Photo by: Sports Media Relations
The University of Michigan women’s tennis team served the University of Denver a plateful of disappointment with a 4-1 victory in the first-round of the NCAA Tournament. The win put an end to Denver’s 17-game winning streak and season.
The No. 26 Wolverines took the doubles point with victories at No. 1 and No. 2.
At No. 1, Michigan’s Michelle DaCosta and Kara Delicata defeated Denver’s Yanick Dullens and Suzana Maksovic 8-5.
It was a hard fought match and the Pioneers know that they are close to where they need to be to advance further next season.
“As a team, we went out there and we fought as hard as we could,” Dullens said.
“Although we lost in an extremely close match, it shows me that our team has great potential for next year.”
The Pioneers did walk away with one victory at doubles as the team of Rachel Sackmaster and Marisa Mechem won 8-2.
While the win was great, it makes the Pioneers even more excited to know that Sackmaster and Mechem are both freshmen.
Sackmaster also earned the team’s only point with a win over Michigan’s Delicata at No. 5 singles. She won with scores of 6-3, 6-1 and finished the year with 20-1 singles record and 12-4 doubles record.
This win brought the Pioneers within a point of the Wolverines, but Michigan clinched the match as DaCosta defeated Dullens at No. 1 singles and Kavitha Tipirneni beat Jenny Trettin 6-1, 7-5 at No. 3 singles.
Dullens lost her match 7-6, 7-4, but felt that she was in contention and cannot wait to get back on the court next season.
“Early in the season, my confidence level was not where it normally was but I was still able to win matches,” Dullens said.
“Something changed three weeks before the Sun Belt Conference (SBC) tournament and my confidence level went up to the level it should be, which made me play better than I had all season.”
The loss was only the second of the season for the Pioneers, as they finished with a superb 20-2 record.
The Pioneers winning streak began February 15 in Utah against the University of Utah and consisted of seven 7-0 victories. The most memorable and impressive victory came against then ranked No. 53 SMU.
“One of my favorite memories this season was the match against SMU,” Dullens said.
“We knew we could beat them, but we just had to prove it. I will never forget the feeling after winning the match.”
But perhaps the greatest achievement for the Pioneers was bringing home the SBC title with a 4-2 victory over South Alabama.
“It was a great experience and an amazing feeling that we achieved something that we had worked for all season,” Dullens said.
With a season full of hard work and the numbers to support it, the Pioneers are poised to repeat as SBC champions and take themselves to the next level.
“A close match with a team like Michigan only supports the idea that there are no reasons to fear any team,” Dullens said.
