Michigan
Vanderbilt
Michigan Edged by Vanderbilt in NCAA Regional Action
5/15/1999 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Site: Champaign, Ill. (Atkins Tennis Center)
Event: NCAA Regional (First Round)
Score: Vanderbilt 4, Michigan 3
Records: U-M (16-5), Vanderbilt (12-13)
Next U-M Match: Season completed
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- The University of Michigan men's tennis team dropped its first-round NCAA Regional match to Vanderbilt by a count of 4-3 Saturday (May 15) at the University of Illinois' Atkins Tennis Center. Vanderbilt's No. 5 singles player, Pete Blach, clinched the win with a 5-7, 7-6 (7-1), 6-1 win over Michigan's Henry Beam (Kalamazoo, Mich./Loy Norrix HS) in the final match.
The Commodores won the first point as they took two of the three doubles matches. U-M's victory in the doubles portion of the match came from William Farah (Flint, Mich./Powers Catholic HS) and Danny McCain (Largo, Fla./The Canterbury School) at the No. 3 spot as they downed Vanderbilt pair of Stuart Rhodes and Brad Hambrick by an 8-4 count.
In the singles portion, the Wolverines kept the match close, taking three of six matches, but Vanderbilt won three-setters at No. 5 and No. 6, taking a set by tie-breaker in each match. U-M's wins came at the No. 1, 2 and 4 spots. At No. 1, Wolverine Matt Wright (Wichita, Kan./Wichita Collegiate HS) downed Vanderbilt's Kyle Porter in straight sets 7-5, 6-4. At the No. 2 spot, Farah stopped VU's Eddie Coates 7-6 (7-4), 6-3. McCain needed three sets to defeat Rhodes as he dropped the first set 4-6 but bounced back to take the final two sets 6-4 and 6-2.
Michigan's season and the coaching career for retiring head coach Brian Eisner come to end with the loss to Vanderbilt. The Wolverines completed the year with a 16-5 overall record and a 9-1 mark in Big Ten Conference dual matches.
Following are match-by-match results:
Singles
No. 1 -- Matt Wright (U-M) def. Kyle Porter 7-5, 6-4
No. 2 -- William Farah (U-M) def. Eddie Coates 7-6 (7-4), 6-3
No. 3 -- Andrew Nisker (VU) def. John Long 6-3, 7-6 (8-6)
No. 4 -- Danny McCain (U-M) def. Stuart Rhodes 4-6, 6-4, 6-2
No. 5 -- Pete Blach (VU) def. Henry Beam 5-7, 7-6 (7-1), 6-1
No. 6 -- Danny Tym def. Ben Cox 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7-5)
Doubles
No. 1 -- Porter/Nisker (VU) def. Wright/Long 8-3
No. 2 -- Coates/Tym (VU) def. Beam/Ron Nano 8-6
No. 3 -- Farah/McCain (U-M) def. Rhodes/Brad Hambrick 8-4
Players Mentioned
