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Jan. 22, 2011

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – No. 5 Texas (3-0) picked up the doubles point and added singles wins from Kellen Damico, Vasko Mladenov and the match-clincher from Ben Chen, as UT posted a 4-3 win over No. 25 Michigan (1-1) Saturday evening at UM’s Varsity Tennis Center.

Texas opened the match by sweeping the three doubles matches to secure the doubles point.  UT’s fifth-ranked duo of Ed Corrie and Jean Andersen led off with an 8-4 win over Michigan’s 28th-ranked tandem of Jason Jung and Evan King at the first doubles slot.  UT’s 25th-ranked tandem of Damico and David Holiner followed with an 8-5 win over Michigan’s Shaun Bernstein and Chris Cha at second doubles to clinch the doubles point for Texas.  Texas’ sophomore duo of Chen and Mladenov closed out the doubles session at the third slot with an 8-4 win over Justin Rossi and Barrett Franks. 

UT assumed a 3-1 lead after picking up victories from Damico and Mladenov at Nos. 3 and 4 singles, respectively.  Damico registered a decisive 6-3, 6-2 win over Michigan’s Rossi, while Mladenov added a 6-4, 6-3 win over Chris Cha at fourth singles.  The Wolverines responded with two more victories, however, to place the match’s outcome in the hands of Texas’ Chen and Michigan’s Bernstein at fifth singles. 

Chen claimed the first set, 6-2 before Bernstein took the second, 6-2 to force an additional set.  Chen broke Bernstein’s serve early on and broke again at 4-2 to assume a 5-2 lead.  Chen served out the final game at love and smacked a backhand winner to win the match and clinch the victory for the Longhorns. 

Texas resumes dual-match play on Saturday, Jan. 29 when it takes on Hawaii in the first match of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend event at UT’s Penick-Allison Tennis Center. 

POST-MATCH COMMENTS
Texas head coach Michael Center
On the win
“I thought we played very well in doubles.  We got up two breaks early at No. 1 and played well at Nos. 2 and 3.  I felt good going into singles, but Michigan started taking it to us.  We got on our heels and never recovered at a few spots.  Those five matches were straight-setters, and then it came down to one set.  I give Michigan a lot of credit.  Michigan played very well in singles tonight and was aggressive tonight in certain spots. There was a great crowd here, too, which was good to see.” 

On Ben Chen closing out the match
“Ben has really worked hard, and he has clinched all three of our matches this year.  Everyone circled around his court near the end, but he just played with a lot of poise.  There were some key points in that third set, but he played tough and came through again for us.  It was another great match from Ben.”  
    
No. 5 Texas 4, No. 25 Michigan 3
Varsity Tennis Center (Indoors)
Doubles – Order of Finish:  1, 2, 3
1 #5 Corrie/Andersen (UT) def. #28 Jason Jung/Evan King (UM) – 8-4
2 #25 Damico/Holiner (UT) def. Shaun Bernstein/Chris Cha (UM) – 8-5
3 Chen/Mladenov (UT) def. Justin Rossi/Barrett Franks (UM) – 8-4
Singles – Order of Finish:  3, 6, 4, 2, 1, 5
1 Evan King (UM) def. Ed Corrie (UT) – 6-1, 6-3
2 #35 Jason Jung (UM) def. Jean Andersen (UT) – 6-3, 6-2
3 Kellen Damico (UT) def. Justin Rossi (UM) – 6-3, 6-2
4 Vasko Mladenov (UT) def. Chris Cha (UM) – 6-4, 6-3
5 #100 Ben Chen (UT) def. Shaun Bernstein (UM) – 6-2, 2-6, 6-2
6 Barrett Franks (UM) def. Sudanwa Sitaram (UT) – 6-1, 6-3

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