Michigan
Notre Dame
Michigan Drops Five of Six Singles, Falls to Notre Dame
3/23/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan men's tennis team suffered a 5-2 loss to No. 37 Notre Dame Wednesday night (March 23) at the Varsity Tennis Center. The Wolverines (8-2) captured the doubles point to start the match, but the Fighting Irish took five of six in singles to claim the win and break U-M's 10-match home winning streak.
The match began in thrilling fashion, as Michigan came away with the tightly contested doubles point to start the afternoon. After Luis Haddock and Matthew Scott gave the Irish an early leg up with an 8-3 victory over junior Josef Fischer (Nuernberg, Germany/Bradenton Academy) and freshman Ryan Heller (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North HS) at No. 2, the Wolverines responded with an 8-3 win from junior Vinny Gossain (Okemos, Mich./Okemos HS) and freshman Steve Peretz (Brooklyn, N.Y./The Dwight School) over Stephen Bass and Eric Langenkamp at No. 3.
The doubles point was decided on the middle court, as senior Anthony Jackson (Glendale, Wis./Nicolet HS) and freshman Brian Hung (Hong Kong, China/Sagemont Virtual School) battled Brent D'Amico and Ryan Keckley point for point for nearly an hour and a half. After fighting their way back to tie the match at 8-8, the U-M tandem erased a two-point deficit in the tiebreaker to prevail 7-5 and clinch the doubles point for the Wolverines.
With No. 1 singles player Michael Rubin (Canton, Ohio/Canton Central Catholic HS) resting an injury, head coach Mark Mees moved each of his players up one spot in the lineup.
Notre Dame evened the match with a win at No. 3, as D'Amico handed Heller his first loss of the dual match season, 7-5, 6-4. Scott kept things rolling for the Irish with a 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Hung at No. 2.
Sophomore David Anving (Tvaaker, Sweden/Varbergs Gymnasieskola) tied the match at 2-2 with his seventh consecutive victory, a 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 decision over Barry King at No. 5. However, Bass' 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-3 win over Peretz at No. 4 brought Notre Dame within one point of clinching the team victory.
In the most exciting match of the day, Haddock outlasted Jackson in three sets to give the Irish the overall win. After dropping the first set 6-4, Jackson dominated his opponent 6-1 in the second frame to square things up. In the third and deciding set, Haddock slipped by 7-5 despite a valiant effort from Jackson.
In the final match at No. 6, sophomore Carey Rubin (Canton Ohio/Canton Central Catholic HS) fell to Keckley 6-4, 6-7(2), 6-2 for his first loss of the dual match season.
The Wolverines open the Big Ten Conference season this weekend with two road matches. Michigan will face Penn State on Saturday (March 27) in State College, Pa., before closing out the weekend against Ohio State on Sunday (March 28) in Columbus, Ohio. Both matches are scheduled to start at noon.
Following are match-by-match results:
Singles
No. 1 -- #80 Luis Haddock (UND) d. Anthony Jackson, 6-4, 1-6, 7-5
No. 2 -- Matthew Scott (UND) d. Brian Hung, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4
No. 3 -- Brent D'Amico (UND) d. Ryan Heller, 7-5, 6-4
No. 4 -- Stephen Bass (UND) d. Steve Peretz, 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-3
No. 5 -- David Anving (U-M) d. Barry King, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4
No. 6 -- Ryan Keckley (UND) d. Carey Rubin, 6-4, 6-7(2), 6-2
Doubles
No. 1 -- Jackson/Hung (U-M) d. D'Amico/Keckley, 9-8(5)
No. 2 -- Haddock/Scott (UND) d. Heller/Josef Fischer, 8-3
No. 3 -- Vinny Gossain/Peretz (U-M) d. Bass/Eric Langenkamp, 8-4
Order of Completion: Doubles 2-3-1, Singles 3-2-5-4-1-6
N O T E S
U-M has won the doubles point against seven of its 10 opponents this season.
Despite the loss, Michigan still holds a 40-24 advantage in the all-time series against the Irish.
David Anving reached his 30th career dual match singles victory with the win at No. 5.
With his win with Vinny Gossain at No. 3, Steve Peretz reached his 10th career doubles victory at Michigan. In his first season, Peretz has posted an overall doubles record of 10-5, including a 7-1 mark in dual match competition.
Ryan Heller was dealt his first singles loss of the dual match season (9-1). It was just his third loss in the last 18 matches dating back to the fall season.
The Wolverines' 10-match winning streak at the Varsity Tennis Center was broken with the loss to Notre Dame.
Michigan is 2-2 against nationally ranked opponents this season.
Contact: Marc Ressler (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
