Michigan
Ohio State
Wolverines Drop Rubber Match with OSU in Big Ten Tourney Final
5/2/2021 7:03:00 PM | Women's Tennis
» With Ohio State up 3-1, the remaining three singles matches on court went to third sets. Ohio State won at No. 3 to clinch the team match. It was the third meeting between the teams this season, with each team winning on the road before today's championship edition.
» Bella Lorenzini provided Michigan's point on the afternoon, winning 7-6 (4), 6-2 at No. 6.
» Michigan now awaits its NCAA Tournament fate, with the selection show airing Monday at 6 p.m. on NCAA.com.
Site: Madison, Wis. (Nielsen Tennis Stadium)
Event: Big Ten Tournament (Final)
Result: #16 Ohio State 4, #23 Michigan 1
Records: U-M (17-3), OSU (21-3)
Next U-M Event: Monday, May 3 -- NCAA Selection Show (NCAA.com), 3 p.m.
MADISON, Wis. -- Needing to win all four remaining singles matches left on court after falling behind 3-0, the No. 23-ranked University of Michigan women's tennis team saw its comeback effort come up short, dropping a 4-1 decision to No. 16-ranked Ohio State in the championship match of the Big Ten Tournament on Sunday (May 2) at Nielsen Tennis Stadium.
Ohio State took a tightly contested doubles point with a pair of 6-3 wins at No. 3 and No. 2. Michigan battled back from 3-0 deficits at both No. 1 and No. 2 to get back on serve at 3-2, while the match at No. 3 stayed on serve through the first seven games.
OSU took advantage of late breaks at both No. 3 and No. 2, breaking Michigan for 5-3 leads on both courts. Michigan's No. 1 pair of freshman Jaedan Brown and senior Alyvia Jones also found themselves in a 5-3 hole, but the duo broke back in the next game to stay on court at 5-4.
U-M could not duplicate that on the remaining two courts as the Buckeyes held in the ensuing games to wrap up the point.
Michigan took three first sets from Ohio State, highlighted by a pair of tiebreaker wins from Brown at No. 3 and senior Bella Lorenzini at No. 6 to keep the match from getting too far out of reach for the Maize and Blue.
The Buckeyes extended their lead to 3-0 with a pair of straight-set wins at No. 4 and No. 5. Much like in doubles, Ohio State took advantage of late breaks in the second sets at both positions to put another two points on the board.
Lorenzini accounted for Michigan's only point of the day, getting a 7-6 (4), 6-2 win at No. 6. Lorenzini recovered from an early 3-1 hole in the first set, eventually forcing the tiebreaker. It was all Lorenzini in the breaker as she won five of the first six points to get the win. She got the early break in the second set at 3-1 and did not look back in the straight-set win.
With Michigan needing to win all three remaining singles matches, graduate student Chiara Lommer rallied from a first-set loss to face a third set after being down 4-2 in the second. Brown split her first two sets to head to a third, while Miller lost in a second-set tiebreaker to move to a third.
Lommer, who was down a set and 4-2 in the middle stages of the second, won four straight games to stay on court and force a third set. She was broken to start the third but answered right back as her match stayed on serve the rest of the way.
Miller, who won her first set 7-5 by breaking Irina Cantos Siemers in the final game, dropped a second-set tiebreaker to extend her match.
Ohio State came through at the No. 3 spot, as Lisa Hofbauer rallied past Brown in three sets. After the two split the opening sets, the pair exchanged breaks of serve through the first three games of the third. Hofbauer was able to hold in the fourth game, taking a 3-1 lead. That was all the space she needed in the 6-2 third-set win for Ohio State's fourth point.
Michigan now awaits its NCAA Tournament fate, with the selection show airing Monday (May 2) at 6 p.m. on NCAA.com. U-M finished the regular season with a 17-3 record and a Big Ten championship after going 15-1 in conference play.
Following are match-by-match results
Singles
No. 1 -- No. 50 Kari Miller (U-M) vs. No. 15 Irina Cantos Siemers (OSU), 7-5, 6-7 (2), 2-2 abandoned
No. 2 -- Chiara Lommer (U-M) vs. Isabelle Boulais (OSU), 3-6, 6-4, 3-3 abandoned
No. 3 -- Lisa Hofbauer (OSU) d. Jaedan Brown (U-M), 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-2
No. 4 -- Lucia Marzal (OSU) d. Andrea Cerdan (U-M), 6-3, 6-4
No. 5 -- Luna Dormet (OSU) d. Alyvia Jones (U-M), 6-3, 6-4
No. 6 -- Bella Lorenzini (U-M) d. Madeline Atway (OSU), 7-6 (4), 6-2
Doubles
No. 1 -- No. 50 Isabelle Boulais/Kolie Allen (OSU) vs. Alyvia Jones/Jaedan Brown (U-M), 5-4 abandoned
No. 2 -- Lucia Marzal/Lisa Hofbauer (OSU) d. Chiara Lommer/Kari Miller (U-M), 6-3
No. 3 -- No. 85 Luna Dormet/Irina Cantos Siemers (OSU) d. Bella Lorenzini/Andrea Cerdan (U-M), 6-3
Order of Completion: Doubles 3-2, Singles 4-5-6-3
Players Mentioned
