April 9, 2006
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Sophomore Macall Harkins won for the seventh consecutive time and Illinois progressed on Sunday but still lost 6-1 on No. 36 Michigan's Varsity Tennis Center courts.
Continuing where they left off Saturday against Purdue, the Wolverines asserted the early 1-0 lead after doubles play.
In spite of each Illinois tandem's loss, there were signs of improvement, head coach Sujay Lama said.
"Even though we lost the doubles point, (Shivani Davé/Brianna Knue) jelled really well this weekend. I thought that was the best (Alejandra Meza Cuadra/Momei Qu) have played all year."
Individually, the home team's slight advantage in experience and surroundings trumped the visitors at spots two through four. One exception was Michigan freshman Chisako Sugiyama's 6-1,6-1 defeat of Illinois junior Emily Wang at No. 5. Senior co-captain Debra Streifler recorded the Wolverines' third point of the day against Dave, a freshman in the fourth position.
After Qu lost to Elizabeth Exon at No. 2 singles, first-year player Lindsey Howard defeated second-year player Alejandra Meza Cuadra at No. 6. Michigan picked up its final victory in a matchup of seniors Brianna Knue and Nina Yaftali. Knue seized the first set but dropped the next two frames. Then it was Harkins' turn to end the shutout and continue her undefeated conference season. Harkins (16-12,6-0) has not lost since March 5 when she fell to 9-12.
"Mac was Mac. She didn't play her best game today, but she found a way to get it done," Lama said. "We played well as a team. There was a lot of fight in our team. Michigan just did not give us any free points or free games. I don't think we slipped in any area. I'm really happy with the progress we made."
Illinois returns home for its final home matches of the regular season next weekend against Northwestern and Wisconsin. The Orange and Blue also host the Big Ten tournament to be played April 27-30 at the Atkins Tennis Center.
Sunday's results
No. 36 Michigan 6, Illinois 1
Doubles:
1. #33 Delicata/Streifler (Mich.) def. #41 Harkins/Wang (ILL), 8-6
2. Lindsey Howard/Yaftali (Mich.) def. Davé/Knue (ILL), 8-5
3. Allie Shafner/Sugiyama (Mich.) def. Meza Cuadra/Qu (ILL), 8-4
Order of finish: 3-1-2
Singles:
1. #95 Macall Harkins (ILL) def. #118 Kara Delicata (Mich.), 2-6, 7-5, 6-4
2. Elizabeth Exon (Mich.) def. Momei Qu (ILL), 6-3, 6-1
3. Nina Yaftali (Mich.) def. Brianna Knue (ILL), 4-6, 6-3, 1-0(4)
4. Debra Streifler (Mich.) def. Shivani Davé (ILL), 6-4, 6-2
5. Chisako Sugiyama (Mich.) def. Emily Wang (ILL), 6-1, 6-1,
6. Lindsey Howard (Mich.) def. Alejandra Meza Cuadra (ILL), 6-2, 6-3
Order of finish: 5-4-2-6-3-1
