Michigan
Notre Dame
U-M Falls to Fighting Irish in Final Match
2/18/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Feb. 18, 2012
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| Evan King
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Varsity Tennis Center)
Score: #30 Notre Dame 4, #28 Michigan 3
Records: U-M (4-4), Notre Dame (9-4)
Next U-M Match: Saturday, Feb. 25 -- at Vanderbilt (Nashville, Tenn.), 1 p.m. CST
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 28-ranked University of Michigan men's tennis team swept the doubles matches but could not hang onto its early advantage, falling to No. 30 Notre Dame, 4-3, on Saturday (Feb. 18) in front of 640 fans at the Varsity Tennis Center.
The Fighting Irish clinched the dual in the final match as Sam Keeton earned a 3-6, 6-5, 7-6 (3) decision over freshman Alex Petrone (Staten Island, N.Y./Laurel Springs Prep) at the No. 3 singles position. Petrone battled back from consecutive breaks to force the third-set tiebreaker, where Keeton won five consecutive points to take control before closing out the match.
Michigan earned singles wins from junior Evan King (Chicago, Ill./Kaplan Prep) and sophomore Alex Buzzi (Key Biscayne, Fla./Gulliver Prep) at the No. 1 and No. 6 spots, respectively. King, listed No. 8 in the latest ITA rankings, rallied after dropping the first set to Casey Watt, claiming a 1-6, 6-3, 7-5 victory to improve to 6-2 in dual competition this season. He used a late break to gain the advantage in the third set and ended the match with three straight aces.
Buzzi secured his first dual win of the season with a 7-5, 7-5 decision against Michael Moore. The Wolverine sophomore built early leads in both sets, and after Moore broke back to even the score, Buzzi used a pair of 12th-game breaks to take the match.
U-M claimed the dual's first point with wins on all three doubles courts. Buzzi and sophomore Barrett Franks (Christchurch, New Zealand/Shirley Boys' School) clinched the point from the No. 2 position, battling to an 8-5 decision over Greg Andrews and Spencer Talmadge. The Wolverine duo rallied from a love-40 deficit to hold serve in the first game and earned its break in the sixth game. With Franks serving for the win, Notre Dame fought off two match points before a return went into the net to end the contest.
King and sophomore Shaun Bernstein (Plainview, N.Y./Old Bethpage JFK HS) extended their win streak to five consecutive games with an 8-5 decision over Watt and Niall Fitzerald at the No. 1 position. The teams traded early breaks before Michigan gained the advantage with consecutive breaks and ultimately served out the win with four straight points.
The Wolverines will hit the road next Saturday (Feb. 25), traveling to Nashville, Tenn., to face Vanderbilt at 1 p.m. CST at the Commodores' Currey Tennis Center.
Following are match-by-match results:
Singles
No. 1 -- No. 8 Evan King (U-M) d. Casey Watt (ND), 1-6, 6-3, 7-5
No. 2 -- No. 49 Greg Andrews (ND) d. Shaun Bernstein (U-M), 6-3, 6-2
No. 3 -- Sam Keeton (ND) d. Alex Petrone (U-M), 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (3)
No. 4 -- Niall Fitzgerald (ND) d. Michael Zhu (U-M), 6-1, 2-6, 6-2
No. 5 -- Blas Moros (ND) d. Barrett Franks (U-M), 6-4, 7-6 (3)
No. 6 -- Alex Buzzi (U-M) d. Michael Moore (ND), 7-5, 7-5
Doubles
No. 1 -- No. 10 Evan King/Shaun Bernstein (U-M) d. Casey Watt/Niall Fitzgerald (ND), 8-5
No. 2 -- Barrett Franks/Alex Buzzi (U-M) d. Greg Andrews/Spencer Talmadge, 8-5
No. 3 -- Alex Petrone/Michael Zhu (U-M) d. Sam Keeton/Billy Pecor (ND), 8-7 (6)
Order of Completion: Singles 2-5-1-4-5-6; Doubles 1-2-3
Contact: Leah Howard (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
