Michigan Tennis B10 Tournament Recap
Michigan played well in the 2012 Big Ten Tournament. No championships were won, but good games were played, rough country justice was meted out, and more than a few hearts were broken in Evanston when Evan King stepped back on the team bus for the drive back to Ann Arbor.
MMT and MWT entered the Big Ten tournament as 2 seeds, thus earning first-round byes. Two minute opera overture. Curtain.
MMT
April 27, 2012: #22 Michigan 4, MSU 1: Advance to B10 Semifinals, 17-6 overall
Team and Court | Score |
---|---|
#22 Bernstein/King 1 | 8—3 |
Buzzi/Franks 2 | 6—3* |
Zhu/Petrone 3 | 8—4 |
Name and Court | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 |
---|---|---|---|
#7 Evan King 1 | 7—5 | 6—7* | |
Alex Petrone 2 | 7—6 | 6—3 | |
Shaun Bernstein 3 | 3—6 | 2—6 | |
Michael Zhu 4 | 4—6 | 6—0 | 3—2* |
Barrett Franks 5 | 6—4 | 6—1 | |
Alex Buzzi 6 | 6—4 | 6—2 |
*Game abandoned
Good, good. Add another victory over MSU to the vault. Bernstein still cannot serve overhanded, and putting Brown back in the singles lineup is to be considered if Bernstein is not 100% by the beginning of the NCAAs. Beating MSU in doubles is a step in the right direction but it is not enough to win the B10. Other than some minor gloating I have little to say about this game. MSU court 1 Aaron Pfister offered much stiffer resistance to King this time around but still dropped the first set to the King. Petrone is looking like the designated 2 court for the forseeable future. Zhu will battle with Bernstein for 3 court next year if he can get over his streakiness.
April 28, 2012: #22 Michigan 0, #24 Illinois 4: B10 Tournament Over, 17-7 overall
Team and Court | Score |
---|---|
#29 Bernstein/King 1 | 4—8 |
Buzzi/Franks 2 | 5—8 |
Zhu/Petrone 3 | 7—2* |
Name and Court | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 |
---|---|---|---|
#7 Evan King 1 | 3—6 | 6—3 | 1—2* |
Alex Petrone 2 | 7—5 | 3—6 | 1—1* |
Shaun Bernstein 3 | 3—6 | 4—6 | |
Michael Zhu 4 | 6—7 | 2—6 | |
Barrett Franks 5 | 4—6 | 5—7 | |
Alex Buzzi 6 | 6—7 | 6—6* |
Darn it all. On the bright side Illinois beat Ohio 4-3 in the final on April 29th, which was Ohio's first loss in the B10 tournament final after a six-year winning streak, five of those wins also coming against the Illini.
MWT
April 27, 2012: #15 Michigan 4, Indiana 2: Advance to B10 Semifinals, 18-6 overall
Team and Court | Score |
---|---|
#10 Bolender/Betkas 1 | 8—2 |
Nguyen/Sulahian 2 | 8—6 |
Lee/Dodge 3 | 6—5* |
Name and Court | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 |
---|---|---|---|
#12 Emina Betkas 1 | 6—4 | 4—6 | 6—4 |
#85 Brooke Bolender 2 | 6—1 | 6—1 | |
Sarah Lee 3 | 6—4 | 6—1 | |
#121 Mimi Nguyen 4 | 6—4 | 2—0* | |
Michelle Sulahian 5 | 3—6 | 1—6 | |
Kristen Dodge 6 | 3—6 | 3—6 |
#12 Brooke Bolender avenged a season loss on 2 court, and #85 Emina Betkas delivered the goods on 1 court. Also, this match and the next two were played in Columbus. Which makes them extra awesome.
April 28, 2012: #15 Michigan 4, #20 Illinois 0: Advance to B10 Finals, 19-6 overall
Team and Court | Score |
---|---|
#10 Bolender/Betkas 1 | 8—0(!) |
Nguyen/Sulahian 2 | 8—5 |
Lee/Dodge 3 | 4—5* |
Name and Court | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 |
---|---|---|---|
#12 Emina Betkas 1 | 6—2 | 7—6(4) | |
#85 Brooke Bolender 2 | 6—4 | 3—6 | 6—0 |
Sarah Lee 3 | 6—2 | 4—6 | 2—3* |
#121 Mimi Nguyen 4 | 6—4 | 6—4 | |
Michelle Sulahian 5 | 6—3 | 0—6 | 3—3* |
Kristen Dodge 6 | 7—6(7) | 4—6 | 0—1* |
Unfortunately, Michigan lost to Purdue 4-3 in the B10 final on April 29, 2012, with a 19-7 overall record.
Team and Court | Score |
---|---|
#10 Bolender/Betkas 1 | 9—8(0) |
Nguyen/Sulahian 2 | 1—8 |
Lee/Dodge 3 | 8—5 |
Name and Court | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 |
---|---|---|---|
#12 Emina Betkas 1 | 6—1 | 3—6 | 6—0 |
#85 Brooke Bolender 2 | 3—6 | 6—4 | 6—7(5) |
Sarah Lee 3 | 1—6 | 3—6 | |
#121 Mimi Nguyen 4 | 6—3 | 6—2 | |
Michelle Sulahian 5 | 1—6 | 6—4 | 2—6 |
Kristen Dodge 6 | 0—6 | 2—6 |
It was close, very close. Michigan could have won the regular season and the tournament, but it was not meant to be this year.
Curtain.
April 30th, 2012 at 11:56 PM ^
Which players are coming back next year? I only know that Bektas is a freshman
Michelle Sulahian is the only senior playing tennis for Michigan, men's or women's. Two juniors, Evan King and Mimi Nguyen, round out this year's upperclassmen. Assuming everyone returns for both squads and Bernstein gets healthy, I see both teams competing for B10 titles.
Emina Betkas is the real deal. She is one of those players that comes along every 4-5 years and consistently generates points for the team.
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