Michigan
Stanford
Wolverines Drop Heartbreaker to No. 1 Stanford
2/7/2020 8:34:00 PM | Women's Tennis
» Michigan and Stanford were tied at 3-3 with the team match coming down to the No. 6 position. Anca Craciun took a 4-2 lead in the third, but Stanford's Emma Higuchi won four straight games to take the match for the Cardinal.
» Michigan got singles wins from Giulia Pairone, Chiara Lommer and Alyvia Jones in the match. Stanford won the doubles point with singles wins at No. 2, No. 3 and No. 6 to account for its four points.
» U-M will face Ohio State Saturday (Feb. 8) in consolation action at 6:30 p.m. CST.
Site: Chicago, Ill. (XS Center)
Event: ITA National Team Indoor Championship
Result: #1 Stanford 4, #10 Michigan 3
Records: U-M (3-2), Stanford (4-0)
Next U-M Event: Saturday, Feb. 8 -- vs. Ohio State - ITA National Team Indoor Championship (Chicago, Ill.)
CHICAGO, Ill. -- The No. 10-ranked University of Michigan women's tennis team came up one match short in a 4-3 loss to No. 1-ranked Stanford in the first round of the ITA National Team Indoor Championship on Friday evening (Feb. 7) at the XS Center. Michigan won singles matches at No. 1, No. 4 and No. 5 to tie the match at 3-3, but Stanford won the remaining match on court at No. 6 to seal the win.
Stanford took a tightly contested doubles point with wins at No. 3 and No. 1. At the No. 3 spot, the Cardinal broke at 4-2 and did not look back in a 6-4 win.
Michigan climbed back into the match at No. 2, with sophomore Anca Craciun and Alyvia Jones breaking to get back on serve at 4-3 when a Stanford forehand went long. The two teams exchanged breaks again before Michigan held on Jones' serve to tie the match at 5-5.
Meanwhile, at No. 1, seniors Chiara Lommer and Giulia Pairone rebounded from a 2-0 hole to get the match back on serve at 2-2. The two teams went back-and-forth holding serve until Lommer headed back to the line, serving to send the match to a tiebreaker. U-M jumped out to a 40-0 advantage in the game, but the Cardinal won the next four points to break Michigan for the 7-5 win and the first point of the match.
Michigan took four first sets from the Cardinal, winning at No. 1, No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6.
It was all Pairone at the top spot as she dropped just one game in a 6-0, 6-1 win over No. 6-ranked Michaela Gordon to even the team match at 1-1.
Michigan's lead was short-lived as Stanford answered with straight-set wins at No. 3 and No. 2 over the next few minutes as the Cardinal regained a 3-1 lead.
The Wolverines responded just as quickly, picking up wins at No. 5 and No. 4 just moments later.
Lommer came through with a 6-4, 6-2 win at No. 5 for Michigan's second point of the evening. Lommer raced out to a 3-0 lead in the first set before hanging on for a 6-4 win. Lommer grabbed three match points on Choy's serve up 5-2 in the second set, converting on the third to wrap up the win.
Jones quickly followed just seconds later with a 6-3, 6-2 victory at No. 4 to tie the team match at 3-3. Jones found herself in a 3-1 hole in the first set before ripping off five straight games for a 6-3 lead. The junior carried that over into the second set, going up, 3-1, en route to a 6-2 win.
All attention turned to the No. 6 court, where Craciun and Stanford's Emma Higuchi were headed to a third set. Craciun used a late break in the first set to take a 6-4 victory, with Higuchi grabbing a 6-2 win in the second.
Craciun held on a deuce point on her serve in the second game of the third, keeping it on serve at 1-1. After missing on three break points in the third game, Craciun held and then got the break of Higuchi in the fifth game for a 3-2 advantage. Craciun fell in a 0-40 hole when she went back to serve but won four straight points to keep the break and take a 4-2 lead.
Higuchi held at love in the next game and then converted on the deuce point on Craciun's serve to even the set at 4-4. She then held again for a 5-4 lead to send Craciun back to the service line to stay in the match.
Craciun fell in a 40-15 hole on her serve and could not recover as Higuchi converted on the first match point to wrap up a 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 win to clinch the Stanford win.
Michigan will continue action at the ITA National Team Indoor Championship on Saturday (Feb. 8) when the Wolverines take on Ohio State in consolation action at 6:30 p.m. CST.
Following are match-by-match results
Singles
No. 1 -- No. 35 Giulia Pairone (U-M) d. No. 6 Michaela Gordon (Stanford), 6-0, 6-1
No. 2 -- Emily Arbuthnott (Stanford) d. No. 51 Andrea Cerdan (U-M), 6-2, 7-5
No. 3 -- No. 77 Angelica Blake (Stanford) d. Nicole Hammond (U-M), 7-5, 6-3
No. 4 -- No. 94 Alyvia Jones (U-M) d. No. 123 Janice Shin (Stanford), 6-3, 6-2
No. 5 -- Chiara Lommer (U-M) d. Sara Choy (Stanford), 6-4, 6-2
No. 6 -- Emma Higuchi (Stanford) d. Anca Craciun (U-M), 4-6, 6-2, 6-4
Doubles
No. 1 -- Emily Arbuthnott/Angelica Blake (Stanford) d. Giulia Pairone/Chiara Lommer (U-M), 7-5
No. 2 -- Anca Craciun/Alyvia Jones (U-M) vs. Michaela Gordon/Janice Shin (Stanford), 5-6 abandoned
No. 3 -- Sara Choy/Emma Higuchi (Stanford) d. Nicole Hammond/Bella Lorenzini (U-M), 6-4
Order of Completion: Doubles 3-1, Singles 1-3-2-5-4-6
Players Mentioned
