Georgia Tech's Kelly Anderson - ranked 35th in the nation - bounced the ball off her forehead in angry frustration after unranked Michigan freshman Chisako Sugiyama won yet another point late in the second set.

On Sunday afternoon, Sugiyama's 7-5, 7-5 upset decision put her at 3-1 in singles competition at her first ever Michigan Invitational.

Louisiana State, California and Georgia Tech participated in the annual invitational, hosted by the Michigan women's tennis team at the Varsity Tennis Center. Though the event was set up in traditional dual match format - with each team squaring off against each other at different times - there were no overall team scores. But individual wins and losses still counted toward each player's record and ITA/NCAA rankings.

No. 35 Michigan finished the weekend 10-13 in singles matches and 5-3 in doubles competition.

Sugiyama's upset was one of the Wolverines' key victories during the invitational. At other times, their opponents left them frustrated.

Junior Elizabeth Exon defeated Louisiana State's Anastasiya Dubova and California's Cristina Visico, but she suffered singles match defeats on the last two days of the Friday-Sunday event.

On Saturday, against the Golden Bears' Stephanie Kusano - ranked No. 62 - Exon lost the first set 6-1, but she held Kusano at deuce for several minutes before Kusano won the point as well as the next two for the win.

The next day, Exon saw a similar situation with No. 25 Tarryn Rudman. She lost the first set 6-1 but played a tightly contested second set, going point for point with Rudman. Though Exon was up 2-0 at the beginning, Rudman won that second set 7-5, taking the match.

"(It was) still great," Michigan's assistant coach Amanda Augustus said. "Exon had a great win this morning (over Visico) and not a lot of time to rest."

Said Exon: "Everyone's doing well. It's not a tourney where dual matches count, but it's very important for us."

Though teams are often rusty in January, Exon said Michigan was working through it. Prior to the invitational, the team had been back practicing for just one week.

"I have high expectations for everybody," Michigan coach Bitsy Ritt said. "We did a great job last year coming together on the court. I'd like us to get off to a strong start, with great intensity."

After the second day, Ritt noted that individual players' fitness levels were strong, but other aspects of the game did need work.

"Execution can improve, and it will," Ritt said.

Ritt was recently appointed associate Athletic Director, a promotion that is effective immediately after her team's 2006 spring season.

While the Michigan women's tennis team may not have won as many matches as they would have liked at the invitational, take note that all three opposing teams are ranked in the top-50 nationally.

Senior captain Debra Streifler said this weekend actually bodes well for the season.

"They're really good teams," she said. "We may be losing some games, but we're (competing) in all of them."

Michigan's performances against California demonstrate Streifler's sentiments. After losing six of eight singles matches to the Golden Bears on Saturday afternoon, Michigan rebounded in doubles the next morning against the same team. Michigan won on courts one and three; the lone loss on court two was close, 8-6.