At 7-2, 'M' women's tennis hasn't wrapped up conference title just yet

With a 7-2 conference record, the Michigan women's tennis team appears to be sitting pretty in the conference standings. But due to a large amount of parity in the Big Ten this year, Michigan needs some help to garner the top seed in the conference tournament.

The Wolverines, ranked No. 46 nationally, will have an opportunity to help themselves next weekend and could extend their conference record to 9-2 when Wisconsin and Northwestern come to Ann Arbor for matches on Saturday and Sunday. Both matches start at 10 a.m.

DANA LINNANE/Daily Brooke Heart and the Michigan women's tennis team have a chance to reach 9-2 in the Big Ten when Wisconsin and Northwestern come to town next weekend.

Next weekend "is a very important weekend for us," Michigan sophomore Danielle Lund said. "We're not definitely in the (NCAA) regional, and we need these wins to get there."

Wisconsin enters the match with the Wolverines tied with Purdue for the No. 1 spot in the Big Ten standings. The Badgers are ranked 19th nationally and a win for the Wolverines would be their biggest upset of the year.

Sunday, Northwestern comes to town with its eyes on an upset of its own. The Wildcats, who were ranked 22nd nationally earlier in the year, have fallen to No. 65 in the most recent ITA rankings. Northwestern got off to a slow start in the conference, losing matches to Wisconsin and Purdue early in the year. But the Wildcats have not lost to a conference foe since Mar. 1. They are tied with the Wolverines for the second spot in the conference.

"I anticipate both of these matches to be very close," Michigan coach Bitsy Ritt said. "They're both very important matches. Northwestern has been playing well over the last few weeks."

With several teams bunched up at the top of the conference standings, this weekend will play a definitive role in determining the seedings for the Big Ten Tournament April 30-May 5.

Three of the top four Big Ten teams will be playing in Ann Arbor this weekend, and the team that can put two matches together will likely emerge with the highest seed in the Big Ten Tournament.

Purdue is the other team at the top of the standings. The Boilermakers are sitting in fine position, with a 7-1 Big Ten record and only Minnesota and Iowa left on their conference schedule. Michigan will need both the Hawkeyes and the Gophers to pull off upsets in order to secure the top seed at the Big Ten Tournament. If both Michigan and Purdue end the season with identical records, the Boilermakers would earn the higher seed by virtue of their head-to-head win over the Wolverines.

The match against the Badgers could prove to be an especially crucial one for the Wolverines. Wisconsin has only one Big Ten loss, and a win over the Badgers would assure the Wolverines a higher seed at the tournament, barring a loss to Northwestern Sunday.

Michigan has gotten some help from Wisconsin already - the Badgers handed Minnesota their second conference loss of the season last Saturday. Minnesota also dropped a match to Northwestern on Sunday.

With only two conference losses, Northwestern has a chance to gain a higher seed than the Wolverines if the Wildcats pull off an upset on Sunday.

Michigan can ill-afford to drop both weekend matches, as that would add up to four conference losses on the season. Iowa and Indiana also currently have four losses, and if the Hawkeyes finish the season with a record identical to the Wolverines' mark, they will earn a higher seed again - due to their win over the Wolverines during the dual-meet season.

Losing both of their weekend matches could drop the Wolverines out of the top five in the conference standings. Last year, the WOlverines won the Big Ten.

They would then be forced to start the Big Ten Tournament a day early - something they are hoping to avoid.

A split in their weekend matches would virtually assure the Wolverines a top-five seed, and a slot in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament.

04-21-98