The No. 49 Michigan women's tennis team traveled south this past weekend to face two nationally-ranked opponents - Tennessee, ranked No. 26 and Kentucky ranked No. 23.
Michigan seemed prepared for the tough match it was about to encounter. But in the end, Tennessee had too much talent and experience. The Wolverines got blanked 9-0 on Sunday.
The Wolverines started off their dual- match season with a convincing win over Western Michigan, but their season soon withered when Michigan headed south, to Lexington, with hopes of upsetting Kentucky.
The Wolverines came up on the short end of the stick, at the Boone Indoor Tennis Center, as they were trounced 8-1 by a strong Kentucky team.
The Wildcats' domination showed in singles play as junior Danielle Lund, sophomores Szandra Fuzesi and Alison Sinclair and freshman Jen Vaughn all lost in straight sets.
Lund may now tumble from her No. 28 ranking in the country, after losing to three lower-ranked players.
Lund's cold streak continues as she is still looking to tally her first win of the season and her 60th of her career. She now rests at 0-3 for this season, in contrast to her 59-32 career record.
Junior Brooke Hart started her match against Massoumeh Emami strong, netting the first set 6-4. But Hart dropped the second set by the same margin and deteriorated in the third and decisive set suffering a 6-0 loss. The defeat dropped Hart to 5-4 on the season.
The only bright spot for the Wolverines came from senior Jen Boylan who tallied a straight-set victory (7-5, 6-3) over the Wildcats' hottest player, Shannon Stafford, and Kentucky's two-match winning streak.
In doubles play, the Wolverines didn't fare well either. The team of Hart and Lund couldn't stop Kentucky's No. 1 doubles team, falling 8-2.
Adding to the Wolverines' woes, the duo of Boylan and Fuzesi also dropped their match 8-5.
Sinclair and Vaughn mustered the greatest opposition to the Wildcats, barely edged out, 9-7 in a competitive match that took a total of 16 games to complete.
02-15-99
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