Michigan
California
Wolverines Claw Back to Defeat Golden Bears
2/11/2018 5:07:00 PM | Men's Tennis
» Michigan dropped the doubles point with losses at Nos. 2 and 1.
» The Wolverines won four consecutive singles matches in straight sets to secure the victory.
» Michigan will host Memphis and Western Michigan on Feb. 18 in a doubleheader at the Varsity Tennis Center.
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Varsity Tennis Center)
Score: #13 Michigan 4, #23 California 1
Records: U-M (5-2), CAL (3-3)
Next U-M Event: Sunday, Feb. 18 -- vs. Memphis (Varsity Tennis Center), 11 a.m.
• Photo Gallery
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 13-ranked University of Michigan men's tennis team defeated No. 23 California, 4-1, Sunday afternoon at the Varsity Tennis Center to wrap up three home matches this weekend. All four of Michigan's points came in singles play, with wins from seniors Runhao Hua and Carter Lin, junior Myles Schalet and sophomore Connor Johnston.
The Wolverines were unable to take the doubles point; the No. 2 and No. 1 spots fell to the Golden Bears. Johnston and Schalet were defeated, 6-3, by Cal's Ben Draper and Jack Molloy, while the Maize and Blue's ninth-ranked Hua and Alex Knight were defeated by the 54th-ranked Billy Griffith and J.T. Nishimura.
Michigan got its first point of the match when Lin defeated Ben Draper in straight sets in the No. 4 singles match. The victory was Lin's fourth in dual matches and improved his dual record to 4-0. U-M then took the lead shortly after when Johnston won in straight sets in his first singles dual-match of the season.
Once the Wolverines took the lead, they did not look back as Hua also won in straight sets for the third Michigan point. The first set was tightly contested and required a tiebreaker, but Hua prevailed and cruised to victory in the second set. Tiebreakers continued to be a common theme in the later matches as each set of Schalet's straight-sets victory required a tiebreaker, and that win secured the fourth and final point the Wolverines needed to win the match.
U-M's top singles player, No. 3-ranked Knight had his back to the wall in a match that eventually was left unfinished. Already trailing one set to none, Knight was down, 5-4, in the second set and Billy Griffith was looking at a match point. Knight did not give up and was able to win the set and force a third set that was knotted at 2-all when Michigan won its fourth match to end the contest.
Michigan will return to action when it hosts Memphis and Western Michigan in a doubleheader at the Varsity Tennis Center on Sunday, Feb. 18. The match against Memphis is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m., while the matchup with Western Michigan is slated for 4 p.m.
Following are match-by-match results:
Singles
No. 1 -- #3 Alex Knight (U-M) vs. #73 Billy Griffith (CAL), 4-6, 7-6 (2), 2-2 (unfinished)
No. 2 -- #42 Runhao Hua (U-M) d. Jack Molloy (CAL), 7-6 (4), 6-3
No. 3 -- #113 Myles Schalet (U-M) d. #110 Paul Barretto (CAL), 7-6 (2), 7-6 (5)
No. 4 -- Carter Lin (U-M) d. Nic Barretto (CAL), 6-4, 6-1
No. 5 -- Davis Crocker (U-M) vs. Ben Draper (CAL), 3-6, 6-4, 6-6 (unfinished)
No. 6 -- Connor Johnston (U-M) d. Bjorn Hoffmann (CAL), 6-3, 6-3
Doubles
No. 1 -- #54 Billy Griffith/J.T. Nishimura (CAL) d. #9 Alex Knight/Runhao Hua (U-M), 6-4
No. 2 -- Ben Draper/Jack Molloy (CAL) d. Connor Johnston/Myles Schalet (U-M), 6-3
No. 3 -- Davis Crocker/Harrison Brown (U-M) vs. Nic Barretto/Can Kaya (CAL), 5-6 (unfinished)
Order of Completion: Doubles 2-1, Singles 4-6-2-3
Players Mentioned
