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Michigan Stifles Indiana Comeback, Advances to Semifinals
April 27, 2007
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Second-seeded Michigan provided plenty of suspense in the final match of the day at the 2007 Big Ten Championship before finalizing the semifinal slate with a 4-1 win over Indiana that thrilled the Schwartz Tennis Center crowd more than the final score could convey. After taking the doubles point somewhat handily with wins from their Nos. 2 and 3 duos, the Wolverines' Mike Srocynski added another to the tally in a 6-3, 6-4 defeat of Indiana's Peter Antons. But the 67th-ranked Hoosiers' hopes were all but ravaged. Junior transfer Thomas Richter gave Indiana a much-needed boost with a straight-set upset of Michigan's 48th-ranked Brian Hung at No. 1 singles. Wolverine senior Ryan Heller raised the stakes again, claiming a gritty 6-3, 6-4 victory over Arnaud Roussel in the No. 4 match, but the Hoosiers were not completely cut out of the upset-potential picture. In the Nos. 3 and 6 singles matches, Michigan's Andrew Mazlin and George Navas were on the ropes, having both split sets with their Hoosier counterparts, when the Wolverines' 49th-ranked Matko Maravic stormed back to claim a three-set thriller (4-6, 6-2, 6-4) over David Bubenicek with two match points. Indiana fell to 15-11 overall while 20th-ranked Michigan moves to 19-5 and its third-straight championship semifinal appearance. The Wolverines, who claimed their first win over the perennial power Illinois since 1996 in early April, will look to reprise the teams' regular season meeting when they face the Blue and Orange at 2 p.m. ET on Saturday.
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