Michigan
Penn State
Wolverines Rally to Knock Off Penn State
4/7/2023 7:39:00 PM | Men's Tennis
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Varsity Tennis Center)
Score: #4 Michigan 4, Penn State 3
Records: U-M (18-2, 4-0 B1G), PSU (14-8, 1-4 B1G)
Next U-M Event: Sunday, April 9 -- vs. Ohio State (Varsity Tennis Center), Noon
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 4-ranked University of Michigan men's tennis team erased a 3-2 deficit by winning the final two singles matches on court, knocking off Penn State 4-3 on Friday afternoon (April 7) at the Varsity Tennis Center.
Penn State pulled ahead at 3-2 after winning a pair of straight-set matches at No. 3 and No. 4, leaving Ondrej Styler on court at No. 2 and Will Cooksey at No. 6 as Michigan needed to win both to capture the win.
Cooksey, who rallied from a 5-1 deficit in his first-set tiebreaker to win, grabbed a 2-0 lead in the second set at No. 6. After giving the break back, he again grabbed the break at 4-2 and consolidated it at 5-2. The two held serve over the next two games, as Cooksey put Michigan's third point on the board.
Styler clinched the match for the Wolverines, winning 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 at No. 2. After breezing to the win in the first set, Styler fell behind early in the second and could not catch up, sending his match to a third. He faced a deuce point on his serve at 1-1, coming through with a big serve that went off his opponent's racquet over the fence to hold at 2-1. Styler broke in the next game and held again, taking a 4-1 lead. That was all the space he needed as he put the fourth point up behind a 6-2 final-set win.
Penn State struck first, grabbing the doubles point by winning the last two matches to finish. U-M's top duo of Andrew Fenty and Gavin Young won the first four games of their match, breezing to a 6-2 win.
PSU immediately answered with a 6-3 win at No. 3. Michigan fell behind 4-1 in the match but won two straight games to get back on serve. The Wolverines could not hold serve in the next game as the Nittany Lions kept the break and served out the match in the ensuing game.
Attention turned to court No. 2, where the match was on serve at 4-4. Michigan failed to hold its serve in the ninth game, falling behind a break at 5-4 right after the match at No. 3 ended. Penn State won four straight points on its serve to wrap up the first point of the match.
Michigan got four first sets in singles action, needing to win four singles matches to capture the team match.
Fenty fell behind 3-1 in the first set but won the next 11 games to pull the Wolverines even at 1-1 with a 6-3, 6-0 victory at the top of the lineup.
U-M took its first lead of the day at 2-1 behind a 6-4, 6-4 victory from Jacob Bickersteth at No. 5. Bickersteth took advantage of a late break in the second set, serving out the match in the ensuing game to account for Michigan's second point.
Penn State won the next two matches off court, pulling ahead at 3-2 before Cooksey and Styler came through with the wins to keep Michigan unbeaten in Big Ten action.
Michigan faces its biggest rival, No. 3 Ohio State, on Sunday (April 9) in a match that very well could determine the B1G regular-season champion as both teams are undefeated in league play. Opening serve is at noon at the Varsity Tennis Center.
Following are match-by-match results
Singles
No. 1 -- No. 15 Andrew Fenty (U-M) d. Charl Morgan (PSU), 6-3, 6-1
No. 2-- No. 8 Ondrej Styler (U-M) d. Loren Byers (PSU), 6-2, 4-6, 6-2
No. 3 -- Miko Eala (PSU) d. No. 45 Gavin Young (U-M), 6-3, 6-3
No. 4 -- Sam Bossem (PSU) d. Nino Ehrenschneider (U-M), 7-5, 6-3
No. 5 -- Jacob Bickersteth (U-M) d. Stefan Simeunovic (PSU), 6-4, 6-4
No. 6 -- Will Cooksey (U-M) d. Andrei Paduraru (PSU), 7-6 (1), 6-3
Doubles
No. 1 -- No. 8 Andrew Fenty/Gavin Young (U-M) d. Charl Morgan/Malik Bhatnagar (PSU), 6-2
No. 2 -- Loren Byers/Sam Bossem (PSU) d. Ondrej Styler/Jacob Bickersteth (U-M), 6-4
No. 3 -- Stefan Simeunovic/Miko Eala (PSU) d. Nino Ehrenschneider/Nicholas Steiglehner (U-M), 6-3
Order of Completion: Doubles 1-3-2, Singles 1-5-3-4-6-2
Players Mentioned
