'M' netters confront tragedy before tough opponents

By Joe Smith

Daily Sports Writer

Senior Erryn Weggenman made her amazing recovery from a possible permanent injury to her wrist earlier this year, and resumed her winning contributions on the court more than a month ago.

Now, Weggenman and the Michigan women's tennis team must once again handle adversity. But this time it's not just a wrist injury, it's something that hits closer to the heart and will last for eternity.

Weggenman's brother, Ryan, was killed instantly in a weather related car accident March 5 - shocking the team, and sending the Wolverines into sudden mourning for their teammate and friend's loss.

Ryan, 20, was a sophomore and leading golfer at College of the Desert in Palm Desert, Calif.

Erryn and Ryan were extremely close, and talked almost every day - forming a relationship similar to best friends.

"They (Weggenmans) have a very close family," Michigan coach Bitsy Ritt said. "She had a really special relationship with her brother - it's tragic. It's very, very upsetting to see Erryn so upset."

Ritt and senior co-captains Danielle Lund and Brooke Hart made the 2,000-mile trek out West for the funeral last Thursday - giving their support and condolences to the entire family.

"We're glad we were able to go," Ritt said. "We wanted to show her we care."

It is unclear when Weggenman, who is staying with her family in Oregon, will rejoin her teammates. She is not expected to be back for this weekend's matches.

The rest of the team continued its workouts during the off-week, with some players dealing with nagging injuries, not to mention an emotional roller coaster.

Junior Szandra Fuzesi (groin), sophomore Jen Vaughn (leg) and freshman Joann Musgrove (foot) practiced sporadically, while treating their physical wounds - with their emotional ones running even deeper.

"We all are very sad about what happened to Erryn," Fuzesi said.

"Probably what happened will bring the team closer together - as we try the difficult task of focusing our attention back to tennis."

Teammate Lund echoed her feelings.

"This shows that some things are more important than tennis," Lund said.

Insignificant as they may be right now, the team's next two matches at the Varsity Tennis Center will challenge them to focus on the task at hand. Michigan battles No. 19 Tennessee this Friday night at 6 p.m., and then must return to grinding out the points on Saturday to host conference foe Minnesota at 1 p.m.

The Volunteers have owned the Big Ten of late, dominating the conference in their last 20 meetings - going 19-1. That includes victories this year against Purdue, Indiana and No. 31 Ohio State.

The Golden Gophers are red-hot, riding a four-match winning streak into Ann Arbor - while the Wolverines (5-3) are trying to keep from falling to 0-3 in the conference.

Besides missing Weggenman, the Wolverines could be without Vaughn, whose status is doubtful for this weekend due to her leg injury.

Both are doubles players, so their absences could cause Ritt to revamp the doubles combos once again, but most will remain the same as they were in the team's most recent match - when the Michigan tandems swept the doubles competition.