Michigan
Ohio State
Wolverines Start B1G Play With Ranked Win at Ohio State
3/15/2024 10:35:00 PM | Women's Tennis
Site: Columbus, Ohio (Ty Tucker Tennis Center)
Score: #2 Michigan 4, #11 Ohio State 1
Records: U-M (13-3, 1-0 B1G), OSU (7-6, 0-1 B1G)
Next U-M Event: Sunday, March 17 -- vs. Penn State (Varsity Tennis Center), 11 a.m.
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Freshman Piper Charney rallied from a 4-1 deficit in the third set, winning six of the next seven games to put the fourth point on the board as the No. 2-ranked University of Michigan women's tennis team knocked off No. 11-ranked Ohio State 4-1 on Friday evening (March 15) at the Ty Tucker Tennis Center.
In a match that was much closer than the final score indicated, Michigan took the doubles point and got singles wins at No. 1, No. 5 and No. 6 to start Big Ten play with a 1-0 record.
The Wolverines struck first, taking the doubles point behind wins at No. 3 and No. 1.
Michigan's No. 3 duo of Gala Mesochoritou and Julia Fliegner made their move early, going up a break at 2-1 and never giving it back en route to a 6-4 win at No. 3 as the first match off court.
Kari Miller and Jaedan Brown cemented the doubles point for the Maize and Blue, taking a 6-4 win over No. 34-ranked Sydni Ratliff and Luciana Perry at the top spot. The Wolverines wrested early control of the match, breaking at 2-1 before the Buckeyes had an immediate answer. Miller and Brown found themselves in a 4-2 hole before answering back with two straight games. A Brown lob shot gave the Wolverines two break points, with the Wolverines converting the second for a 5-4 lead. U-M served out the match in the next game, staking the Maize and Blue a 1-0 lead.
Ohio State grabbed a little momentum in singles action, winning four first sets as Miller at No. 1 and Lily Jones at No. 6 accounted for Michigan's wins in the first set.
Miller won in straight sets at the top spot, knocking off No. 12 Irina Cantos in straight sets. Miller raced out to a 5-0 lead in the first set, easing to the win. In the second, Cantos took the first two games before Miller climbed back into the match.
Ohio State answered with a win at No. 2 to halve Michigan's lead to 2-1.
Jones recovered from slow starts in both sets, taking a 7-5, 6-3 win at No. 6. After falling in a 4-1 hole to start the first set, Jones battled back and eventually tied the first set at 5-5. She won the final two games to take the early lead. After Ohio State won the first two games of the second set, Jones answered by winning six of the next seven games for a 3-1 Michigan lead.
Michigan was going to have to win a third set, with Mesochoritou, Charney and Brown all in third sets as Jones put the third point on the board.
Charney came through, winning a 7-5 third set at No. 5 for Michigan's fourth point of the evening. After dropping the first set, Charney raced out to a 5-2 lead in the second to take a 6-4 second-set win. She found herself down 4-1 in the final set before rallying for the win. Charney dropped just one game the rest of the way, winning six of the final seven games to avoid the tiebreaker and clinch the match for Michigan.
Michigan returns home on Sunday (March 17), hosting Penn State at 11 a.m. at the Varsity Tennis Center.
Following are match-by-match results
Singles
No. 1 -- No. 5 Kari Miller (U-M) d. No. 12 Irina Cantos (OSU), 6-2, 6-3
No. 2 -- No. 55 Luciana Perry (OSU) d. No. 18 Julia Fliegner (U-M), 6-4, 6-4
No. 3 -- No. 81 Gala Mesochoritou (U-M) vs. Sydni Ratliff (OSU), 5-7, 6-2, 4-4 abandoned
No. 4 -- No. 81 Jaedan Brown (U-M) vs. Shelly Bereznyak (OSU), 1-6, 6-2, 5-4 abandoned
No. 5 -- Piper Charney (U-M) d. Teah Chavez (OSU), 4-6, 6-4, 7-5
No. 6 -- No. 61 Lily Jones (U-M) d. Audrey Spencer (OSU), 7-5, 6-3
Doubles
No. 1 -- No. 4 Jaedan Brown/Kari Miller (U-M) d. No. 32 Sydni Ratliff/Luciana Perry (OSU), 6-4
No. 2 -- Reese Miller/Piper Charney (U-M) vs. Irina Cantos/Shelly Bereznyak (OSU), 5-4 abandoned
No. 3 -- Gala Mesochoritou/Julia Fliegner (U-M) d. Audrey Spencer/Teah Chavez (OSU), 6-4
Order of Completion: Doubles 3-1, Singles 1-2-6-5
Players Mentioned
