Close friends and seniors Lindsey Howard and Chisako Sugiyama had an emotional final outing at the Varsity Tennis Center on Saturday against Purdue. Both seniors were honored with flowers and a ceremony prior to the No. 20 Michigan women's tennis team's 5-2 victory against the Boilermakers.

During their time as Wolverines, the seniors led the team in different ways.

Although she doesn't don the traditional "C" on her jersey, Howard's contributions as Michigan's captain exceed a letter on a uniform.

Howard has been the Wolverines' captain for the past two years. She has accumulated a combined doubles record of 60-32, including an astounding 19-10 doubles record in Big Ten competition.

She and sophomore Denise Muresan picked up a 8-2 doubles win Saturday en route to a doubles sweep for Michigan (7-1 Big Ten, 13-5 overall).

Michigan coach Ronni Bernstein said that Howard's teammates look up to her and appreciate the energy she brings to the court.

Both seniors' parents attended the match, and Sugiyama's mother even flew all the way from Japan for the special occasion.

"My mom hasn't seen me play tennis for two years," Sugiyama said. "It was a really good feeling to have someone from my family there to watch me play."

With her mother watching from the stands, Sugiyama notched two wins, a straight-set victory (6-4, 6-3) at No. 2 singles and an 8-4 victory at No. 1 doubles.

And her performance on Saturday was just one glimpse of her contribution to the Michigan women's tennis program. Sugiyama's time at Michigan is epitomized by one word – records.

The Parsippany, N.J., native's career includes significant hardware: a conference-record six Big Ten Athlete of the Week awards and the record for all-time singles wins at Michigan.

With Sugiyama's routine singles outing Saturday, she collected her 102nd career singles victory.

"After the match (on Thursday) it was a relief," Sugiyama said of the buildup and hype surrounding her singles match on Thursday against Texas A&M. "I knew how many more I needed, but I was personally trying not to count how many more I had to get to 101."

On Saturday, both seniors provided their usual early sparks by contributing to a sweep in doubles competition that set the tone for Michigan's success. It was the fourth doubles sweep for the team this year.

Both fans and Michigan coach Ronni Bernstein acknowledged the seniors' efforts and the legacy the duo will leave on the program.

“Our younger kids know what is expected from them, and that is due to our upperclassmen," Bernstein said. "It's because of the way they handle themselves ... they are responsible."