Michigan
Notre Dame
Michigan Defeats Notre Dame in NCAA Championship Opener
5/8/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Site: Columbus, Ohio (Ohio State Indoor Tennis Center)
Event: NCAA Championship (First Round)
Score: Michigan 4, Notre Dame 1
Records: U-M (14-14), UND (13-13)
Next U-M Match: Saturday, May 9 -- at #3 Ohio State at NCAA Championship Second Round (Columbus, Ohio), Noon
Postmatch Quotes | Photo Gallery
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The No. 35-ranked University of Michigan men's tennis team earned a 4-1 victory over No. 29 Notre Dame on Friday (May 8) in the opening round of the 2009 NCAA Championship at the Ohio State University Indoor Tennis Center. The Wolverines (14-14) claimed their 17th doubles point of the season and won three of the first four completed singles matches to avenge their 5-2 loss to the Fighting Irish (13-13) earlier in the year on March 4 and secure their third straight trip to the second round of the national tournament. U-M has now been victorious in eight of its last 10 outings.
Senior Peter Aarts (Pound Ridge, N.Y./Fox Lane HS) and junior Mike Sroczynski (Chatham, N.J./Fox Lane HS) got the Maize and Blue off to a fast start with a dominating 8-3 triumph over David Anderson and Daniel Stahl, marking the U-M pair's sixth win in nine tries at the No. 3 spot. Senior Andrew Mazlin (Altamonte Springs, Fla./Lyman HS) and sophomore Chris Madden (Lotus, Calif./Ponderosa HS) gave Michigan a 1-0 lead moments later with an 8-4 victory over Stephen Havens and Casey Watt at No. 2. Mazlin and Madden have now won five straight and hold a team-best 14-3 record in dual-match play.
U-M's No. 53-ranked duo of junior George Navas (Tampa, Fla./Tampa Preparatory School) and sophomore Jason Jung (Torrance, Calif./West Torrance HS) was serving for the match at 7-6 against Notre Dame's No. 30-ranked tandem of Tyler Davis and Brett Helgeson when the doubles point was decided.
Competing in his first career NCAA match, sophomore/freshman Drew Daniel (Overland Park, Kan./Laurel Springs School) gave the Wolverines a 2-0 advantage with a 7-5, 6-4 win over Davis at No. 6 singles. Daniel carries a 27-14 overall record, including a team-best 19-7 mark in dual-match action.
The Irish got on the team scoreboard with a straight-set victory at No. 1, but Madden countered with a 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 triumph at No. 4 to bring Michigan within one win of advancing. With the three remaining matches all in third sets, Mazlin stepped up and completed a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 comeback victory over Havens at No. 2 to send Michigan to the round of 32.
Navas was on his way to completing a monster comeback win at No. 5 when the overall match was clinched. He fell behind 6-0, 5-2 but withstood two match points and eventually won the second set, 7-5, before jumping out to a 3-1 lead in the third set.
The Wolverines will meet No. 3-ranked Ohio State in the second round of the NCAA Championship tomorrow (Saturday, May 9) at noon at the Stickney Tennis Center. The host Buckeyes claimed a 4-0 win over Xavier in first-round action this afternoon.
Following are match-by-match results:
Singles
No. 1 -- #31 Brett Helgeson (UND) d. #93 Jason Jung, 6-3, 7-6(5)
No. 2 -- Andrew Mazlin (U-M) d. Stephen Havens, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4
No. 3 -- Mike Sroczynski (U-M) vs. Casey Watt, 7-6(2), 5-7, 2-2 (unfinished)
No. 4 -- Chris Madden (U-M) d. Daniel Stahl, 6-3, 1-6, 6-2
No. 5 -- George Navas (U-M) vs. David Anderson, 0-6, 7-5, 3-1 (unfinished)
No. 6 -- Drew Daniel (U-M) d. Tyler Davis, 7-5, 6-4
Doubles
No. 1 -- #53 Jung/Navas (U-M) vs. #30 Davis/Helgeson, 7-6 (unfinished)
No. 2 -- Madden/Mazlin (U-M) d. Havens/Watt, 8-4
No. 3 -- Peter Aarts/Sroczynski (U-M) d. Anderson/Stahl, 8-3
Order of Completion: Doubles 3-2, Singles 6-1-4-2
Players Mentioned
