Michigan
Penn State
Wolverines Defeat Penn State for Ninth Straight Win
3/24/2018 2:14:00 PM | Men's Tennis
» Michigan upped its win streak to nine matches with a 5-2 victory over Penn State.
» U-M dropped the doubles point but got singles wins from Alex Knight, Carter Lin, Mattias Siimar, Runhao Hua and Davis Crocker to pick up the win.
» Lin ran his singles win streak to 10, with Hua picking up his eighth straight win. Â
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Varsity Tennis Center)
Score: #8 Michigan 5, Penn State 2
Records: U-M (12-2, 2-0 B1G), PSU (11-7, 1-2 B1G)
Next U-M Event: Sunday, March 25 -- at Ohio State (Columbus, Ohio), noon
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ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 8-ranked University of Michigan men's tennis team won the first five singles matches off court to pick up its ninth straight as it defeated Penn State, 5-2, on Saturday afternoon (March 24) at the Varsity Tennis Center.
Penn State took an early 1-0 lead after it won the doubles point. Michigan struck first, with the No. 1 pair of senior Alex Knight and freshman Mattias Siimar easing to a 6-2 win.
PSU evened the ledger at one match each with a 6-3 win at No. 2. U-M's No. 3 pair of seniors Runhao Hua and Carter Lin were up a break at 5-3 at the time, but PSU won three of the next four games to force a tiebreaker. The breaker was tied at 4 before the Nittany Lion duo ripped off three straight points to take the match for the 1-0 advantage.
It was all Michigan as the match turned to singles. Michigan took control early at No. 2, No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6 to turn the match. It was a race to the finish for Michigan's first point of the day, as Knight and Lin each were a game away at 5-1 in the second set. Ultimately, it was Lin who finished first when he put the finishing touches on a 6-1, 6-1 win moments before Knight came through with the same score.
With Michigan taking its first lead of the day, Siimar wasted little time in extending the Wolverine lead. He raced out to a 2-0 lead in the second set after taking the first and breezed to a 6-1, 6-2 win at No. 5 for the third Michigan point of the afternoon.
Senior Davis Crocker provided the clinching point for Michigan, taking a 6-3, 6-0 win at No. 6. Crocker was tied at 3-3 in the first set, but he ripped off nine straight games for U-M's fourth point.
With the team match in hand, Hua came back for a 6-2 win in the second set to send the match to a 10-point tiebreaker. The breaker was one of runs as Hua fell behind 3-1 before winning three straight for a 4-3 lead. Constant De La Bassetiere answered with four straight points of his own to regain a 7-4 advantage. It was all Hua from there as the senior reeled off six straight points, capped by a serve out wide that De La Bassetiere could not get a racquet on for a 10-7 win.
Penn State won the final match on court, providing the 5-2 margin.
Michigan hits the road to take on No. 2-ranked Ohio State tomorrow (Sunday, March 25) at noon.
Following are match-by-match results
Singles
No. 1 -- No. 27 Runhao Hua (U-M) d. No. 117 Constant De La Bassetiere (PSU), 4-6, 6-2, 1-0 (7)
No. 2 -- No. 5 Alex Knight (U-M) d. Christian Lakoseljac (PSU), 6-1, 6-1
No. 3 -- Christos Antonopoulos (PSU) d. Myles Schalet (U-M), 7-5, 6-4
No. 4 -- Carter Lin (U-M) d. Ben Lieb (PSU), 6-1, 6-1
No. 5 -- Mattias Siimar (U-M) d. Matt Galush (PSU), 6-1, 6-2
No. 6 -- Davis Crocker (U-M) d. Alp Sentay (PSU), 6-3, 6-0
Doubles
No. 1 -- Alex Knight/Mattias Siimar (U-M) d. Alp Sentay/Christos Antonopoulos (PSU), 6-2
No. 2 -- Christian Lakoseljac/Matt Galush (PSU) d. Myles Schalet/Connor Johnston (U-M), 6-3
No. 3 -- Constant De La Bassetiere/Ben Lieb (PSU) d. Runhao Hua/Carter Lin (U-M), 7-6 (4)
Order of Completion: Doubles 1-2-3; Singles 4-2-5-6-1-3
Players Mentioned
