Michigan
Penn State
Wolverines Look to Stay Hot Against Pair of Conference Foes
3/21/2018 6:39:00 PM | Men's Tennis
» No. 8 Michigan continues Big Ten play this weekend with matches against No. 45 Penn State and No. 2 Ohio State.
» After a 7-0 victory over Michigan State this past weekend (March 16), the Wolverines increased their dual-match win streak to eight matches, the longest for the program since the 2007-08 season.
» Five of the six typical starting singles players are on personal win streaks of three matches or more, led by senior Carter Lin with nine consecutive victories.
THIS WEEK
Saturday, March 24 -- vs. No. 45 Penn State (Varsity Tennis Center), 11 a.m.
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Sunday, March 25 -- at No. 2 Ohio State (Columbus, Ohio), noon
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ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 8-ranked University of Michigan men's tennis team (11-2) will have two more Big Ten Conference matches this weekend as the Maize and Blue will face No. 45 Penn State (11-6) on Saturday (March 24) at the Varsity Tennis Center before they travel to No. 2 Ohio State (14-2) on Sunday (March 25).
• U-M is riding a season-long eight-match win streak heading as it heads into the weekend. Following consecutive losses to No. 8 North Carolina (Jan. 28) and No. 9 Florida (Feb. 9), the Wolverines have strung together eight straight victories.
• The current streak of wins in dual-match play is the longest for Michigan men's tennis since the 2007-08 season, during which U-M collected 10 straight wins. However, the Wolverines were only able to reach No. 14 in the ITA national rankings during that season.
• Saturday will be the 34th time that Michigan and Penn State have faced each other in dual-match play. Michigan holds a convincing overall lead in the series, 26-7, against the Nittany Lions. In last year's regular-season matchup between the programs, Michigan came out of State College, Pennsylvania, with a 4-3 victory. U-M and PSU also met in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals and the Wolverines claimed a 4-0 win.
• Penn State, while it boasts an overall record of 11-6, is just 1-4 in true road matches. The Nittany Lions do enter Saturday having won three straight, although those matches were played at home and none were against opponents ranked in the top 25.
• On the singles side for Penn State, Constant De La Bassetiere is its only ranked player at No. 117 in this week's rankings. The Nittany Lions do not have any doubles pairings in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's top 80.
• The Buckeyes and Wolverines have an extensive history in men's tennis. Sunday will mark the 114th meeting between the two programs. While Michigan holds a 73-38-2 advantage in the overall series against the Buckeyes, Ohio State has been superior as of late. OSU won both matchups last season, including a 4-1 victory in the Big Ten Tournament championship match.
• Michigan is in search of its first dual-match victory against Ohio State since 2001.
• The Buckeyes have reigned supreme in the Big Ten in recent times, claiming at least a share of the regular-season conference title for the past 12 seasons. Over that period of time, Ohio State also has 10 Big Ten Tournament championships.
• The Buckeyes' last home loss came in 2015 to then-No. 1 Oklahoma, 4-3. Prior to that defeat, OSU's home win streak had climbed to 200. The last Big Ten loss at home for Ohio State was in April 2003 against Illinois, which also was ranked No. 1 in the nation at the time.
• Four Buckeyes are in the ITA's top 80 for singles players, and three are in the top 50. Leading Ohio State in the rankings is Mikael Torpegaard, who comes in at No. 4 in the latest rankings, just one spot ahead of U-M senior Alex Knight (No. 5). Along with Torpegaard are No. 42 Kyle Seelig, No. 43 JJ Wolf and No. 78 John McNally.
• Ohio State also has two ranked doubles pairings. Mikael Torpegaard and his partner Martin Joyce are No. 17, while Matt Mendez and Hunter Tubert are ranked 55th. For the Maize and Blue, the senior duo of Knight and Runhao Hua remained at No. 9 in this week's doubles rankings.
• Runhao Hua enters the weekend ranked No. 27 in singles by the ITA and possesses a seven-match win streak. Other noteworthy Wolverine win streaks include senior Carter Lin (nine), Knight (three), junior Myles Schalet (three), and senior Davis Crocker (four).
NCAA RULES
Each team match will be a contest for the best of seven team points. Doubles action will begin immediately with no warmup, so fans are encouraged to arrive on time for matches. In addition, each doubles match will be one set to six, with a tiebreaker occurring at 6-all. The team that wins two-of-three matches will secure the doubles point. Following a five-minute intermission, singles action will begin with each match worth one point towards the team score. There will be no-ad scoring in both singles and doubles action. In addition, there is to be no noise made between first and second serves this season as part of new ITA sportsmanship guidelines.
Players Mentioned
