Michigan
Penn State
U-M Beats Penn State 6-1 to Remain Unbeaten in Big Ten
4/4/1999 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Varsity Tennis Center)
Score: Michigan 6, Penn State 1
Records: U-M (11-1, 4-0 Big Ten), PSU (9-7, 1-4 Big Ten)
Next U-M Event: Wednesday, April 7 -- at Michigan State (East Lansing, Mich.), 6 p.m.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan men's tennis team remained unbeaten in Big Ten Conference play, defeating Penn State 6-1 Sunday afternoon (April 4) to go 4-0 at the outset of the conference season. Michigan improved to 11-1 on the year and won its eighth consecutive match.
Michigan gained the doubles point with victories at the No. 1 and No. 2 spots in the lineup. Junior Matt Wright (Wichita, Kan./Wichita Collegiate HS) and freshman Danny McCain (Largo, Fla./Canterbury School) posted an 8-5 victory at the No. 1 slot over Marc Dorfman and Eric Meditz. Senior co-captain William Farah (Flint, Mich./Powers Catholic HS) and junior Brad McFarlane (Kingston, Ontario/Bayridge Secondary HS) dominated the team of Damon Accardi and Jeff Martini at the No. 2 spot, winning 8-2 to clinch the doubles point.
Penn State's Mike Griesser and Marc McCallister defeated previously unbeaten junior John Long (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron HS) and senior co-captain Jake Raiton (Portland, Ore./Wilson HS) to keep the Wolverines from the doubles sweep. The loss ended a nine-match winning streak in dual meets for Long and Raiton and dropped their season record to 11-3.
The Wolverines carried their impressive play over into singles, winning five of the six contests to claim the 6-1 margin. The victory kept Michigan a perfect 7-0 at the Varsity Tennis Center this season and was the squad's 15th win (15-4 home record) in three years of action at the facility.
Wright collected his fourth victory in five matches, defeating Dorfman at the No. 1 spot in a dominating fashion (6-1, 6-2). Wright won his 14th match of the season and is 7-5 for the Wolverines at the top spot in the singles lineup.
Farah posted a straight-sets (7-6, 7-6) victory over Griesser at the No. 2 spot in the lineup, winning both sets in tie-breakers. Farah improved to 17-7 on the season and needs one victory for the 95th of his singles career (94-48).
At the No. 3 singles spot, Long won his eighth straight match with a straight-sets (7-6, 6-4) victory over Meditz. Long improved to 10-1 in dual match competition and raised his season record to 18-6 overall.
Penn State's point in the match came as Martini came from a set down to collect a three-set victory over McCain at the No. 4 slot. McCain won the first set 6-4 but dropped the final two sets 6-4 and 6-3.
Freshman Henry Beam (Kalamazoo, Mich./Loy Norrix HS) ended the longest losing streak of his young career with a straight-sets (6-2, 6-4) victory over McCallister at the No. 5 spot. Beam had lost his previous three matches prior to today's win, which moved his season record to 16-10.
Fellow freshman Ben Cox (Spring Lake, Mich./Spring Lake HS) continued his dominant play, beating Accardi in straight sets (6-3, 6-4) at the No. 6 slot. Cox has a 12-0 dual match record on the season and is 19-4 overall.
The Wolverines travel to East Lansing, Mich., for a match Wednesday evening (April 7) at archrival Michigan State. The Big Ten dual match will be played at the MSU Tennis Facility beginning at 6 p.m.
Following are match-by-match results:
Singles
No. 1 -- Matt Wright (U-M) d. Marc Dorfman, 6-1, 6-2
No. 2 -- William Farah (U-M) d. Mike Griesser, 7-6, 7-6
No. 3 -- John Long (U-M) d. Eric Meditz, 7-6, 6-4
No. 4 -- Jeff Martini (PSU) d. Danny McCain, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3
No. 5 -- Henry Beam (U-M) d. Marc McCallister, 6-2, 6-4
No. 6 -- Ben Cox (U-M) d. Damon Accardi, 6-3, 6-4
Doubles
No. 1 -- Wright/McCain (U-M) d. Dorfman/Meditz, 8-5
No. 2 -- Farah/Brad McFarlane (U-M) d. Accardi/Martini, 8-2
No. 3 -- Griesser/McCallister (PSU) d. Long/Jake Raiton, 9-8 (4)
Players Mentioned
