Michigan
Penn State
Singles Effort Pushes Wolverines Past Penn State
4/3/2022 2:47:00 PM | Women's Tennis
Site: State College, Pa. (Penn State Indoor Tennis Center)
Result: #19 Michigan 4, Penn State 1
Records: U-M (11-5,5-1 B1G), PSU (8-9, 2-3 B1G)
Next U-M Event: Saturday, April 9 -- at Michigan State (East Lansing, Mich.), 2 p.m.
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- The No. 19-ranked University of Michigan women's tennis team used a strong singles effort after dropping the doubles point to record a 4-1 win over Penn State Sunday afternoon (April 3) at the Penn State Indoor Tennis Center.
Penn State took the doubles point with wins at No. 2 and No. 3 sandwiched around a 6-3 win at the top spot from Jaedan Brown and Andrea Cerdan.
With only four courts available, singles action began with matches 1-4 on court. U-M took three first sets as Cerdan pulled out a tiebreak win at No. 4.
Brown got Michigan on the board with a 6-4, 6-2 win at No. 2, tying the team match at 1-1. After jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the first set, Brown found herself tied at 2-2. She won the following two games, taking control of the set en route to a 6-4 win. After the players exchanged games to start the second, Brown won four straight for a 5-1 lead. Penn State held in the next game but Brown served it out in the following game, using a drop shot to force a forehand long on match point.
Cerdan grinded out a 7-6 (5), 6-4 win at No. 4 to account for Michigan's second point of the afternoon. She jumped out to 2-0 leads in both sets but Penn State's Karly Friedland worked her way back into both. Cerdan won on a deuce point for a 5-3 lead in the first set but was broken in the next game as the set found its way to a breaker. Cerdan pulled out the 7-5 win and used that momentum for another 2-0 lead. After getting back on serve in the middle stages of the set, Cerdan got the break she needed late and served out the set with a big serve up the middle for Michigan's second point.
Kari Miller continued her strong play at the top of the lineup for the Maize and Blue, putting Michigan one point away with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 win at No. 1. Miller fell behind early in the first set, dropping the first three games before ripping off six straight for the early advantage. She was broken at 5-3 in the second but was able to break right back to stay in the set at 5-4. Nittany Lion Sofiya Chekhlystova returned the favor, winning the next game to send it to a third set. It was all Miler in the final set as she dropped just one game as U-M's lead grew to 3-1.
Julia Fliegner did the honors of clinching the match a few minutes later with a 6-0, 6-0 win at No. 5. Fliegner, who did not come on court until Brown was victorious, cruised to the straight-set win for Michigan's fourth point.
Nicole Hammond was up 5-3 in the third when her match was abandoned, with Gala Mesochoritou only two games into her first set after starting her match on Cerdan's court.
U-M is back in action next Saturday (April 9), traveling to East Lansing to take on Michigan State at 2 p.m.
Following are match-by-match results
Singles
No. 1 -- No. 11 Kari Miller (U-M) d. Sofiya Chekhlystova (PSU), 6-3, 4-6, 6-1
No. 2 -- No. 73 Jaedan Brown (U-M) d. Yvonne Zuffova (PSU), 6-4, 6-2Â
No. 3 -- No. 102 Nicole Hammond (U-M) vs. Gabby O'Gorman (PSU), 2-6, 7-6 (2), 5-3 abandoned
No. 4 -- No. 111 Andrea Cerdan (U-M) d. Karly Friedland (PSU), 7-6 (5), 6-4
No. 5 -- Julia Fliegner (U-M) d. Danielle Alamo (PSU), 6-0, 6-0
No. 6 -- Gala Mesochoritou (U-M) vs. Alexandra Nielsen (PSU), 1-1 abandoned
Doubles
No. 1 -- No. 74 Jaedan Brown/Andrea Cerdan (U-M) d. Sofiya Chekhlystova/Karly Friedland (PSU), 6-3
No. 2 -- Olivia Ryan/Yvonne Zuffova (PSU) d. Anca Craciun/Kari Miller (U-M), 6-2
No. 3 -- Gabby O'Gorman/Alexandra Nielsen (PSU) d. Gala Mesochoritou/Julia Fliegner (U-M), 6-3
Order of Completion: Doubles 2-1-3; Singles 2-4-1-5
Players Mentioned
