Michigan
Iowa
U-M Relinquishes Early Lead in Road Loss to Iowa
3/27/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Carter Lin
Site: Iowa City, Iowa (Hawkeye Tennis and Recreation Complex)
Score: Iowa 4, Michigan 3
Records: U-M (3-11, 0-3 Big Ten), Iowa (10-4, 2-1 Big Ten)
Next U-M Event: Sunday, March 29 -- at Nebraska (Lincoln, Neb.), Noon CDT
IOWA CITY, Iowa -- The University of Michigan men's tennis team captured the doubles point to take an early lead but won just two of six singles matches, and Iowa captured the 4-3 victory on Friday night (March 27) at the Hawkeye Tennis and Recreation Complex.
Freshman Carter Lin and sophomore Tyler Gardiner fell in the No. 3 doubles spot, 8-4, to Josh Silverstein and Dominic Patrick as the first match off the court. Then redshirt freshman Alex Knight and freshman Runhao Hua won in the No. 2 position to extend their winning streak to three matches. In the deciding doubles match, seniors Alex Petrone and Michael Zhu triumphed over Lefteris Theodorou and Stieg Martens, 8-3, to clinch the doubles point and give U-M the 1-0 lead.
In the first singles match to finish, No. 96-ranked Matt Hagan defeated Petrone, 6-2, 6-2, to tie the score at 1-1. Then just minutes later, Lin bested his opponent by the score of 6-1, 6-1, to give the lead back to Michigan.
The remaining matches featured split sets, and redshirt freshman Davis Crocker was the first of those to finish, losing 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, in the No. 5 position. Then Zhu rallied and defeated Patrick in the No. 2 spot, 0-6, 6-3, 7-5, and the Wolverines took a 3-2 lead. Hua dropped his match in the No. 3 position, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2, and this tied the match score at 3-3 and made the No. 4 matchup the decider. That match, which ended just minutes later, saw Knight lose to Silverstein, 5-7, 6-3, 6-3, clinching the victory for the Hawkeyes.
Iowa earned its second Big Ten victory of the season, while the Wolverines are still looking for their first win in conference play.
Michigan will finish its weekend road trip on Sunday (March 29) in Lincoln, Nebraska, taking on Nebraska at noon CDT.
Following are match-by-match results
Singles
No. 1 -- #96 Matt Hagan (IOWA) def. Alex Petrone (U-M), 6-2, 6-2
No. 2 -- Michael Zhu (U-M) def. Dominic Patrick (IOWA), 0-6, 6-3, 7-5
No. 3 -- Lefteris Theodorou (IOWA) def. Runhao Hua (U-M), 4-6, 6-4, 6-2
No. 4 -- Josh Silverstein (IOWA) def. Alex Knight (U-M), 5-7, 6-3, 6-3
No. 5 -- Jake Jacoby (IOWA) def. Davis Crocker (U-M), 2-6, 6-3, 6-4
No. 6 -- Carter Lin (U-M) def. Andres Estenssoro (IOWA), 6-1, 6-1
Doubles
No. 1 -- #67 Alex Petrone/Michael Zhu (U-M) def. Lefteris Theodorou/Stieg Martens (IOWA), 8-3
No. 2 -- Runhao Hua/Alex Knight (U-M) def. Matt Hagan/Jake Jacoby (IOWA), 8-2
No. 3 -- Josh Silverstein/Dominic Patrick (IOWA) def. Carter Lin/Tyler Gardiner (U-M), 8-4
Order of Completion: Doubles 3-2-1, Singles 1-6-5-2-3-4
Communications Contact: Zach Eisendrath (734) 763-4423
