April 2, 2006
CEDAR RAPIDS, IA – The No. 40 Iowa women’s tennis team defeated No. 32 Michigan today at Clark Racquet Center in Cedar Rapids, 5-2. Iowa now posts a 12-3 record, including 4-0 against Big Ten opponents.
Iowa lost the doubles point to Michigan, losing two of the three doubles matches. Kara Delicata and Debra Streifler defeated Meg Racette and Jacqueline Lee at the number one doubles position, 8-3. At the number three doubles position, Mili Veselinovic and Krissy Dowlin defeated Elizabeth Exon and Allie Shafner, 8-3. Hillary Mintz and Kayla Berry’s was the finals doubles match to be completed. The duo was defeated by Lindsey Howard and Nina Yaftali, 8-5, at the number two doubles spot.
Although the Hawkeyes lost the doubles point, they came back strong in singles play. The first singles match to be completed was a loss for Iowa, bringing the match score to 2-0 for Michigan. Chisako Sugiyama defeated Dowlin, 6-4, 6-0. No. 33 Racette started the strong comeback for Iowa, defeating Delicata, 6-2, 6-3, at the number one singles position. Lee tied the match at two-all with her victory over Streifler, 6-2, 6-0. Lee improved her record to 14-1 with a 13 match winning streak with the victory.
Next, Merel Beelen defeated Howard, 6-4, 7-5 at the number six singles spot, while Veselinovic was successful at the number three singles spot. Veselinovic defeated Yaftali, 6-3, 6-1, clinching the win for Iowa. Mintz was the final Iowa player to finish competition and defeated Exon, 6-2, 5-7, 1-0 (10-6), in a hard fought tiebreaking set.
“Today’s win was huge for us. Michigan is a very good team and I never would have guessed we would have been so successful in singles play after watching the doubles matches. Michigan took it to us and flat out dominated in doubles. I was very impressed with how our girls responded in singles. We put our nose to the grindstone and played very well,” said Iowa Head Coach Daryl Greenan.
Iowa will continue competition April 8th against Wisconsin, and April 9th against Northwestern. Competition will take place in Iowa City and is set to begin at 10 a.m. both days.
RESULTS
Singles
1. #33 Racette (Iowa) def. Delicata (UM), 6-2, 6-3
2. Mintz (Iowa) def. Exon (UM), 6-2, 5-7, 1-0 (10-6)
3. Veselinovic (Iowa) def. Yaftali (UM), 6-3, 6-1
4. Lee (Iowa) def. Streifler (UM), 6-2, 6-0
5. Sugiyama (UM) def. Dowlin (Iowa), 6-4, 6-0
6. Beelen (Iowa) def. Howard (UM), 6-4, 7-5
Doubles
1. Delicata/Streifer (UM) def. Racette/Lee (Iowa), 8-3
2. Howard/Yaftali (UM) def. Mintz/Berry (Iowa), 8-5
3. Veselinovic/Dowlin (Iowa) def. Exon/Shafner (UM), 8-3