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Moon leads Blue to victories

Throughout the month of March, the ball just wasn't bouncing the Michigan tennis team's way. The Wolverines had played tough competition in many of those matches, but came up short at times when perhaps they should have won.

They could have crumbled; they could have called it quits.

Instead, Michigan began a new month with new-found faith and pulled out two close matches posting 4-3 victories over Illinois and Purdue.

The Wolverines found ways to win in places they hadn't looked before, maybe because they just hadn't searched hard enough yet.

Sophomore Sora Moon had been struggling in her singles game as of late, not experiencing the success of her freshman year. Moon, Michigan's No. 2 singles player, had lost her competitiveness and was lacking confidence.

This past weekend, however, Moon came up big down the stretch in both matches with three-set wins.

"I was in a slump for a while," Moon said. "I've been praying to God for desire. I gave it everything. I just wanted to go out there and win."

Moon's first clutch victory came against Illinois. Moon and Stacey Shapiro split the first two sets with 7-5 counts apiece. In the third set, Moon was on the brink of elimination when she was down 30-love and receiving serve. At the time, Shapiro led 4-5 in the set, and two points would have closed out the match. Moon overcame the deficit by breaking serve and tied the match. Shapiro wasn't able to hang on, and Moon took advantage, closing out her match and a Michigan win.

Against Purdue, Moon was just as impressive. Up 3-2 in the third set, the usually quiet Moon came into the change-over and asked coach Bitsy Ritt the score of the dual match. Ritt told her the match was tied, and Moon just shook her head in acknowledgement of the familiar situation. She went back out onto the court and took care of business, reeling off three straight games. Moon was a 4-6, 6-4, 6-2, winner over Boilermaker Alyssa Kohl.

Moon uncharacteristically showed emotion on the court. Moon usually doesn't express herself much during games, but over the weekend she was very intense.

When all was said and done, Michigan went out a victor, and Illinois was left in shock.

Senior Tara Graff came up with a big win of her own versus the Illini. Graff faced southpaw Natalie Adsuar. Aware that Adsuar was left-handed, Graff's game plan was to serve wide on the deuce side. Also, Graff exploited Adsuar's weak backhand, going in behind every shot to the backhand side. The strategy worked well, and Graff led, 4-1, in the first set. Adsuar tied up the set, 4-4, after Graff drifted from the game plan. Graff reverted back to her successful scheme and defeated Adsuar, 6-4, 6-3.

Graff and Jodi Brewer helped Michigan claim the doubles point against Purdue, notching a win at third doubles. The top doubles tandem, Moon and Sarah Cyganiak , extended their winning streak to six at the expense of the Boilermakers. Cyganiak and Moon went into the weekend ranked No. 26 in the nation.

The two won a close match, 9-7, over Nan Smith and Amanda Scott. Cyganiak and Moon broke at 4-5 and at 8-7. Scott, who was serving at the end of the match, had a strong serve, but Michigan was able to contain it. Cyganiak and Moon also took advantage of Scott's weak net play.

The No. 2 doubles team, consisting of Sibyl Smith and Tumeka Harris, fell behind early in its match but made a run to get back into it. Purdue's Mary Beth Maggart and Kohl won 8-6 when Smith and Harris' run ended up a bit short.

Cyganiak and Harris were also notable singles winners. Harris won in straight sets, 6-3, 6-1, over Illinois' Jessica Klapper and then 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, over Purdue's Cohen. Harris was down 4-1 in the third set against Cohen, but didn't lose a game the rest of the way.