University of Washington
Michigan Invitational
Chan Has Strong Opener At Michigan Invite
January 15, 2011 | Women's Tennis
Jan. 15, 2011
ANN ARBOR - The Husky women's tennis team opened its 2011 season with a stiff test on day one of the Michigan Invitational, facing the eighth-ranked Wolverines in singles play and then 16th-ranked Georgia Tech in doubles action. Senior All-American Venise Chan led the way with wins in both singles and doubles.
Chan, who slipped to 55th in the rankings after a tough fall season, showed why she's capable of jumping back up the rankings quickly, as she downed Michigan's Brooke Bolender, 6-3, 6-0 in the No. 2 singles match. In the No. 1 match, in a battle of Top-20 singles players, 11th-ranked Wolverine Denise Muresan knocked off sixth-ranked junior Denise Dy, 6-0, 7-5.
Chan and Dy picked up a key doubles win for the Dawgs against the Yellow Jackets, defeating the 66th-ranked doubles tandem of Lilley and Krupina, 8-5.
But down the rest of the singles lineup, the Huskies struggled against the talented Michigan squad opening up on its home courts. Freshman Andjela Nemcevic and junior Samantha Smith fought well but both went down, 6-2, 6-4. Senior Vanja Radunovic took her first set, 6-3, over Michelle Slahian at No. 7 singles, but Sulahian eked out the second set in a tiebreak and went on to a 6-4 third set win.
This is the second year the Huskies have opened their season at the Michigan Invitational, which features a unique format that replicates a dual match but awards points for individual players based on their spot in the lineup. Teams will set their singles and doubles lineups as usual, and wins at the No. 1 singles and doubles positions will be worth the most points, down to the No. 8 singles or No. 4 doubles matches. Tournament winners will be individual players and doubles teams that have accumulated the most points over the weekend.
Tomorrow, Washington will be up early to place Tennessee in singles at 10 a.m., and then they'll have a chance at some revenge with doubles play against Michigan.
Washington vs. Michigan
Singles
1) (11) Denise Muresan (U-M) d. (6) Denise Dy (UW), 6-0, 7-5
2) (55) Venise Chan (UW) d. Brooke Bolender (U-M), 6-3, 6-0
3) Sam Critser (U-M) d. Andjela Nemcevic (UW), 6-2, 6-4
4) (61) Whitney Taney (U-M) d. Samantha Smith (UW), 6-2, 6-4
5) Mimi Nguyen (U-M) d. Lina Xu (UW), 6-0, 6-3
6) Rika Tatsuno (U-M) d. Aleksandra Krsljanin (UW), 6-1, 6-0
7) Michelle Sulahian (U-M) d. Vanja Radunovic (UW), 3-6, 7-6, 6-4
Washington vs. Georgia Tech
Doubles
1) Dy/Chan (UW) d. (66) Lilley/Krupina (GT), 8-5
2) Blau/Kilborn (GT) d. Smith/Xu (UW), 8-3
3) Ngo/O'Neill (GT) d. Krsljanin/Nemcevic (UW), 8-3
Players Mentioned
