Michigan
Notre Dame
Michigan Polishes Off Fighting Irish in 6-1 Victory
2/9/2024 8:57:00 PM | Men's Tennis
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Varsity Tennis Center)
Score: #13 Michigan 6, Notre Dame 1
Records: U-M (5-2), Notre Dame (3-3)
Next U-M Event: Tuesday, Feb. 13 – vs. TCU (Ann Arbor), 6 p.m.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 13-ranked University of Michigan men's tennis team was dominant in its victory over the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Friday night (Feb. 9), winning the doubles point and the first five matches of singles play at the Varsity Tennis Center to take home the win.
The Wolverines took the doubles point in comeback fashion with wins at No. 1 and No. 3 after Notre Dame struck first with a win at No. 2. Gavin Young and Jacob Bickersteth got off to a strong start at No. 1. but the Fighting Irish brought the match to within one game before the U-M duo reasserted their control. Up 40-15 with the serve, Young tallied an ace to take the match and even the match at 1. At the same time, Nino Ehrenschneider and Nicholas Steiglehner were at match point at No. 3, which featured a back-and-forth battle with no team having a two game advantage until the final score. On the final point with U-M leading 40-0, Notre Dame returned Ehrenschneider's serve long and out of bounds, which secured the doubles point for U-M.
Bjorn Swenson earned the first point of singles action with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Corsillo of Notre Dame at No. 4. Swenson managed to get out to an early lead in set one and kept the lead throughout the first set. He went down 1-0 in the second, but won the next six games in a row to take the set and the match.
No. 125 Patorn Hanchaikul led early and won the first set comfortably at 6-3 at No. 3. He put on the pressure and went up 5-0 in the second set before his opponent won the next set, but Notre Dame could not complete the comeback as Hanchaikul won the next game with an ace to take the match 6-3, 6-1.
No. 48 Bickersteth was locked in a tight match in the first set at No. 2, tied at four games a piece. He and took the first, 6-4, and his momentum pushed him to a 4-2 lead in the second set. Bickersteth was able to hold off Notre Dame enough to take the set and the match, 6-4. A short rally from Bickersteth's serve led to a beautifully placed lob which earned the match victory for Michigan.
With the match secured in Michigan's favor, the team played out the final three matches. No. 17 Young lost the first set 1-6 but flipped the script in second set and won 6-1 at No. 1. In the deciding set, both players fought hard with a close match throughout until Young pulled away and took the final set, 6-4.
At No. 5, Will Cooksey took the first set, 6-4, and got out to a 5-3 lead in the second but was unable to finish off ND's Malkowski before dropping the second set, 7-6. In the back-and-forth battle of the tiebreak third set, Cooksey was able to take control again and won 10-7.
The Wolverines took the match 6-1 after Steiglehner fell to Yu Zhang in three sets at No. 6. Steiglehener won the first set 6-1, but Zhang took the second set 7-6 and fell 10-6 in the tiebreak third set.
Michigan concludes its three-match homestand on Tuesday (Feb. 13) hosting TCU at 6 p.m., in a rematch of last year's NCAA quarterfinal.
Following are match-by-match results
Singles
No. 1 – No. 17 Gavin Young (U-M) def No. 70 Sebastian Dominko (ND) 1-6, 6-1, 6-4
No. 2 – No. 48 Jacob Bickersteth (U-M) def. Nil Giraldez (ND) 6-4, 6-4
No. 3 – No. 125 Patorn Hanchaikul (U-M) def. Chase Thompson (ND) 6-3, 6-1
No. 4 – Bjorn Swenson (U-M)  def. Jameson Corsillo (ND) 6-3, 6-1
No. 5 – Will Cooksey (U-M) def. Jean-Marc Malkowski (ND) 6-4, 5-7, 10-7
No. 6 – Nicolas Steiglehner (U-M)  vs. Yu Zhang (ND) 6-1, 6-7 (2), 6-10
Doubles
No. 1 – Young/Bickersteth (U-M) def. Dominko/Malkowski (ND) 6-4
No. 2 – Lee/Thompson (ND) def. Cooksey/Hanchaukul (U-M) 6-0
No. 3 – Ehrenschneider/Steiglehner (U-M) def. Brian Bisley/Giraldez(ND) 6-4
Order of Completion:Â Doubles 2-1-3; Singles 4-3-2-1-5-6
Players Mentioned
