Michigan
Notre Dame
Michigan Conquers Fighting Irish
2/24/2022 9:20:00 PM | Men's Tennis
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Varsity Tennis Center)
Result: Michigan 6, Notre Dame 1
Records: U-M (5-2), Notre Dame (7-3)
Next U-M Event: Wednesday, March 2 - at TCU (Fort Worth, Texas), 1 p.m. CT
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan men's tennis team earned a 6-1 win over Notre Dame on Thursday (Feb. 24) at the Varsity Tennis Center.
Michigan (5-2) jumped out to a 1-0 lead taking the doubles point, with wins at both No. 2 and No. 3. Ondrej Styler and Gavin Young never trailed at No. 2 doubles to outlast Peter Conklin and Matthew Halprin, 6-3. Nick Beaty and Patrick Maloney only gave up two games as they took a 6-2 win at No. 3 doubles.
The Wolverines won five of six first sets in singles.
Young pushed Michigan ahead 2-0 with a win at No. 5 over Connor Fu. With a 6-2, 6-1 win, Young is now 5-1 in dual singles with four wins in straight sets. Overall, he improves to 16-4 with his third consecutive win.
The Irish cut into the Wolverines' lead with Aditya Vashistha handing Styler his first singles loss of the spring season, 6-1, 6-3.
However, Maloney and Nino Ehrenschneider were just one game away from clinching their matches at No. 4 and 6, which would deliver the final blow to Notre Dame.
Minutes later Ehrenschenider secured the point at No. 6 over Jean-Marc Malkowski. The 6-4, 6-1 victory was his 10th singles win of the season, as he improves to 7-2 in dual play.
Conklin put up a fight against Maloney, taking the next game to keep Notre Dame alive, 5-3, in the second set. Maloney responded with a dominating performance in the next game to take the 6-3 set and match.
The match in hand for Michigan, 4-1, the teams went to a tiebreaker at both No. 3 and No. 1 singles. Jacob Bickersteth claimed a 6-2 win in the first set and was tied up 6-6 in the second. Bickersteth and opponent Matthew Che continued to trade points in the tiebreaker. Knotted at 9-9, Bickersteth grabbed the next two points to claim the win, 6-2, 7-6 (9).
Andrew Fenty and Axel Nefve split the first two sets at No. 1 and went to a 10-point tiebreaker to decide the match. Nefve was finally able to take a two-point lead, 9-7, but Fenty rallied to win the next three points to tilt the match back in his favor, 10-9. Nefve got in one final point before Fenty rattled off the final two for the 12-10 score. With the win, Fenty hands No. 89-ranked Nevfe his first singles loss of the season.
The Wolverines will head to Fort Worth, Texas, next Wednesday, March 2 when they take on Texas Christian University. First serve is scheduled for 1 p.m. CT.
Singles
No. 1 -- Andrew Fenty (U-M) d. No. 95 Axel Nefve (UND), 6-4, 3-6, 12-10
No. 2 -- Aditya Vashistha (UND) d. Ondrej Styler (U-M) 6-1, 6-3
No. 3 -- No. 75 Jacob Bickersteth (U-M) d. Matthew Che (UND), 6-2, 7-6 (11-9)
No. 4 -- Patrick Maloney (U-M) d. Peter Conklin (UND) 6-3, 6-3
No. 5 -- Gavin Young (U-M) d. Connor Fu (UND), 6-2, 6-1
No. 6 -- Nino Ehrenschneider (U-M) d. Jean-Marc Malkowski (UND) 6-4, 6-1
Doubles
No. 1 -- No. 14 Andrew Fenty/Nino Ehrenschneider (U-M) vs. Matthew Che/Axel Nefve (UND), 3-4 unfinished
No. 2 -- Ondrej Styler/Gavin Young (U-M) d. Peter Conklin/Matthew Halpin (UND), 6-3
No. 3 -- Nick Beaty/Patrick Maloney (U-M) d. Connor Fu/Jean-Marc Malkowski (UND), 6-2
Order of Completion: Doubles 3-2, Singles 5-2-6-4-1-3
Players Mentioned
