Michigan Men's Tennis: Move on to Sweet Sixteen

from MGoBlue.com
http://www.mgoblue.com/tennis-m/article.aspx?id=137294

NCAA Regional Champs! Michigan Knocks Off Texas Tech

May 11, 2008

Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Varsity Tennis Center)
Event: NCAA Championship (Second Round)
Score: #16 Michigan 4, #17 Texas Tech 2
Records: U-M (20-6), TTU (20-6)
Next U-M Match: Friday, May 16 -- vs. #1 Virginia at NCAA Team Championship (Tulsa, Okla.), Noon CDT

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 16-ranked University of Michigan men's tennis team earned a monumental victory Sunday afternoon (May 11) at U-M's Varsity Tennis Center, claiming a 4-2 win over No. 17-ranked Texas Tech to advance to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 1988. The Wolverines performed brilliantly in doubles to take the first team point, and then secured three of the first five singles matches completed to earn their first trip to the NCAA Team Championship under fourth-year head coach Bruce Berque. In the process, U-M achieved its second straight 20-win campaign (20-6).

With Michigan leading 3-2, junior Andrew Mazlin (Altamonte Springs, Fla./Lyman HS) completed a 6-3, 6-7(1), 6-3 triumph over Lenoir Ramos at No. 3 singles to send the Maize and Blue to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen for the first time in two decades. After struggling to capitalize on a pair of match points in the second set, Mazlin showed his toughness and earned an early break to go ahead 3-0 in the third frame. Ramos recorded a break of his own to narrow the game to 4-3, but Mazlin broke back in the ensuing game and then held serve to close out the match. Mazlin finished off the Red Raiders (20-6) with an ace, causing his Wolverine teammates to storm the court in celebration.

After dropping a tough doubles point to Western Michigan in Saturday's (May 10) opening round, U-M played perhaps its most inspired doubles play of the season against Texas Tech. Michigan's No. 38-ranked tandem of sophomore Mike Sroczynski (Chatham, N.J./Laurel Springs School) and freshman Jason Jung (Torrance, Calif./West Torrance HS) came out firing on all cylinders, cruising to an 8-1 victory over Milos Kustudija and Sinisa Markovic at No. 2. It was the Wolverine duo's team-leading 20th overall win of 2007-08 (20-9).

Sophomore George Navas (Tampa, Fla./Tampa Preparatory School) and freshman Chris Madden (Lotus, Calif./Ponderosa HS) got back on a winning track when it mattered most, recording an 8-5 decision over Ramos and Ilya Babinciuc at No. 3 to give Michigan its 17th doubles point of the season. Navas and Madden broke the Red Raider pair's serve to go up 5-4 and then took care of their three remaining service games to wrap up the big victory.

Mazlin and senior Matko Maravic (Zagreb, Croatia/V. Gimnazija) held a 5-3 advantage over Texas Tech's No. 13-ranked team of Christian Rojmar and Bojan Szumanski at No. 1 when doubles point was decided.

Sroczynski used a late surge to win his No. 4 singles match against Babinciuc, 6-2, 7-5. Sroczynski erased a 5-1 deficit in the second set, claiming six straight games to complete his fourth win in five tries at the fourth position and put the Wolverines in front 2-0.

Rojmar provided Texas Tech with its first team point with a straight-set triumph at No. 5, but Navas answered back with a clutch 6-4, 6-4 victory over Kustudija at No. 6 to give Michigan a commanding 3-1 lead. Navas is one of two Wolverines (Mazlin) to finish the NCAA Regional Championship with a 2-0 record in singles.

Jung opened up a 5-4 lead in his No. 2 match against No. 119-ranked Markovic and was just one point away from taking the first set, but Markovic won the next five points to tie the score at 5-5. The set eventually went to a tiebreaker, in which Markovic erased a 5-2 deficit by winning the final five points to take the set. Markovic used a late break to take the second set (6-4) and the match, setting the stage for Mazlin's three-set clinching victory.

Maravic was on the verge of walking off his home courts for the final time as a winner, as he held a 6-7(3), 6-3, 5-2 advantage over No. 33-ranked Szumanski at No. 1 when Mazlin blasted his serve to finish off Ramos.

The Wolverines will meet No. 1-ranked Virginia in the opening round of the NCAA Team Championship on Friday (May 16) at noon CDT. The 16-team tournament will be held Friday-Tuesday (May 16-20) at the University of Tulsa's Michael D. Case Tennis Center in Tulsa, Okla.
Following are match-by-match results:

Singles
No. 1 -- #64 Matko Maravic (U-M) vs. #33 Bojan Szumanski, 6-7(3), 6-3, 5-2 (unfinished)
No. 2 -- #119 Sinisa Markovic (TTU) d. Jason Jung, 7-6(5), 6-4
No. 3 -- Andrew Mazlin (U-M) d. Lenoir Ramos, 6-3, 6-7(1), 6-3
No. 4 -- Mike Sroczynski (U-M) d. Ilya Babinciuc, 6-2, 7-5
No. 5 -- Christian Rojmar (TTU) d. Chris Madden, 6-3, 6-4
No. 6 -- George Navas (U-M) d. Milos Kustudija, 6-4, 6-4

Doubles
No. 1 -- Maravic/Mazlin (U-M) vs. #13 Rojmar/Szumanski, 5-3 (unfinished)
No. 2 -- #38 Jung/Sroczynski (U-M) d. Kustudija/Markovic, 8-1
No. 3 -- Madden/Navas (U-M) d. Babinciuc/Ramos, 8-5

Order of Finish: Doubles 2-3, Singles 4-5-6-2-3