Michigan
Northwestern
Wolverines Drop Conference Opener at Northwestern
2/17/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
EVANSTON, Ill. -- The University of Michigan men's tennis team lost a close 4-3 match to No. 34-ranked Northwestern Saturday afternoon (Feb. 17) at the Johnson Tennis Center. The Wolverines, ranked No. 30 in the ITA team rankings, suffered their first loss of the year (5-1) in their Big Ten Conference dual match opener.
Michigan took a 1-0 advantage in the match with victories at the No. 2 and No. 3 doubles spots. Junior Ben Cox (Spring Lake, Mich./Spring Lake HS) and freshman Anthony Jackson (Glendale, Wis./Nicolet HS) remained unbeaten in dual match competition with an 8-5 victory over Josh Axler and Ryan Edlefsen at the No. 3 spot. Juniors Danny McCain (Largo, Fla./Canterbury School) and Greg Novak (Stoney Creek, Ontario/Cardinal Newman HS) posted a 9-8 victory in a tie-break (7-4 score) at the No. 2 spot to secure the team point.
Northwestern's Brad Erickson and Joost Hol won a 9-8 match (7-4 in tie-break) at the top doubles spot over junior Henry Beam (Kalamazoo, Mich./Loy Norrix HS) and sophomore Chris Shaya (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Saddlebrook Academy, Fla.) to keep Michigan from a doubles sweep.
The Wildcats stormed back after the closely contested doubles play to win four of the six singles matches and earn the victory. Beam collected a come-from-behind 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 victory over Jackie Jenkins at the No. 1 singles spot to earn one of the Wolverines' victories. Jackson posted a 6-4, 6-3 over Edlefsen at the No. 5 spot to remain Michigan's only unbeaten player in dual match action (6-0 in both singles and doubles).
Michigan will host Indiana State Wednesday afternoon (Feb. 21, 3 p.m.) at the Varsity Tennis Center. The Wolverines will then host Minnesota on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 24, 3 p.m.) after the U-M women's squad opens Big Ten Conference play against Illinois (11 a.m.).
Following are match-by-match results:
Singles
No. 1 -- Henry Beam (U-M) d. Jackie Jenkins, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1
No. 2 -- Brad Erickson (NU) d. Ben Cox, 6-3, 6-4
No. 3 -- Joost Hol (NU) d. Danny McCain, 6-1, 6-4
No. 4 -- Jamie Sahara (NU) d. Greg Novak, 6-3, 6-3
No. 5 -- Anthony Jackson (U-M) d. Ryan Edlefsen, 6-4, 6-3
No. 6 -- Josh Axler (NU) d. Chris Shaya, 7-5, 6-2
Doubles
No. 1 -- Erickson/Hol (NU) d. Beam/Shaya, 9-8 (4)
No. 2 -- McCain/Novak (U-M) d. Jenkins/Bennett, 9-8 (4)
No. 3 -- Cox/Jackson (U-M) d. Axler/Edlefsen, 8-5
Contact: David Ablauf (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
