Michigan to Take Aim at Big Ten Tournament Championship

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan men's tennis team (14-11) begins its quest for a Big Ten Tournament championship this weekend in Evanston, Ill., on the Northwestern campus. As the No. 2 seed, the Wolverines will face the winner of No. 7 Northwestern vs. No. 10 Wisconsin match on Friday (April 26) at 1:30 p.m. CDT. The semifinals are scheduled for Saturday (April 27) and the championship match will take place on Sunday (April 28). Matches will be streamed live on B1G+.

Notes

• Michigan is the No. 2 seed after finishing second in the Big Ten standings with an 8-1 record -- its lone loss coming to No. 1-ranked Ohio State. The Wolverines knocked off No. 18 Michigan State 5-2 on Saturday afternoon (April 20) at the Varsity Tennis Center.

• The win over MSU moved the Wolverines from No. 35 in the ITA computerized rankings to No. 29. Three conference competitors are ranked higher with Ohio State at No. 1, MSU at No. 19 and Illinois at No. 26.

• Michigan last won the Big Ten Tournament championship in 2022, defeating OSU in Madison, Wis. Last year, it was again Michigan and Ohio State in the championship, with the Buckeyes winning.

• Gavin Young was named to the All-Big Ten first team on Thursday (April 25). Young owns a 10-7 record at No. 1 singles and is ranked No. 19 in the ITA singles rankings. He went 5-1 in the Big Ten this season and has a career mark of 16-5 in his career in conference singles. He went 11-9 against ranked opponents this season, including a win over the No. 2-ranked singles player. This season, he had a career-best eight straight wins and has a 65-31 record in singles overall.

• The Wolverines are nearly unstoppable when they take the doubles point, going 10-1 when they do. Michigan's top pair of Young and Jacob Bickersteth are ranked No. 16 with a 12-6 overall record, going 10-6 in duals and 7-1 in the conference. The Wolverines have won at No. 2 doubles in each of the last four matches with Patorn Hanchaikul and Will Cooksey making up the current pair. The duo is in the midst of a three-match win streak. Mert Oral and Bjorn Swenson are 6-2 overall as the No. 3 pair.

• Nicholas Steiglehner is on a five-match win streak with an 11-6 dual record and a 6-1 record against league opponents, playing primarily at No. 6. He and Bickersteth each have 18 singles wins this year.

• Cooksey has won seven of his last eight matches with a 7-1 conference record, playing primarily at No. 5.

• Young has won seven of his last eight matches with five of those wins against ranked opponents. He went 5-1 in the Big Ten at No. 1 singles this season.

• The NCAA men's tennis championship team selection show will be streamed live at NCAA.com on Monday (April 29) 6 p.m. Individual selections to the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships will be announced on Tuesday (April 30).