BY MARK BURNS
Daily Sports Writer
Published February 28, 2009
The No. 18 Michigan men’s tennis team's season still can be defined in one word: inconsistent.
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After starting the season an impressive 5-0, the Wolverines have lost six matches in the past three weeks.
And Michigan’s most recent setback came Friday, thanks to a 4-2 loss to No. 41 Washington in Malibu, Calif.
This year, Michigan hasn't yet proven it can compete with the best. It has faced five ranked teams in the past month, losing against four. The Wolverines' lone win came against No. 25 California. At this time last season, Michigan was 7-2 and went.500 against the four ranked opponents it faced.
Because the Wolverines returned most of their roster, this season's disparity is surprising.
“Losing is definitely not something you want to get used to,” Michigan coach Bruce Berque said. “Everyone just needs to get back to practice, work on their game, and we’ll be fine.”
After struggling with the performance of his doubles teams earlier in the season, Berque has recently shuffled the pairings to give the Wolverines a boost. Michigan has responded by winning the doubles point in two of its last three matches.
Berque consistently emphasizes the importance of grabbing that point and getting the match off to a good start. Against the Huskies (8-3), the Wolverines won all three doubles matches.
Michigan (6-6) then won its first singles match as junior George Navas defeated his opponent at the No. 6 position (6-4, 6-2) to give the Wolverines a quick 2-0 start.
“I noticed that my opponent was lacking a little confidence with his game, so I just wanted to jump on him early,” Navas said.
But the strong start didn't translate into overall team success. Navas’s win ended up being the lone singles victory for Michigan, as Washington won the next four matches.
“Obviously, we wanted to come out here and get (a) win,” Berque said. “But unfortunately, that didn’t happen.”
The Wolverines will play three more matches before gearing up for Big Ten play at the end of March. Berque said he believes the Wolverines have the athletic ability and talent to earn the wins, if they stay confident and practice more efficiently.
