his match, Rossi dropped
his third set in decisive fashion,
sending Maryland on top again.
This time, the Terrapins were only
one match away from advancing.
"For a little bit, it looked like we
were in pretty good position, but
there were a couple unlucky shots
here and there," King said.
For Michigan to advance to the
second round, Jung and FranksE
had to win their singles matches.
But winnig both matches seemed
a daunting task for the Wolverines,
as Franks was trailing in his third
set by a break and Jung lost the last
two games of the second set.
Jung and Franks wouldn't go
away quietly, though. Franks
stormed back to tie the set 4-4 and
Jung jumped out to a quick 3-0
lead in the third set. Despite win-
ning three straight games, Franks
dropped the ninth game of the set,
falling 5-4. At No. 4, Sergio Wyss
propelled Maryland to the next
round with a three-set thriller,
ending Michigan's rollercoaster
season.
"There weren't big differences,
they just won the last momentum6
swing," Berque said. "There were
a lot of (turning points) and I can't
really point to one moment, but
we weren't able to capitalize on
opportunities."
The Terrapin victory ended
not only the Wolverines' season,'
but also their hopes of another
rematch with Duke, and their
hopes of reaching the Sweet 16,
something that had been a team
goal since the beginning of the
season.