Women netters run out of luck

The record will show that the Michigan women's tennis team lost to Notre Dame last night. It will list the score as 5-4 in favor of the Irish. The score will lead one to believe that the match was close.

How close, however, cannot be reflected by the record.

Michigan hosted the Fighting Irish at the Varsity Tennis Center last night. And if you weren't there, and judging by the attendance you weren't, you missed an incredible match.

Things didn't start out so well, though. Michigan dropped two matches right away, with Michigan senior Sora Moon and junior Tumeka Harris falling at No. 5 and No. 3 singles, respectively.

At No. 1 singles, Brooke Hart put Michigan on the board with a straight- set win over Notre Dame's Jennifer Hall, who is ranked 18th nationally.

EMILY NATHAN/Daily Michigan's top singles player, Brooke Hart, won in straight sets over Notre Dame's 18th-ranked Jennifer Hall.

"I was pleased for Brooke, that's a huge win," Michigan coach Bitsy Ritt said.

The Wolverines then dropped two more matches. Danielle Lund and Erryn Weggenman fell in straight sets at No. 2 and No. 4 singles.

These two wins gave Notre Dame a 4-1 lead, and they needed just one more victory to take the match.

Boylan lost the first set at No. 6 singles in a tiebreak. She fought back, however, and took the second set 6-3. She then dominated the third set, winning six games to love.

"I've played her before and I knew I could win," Boylan said.

The Irish had a 4-2 advantage after the singles matches, and needed to win one doubles match to seal the victory.

That match was a little more elusive than the Irish expected it to be. Michigan came out on fire in doubles play. At No. 3, Harris and Weggenman rolled over their opponents 8-1. Hart and Lund cruised as well, winning 8-2.

The Wolverines had tied the team score at four points apiece. And things looked even better as the No. 2 doubles team of Moon and Boylan took a 3-0 lead in their match.

But the luck of the Irish could not be denied. Notre Dame's Michelle Dasso and Marisa Velasco came back to tie the score at 4 games apiece, and went on to take an 8-5 victory over Moon and Boylan. The win gave the Irish a 5-4 victory in the match.

Michigan will look to rebound this weekend. Big Ten power Indiana comes to town on Saturday, followed by Ohio State on Sunday. Both matches are at 11 a.m.

"Indiana is always a big rivalry," Lund said. "They were the powerhouse in the past."

Ohio State comes to town looking for its first conference win. The match not only features the traditional rivalry between Michigan and Ohio State, but between two members of the Harris family. Michigan junior Tumeka Harris plays No. 3 singles for the Wolverines, and her sister plays No. 2 singles for the Buckeyes.

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