Michigan Claims Tight 4-3 Decision at Northwestern

Sunday, April 2

Evanston, Ill.

Noon CT

Michigan

Northwestern

4/2/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis

EVANSTON, Ill. -- The Michigan men's tennis team ended its three-match losing streak Sunday afternoon (April 2) with a 4-3 victory over Northwestern at the Vandy Christie Tennis Center. The Wolverines (8-3) won their first Big Ten Conference match of the season (1-2), while Northwestern (7-8) dropped to 1-4 in conference action.

Michigan gained a 1-0 advantage in the match behind doubles victories at the No. 1 and No. 2 spots. Senior co-captain John Long (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron HS) and freshman Zach Held (Indianapolis, Ind./North Central HS) tallied an 8-3 victory at the No. 2 spot. Senior Matt Wright (Wichita, Kan./Wichita Collegiate HS) and sophomore Danny McCain (Largo, Fla./Canterbury School) scored an 8-6 victory over Brad Erickson and Joost Hol at the No. 1 spot to secure the team point. Northwestern kept the Wolverines from a doubles sweep as Russell Bennett and Jackie Jenkins beat sophomore Henry Beam (Kalamazoo, Mich./Loy Norrix HS) and senior Ron Nano (Great Neck, N.Y./South HS) by an 8-6 score at the No. 3 spot.

In singles, Michigan gained three wins to claim the 4-3 margin of victory. The sophomore trio of Beam, McCain and Ben Cox (Spring Lake, Mich./Spring Lake HS) claimed the Wolverine victories. Beam defeated Jenkins 6-4, 6-3 at the No. 3 spot, while McCain completed an undefeated weekend with a 7-6, 6-2 win over Josh Axler at the No. 4 spot. Cox posted an impressive, three-set win over Bennett at the No. 5 spot to clinch the match (6-4, 3-6, 6-0).

Michigan begins a three-match week of Big Ten matches on Wednesday (April 5, 6 p.m.) against Michigan State at the Varsity Tennis Center. The home slate continues on the weekend against Indiana (Saturday, April 8) and Purdue (Sunday, April 9), beginning at 1 p.m. both days.

Following are match-by-match results:

Singles
No. 1 -- Brad Erickson (NU) d. Matt Wright, 7-6, 6-1
No. 2 -- Joost Hol (NU) d. John Long, 7-6, 2-6, 7-6
No. 3 -- Henry Beam (U-M) d. Jackie Jenkins, 6-4, 6-3
No. 4 -- Danny McCain (U-M) d. Josh Axler, 7-6, 6-2
No. 5 -- Ben Cox (U-M) d. Russell Bennett, 6-4, 3-6, 6-0
No. 6 -- Jamie Sahara (NU) d. Ron Nano, 6-4, 6-1

Doubles
No. 1 -- Wright/McCain (U-M) d. Erickson/Hol, 8-6
No. 2 -- Long/Zach Held (U-M) d. Axler/Sahara, 8-3
No. 3 -- Bennett/Jenkins (NU) d. Beam/Nano, 8-6

Contact: David Ablauf (734) 763-4423