Michigan
Minnesota
Michigan Falls at Minnesota in Conference Opener
3/21/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Site: Minneapolis, Minn. (Baseline Tennis Center)
Score: Minnesota 4, Michigan 3
Records: U-M (6-10, 0-1 Big Ten), Minnesota (12-3, 1-0 Big Ten)
Next U-M Match: Sunday, March 22 -- at Iowa (Iowa City, Iowa), 10 a.m. CDT
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- The No. 40-ranked University of Michigan men's tennis team opened its Big Ten Conference season with a 4-3 setback to No. 37 Minnesota on Saturday afternoon (March 21) at the Baseline Tennis Center. The Wolverines (6-10, 0-1 Big Ten) put together a pair of impressive doubles wins to claim the first team point, but the Golden Gophers (12-3, 1-0 Big Ten) won four of the six singles matches to clinch their first victory over U-M in three years.
Junior George Navas (Tampa, Fla./Tampa Preparatory School) and sophomore Jason Jung (West Torrance, Calif./Torrance HS), who made their career debut in the national doubles rankings this week at No. 26, opened the match with a commanding 8-2 win over Phillip Arndt and Ishay Hadash at No. 1. Navas and Jung have been victorious in all but one of their six matches since being paired together on Feb. 25.
Senior Andrew Mazlin (Altamonte Springs, Fla./Lyman HS) and sophomore Chris Madden (Lotus, Calif./Ponderosa HS) gave Michigan a 1-0 lead with an 8-4 triumph over Julian Dehn and Sebastian Gallego at No. 2. Mazlin and Madden are undefeated in five dual matches this season.
Madden carried the momentum over to singles play and posted a quick 6-3, 6-1 victory over Dehn to give the Wolverines a 2-0 advantage. Minnesota strung together back-to-back wins at Nos. 3 and 1, respectively, to tie the match, but sophomore/freshman Drew Daniel (Overland Park, Kan./Laurel Springs School) put U-M back into the lead with a 6-4, 6-3 triumph over Michael Sicora at No. 6. With the victory, Daniel became Michigan's first 20-win singles player of 2008-09 (20-10). He has dropped just one of his 11 matches at the sixth spot this year.
The Wolverines built early leads on the two remaining courts, but the Golden Gophers battled back to win both matches in three sets. Tobias Wernet completed a 6-7(3), 6-2, 6-4 decision over Mazlin at No. 2 to tie the match at 3-3, and Dino Bilankov closed out Navas by a 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-3 score at No. 5 to clinch the team victory for Minnesota. It was Navas' first loss in dual-match play this season (6-1).
The Wolverines continue their five-match road swing on Sunday (March 22) against Iowa. The match is scheduled for a 10 a.m. CDT start at the Hawkeye Tennis & Recreation Complex in Iowa City, Iowa.
Following are match-by-match results:
Singles
No. 1 -- #62 Ishay Hadash (Minnesota) d. Jason Jung, 6-1, 6-3
No. 2 -- Tobias Wernet (Minnesota) d. Andrew Mazlin, 6-7(3), 6-2, 6-4
No. 3 -- Sebastian Gallego (Minnesota) d. Peter Aarts, 6-2, 6-2
No. 4 -- Chris Madden (U-M) d. Julian Dehn, 6-3, 6-1
No. 5 -- Dino Bilankov (Minnesota) d. George Navas, 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-3
No. 6 -- Drew Daniel (U-M) d. Michael Sicora, 6-4, 6-3
Doubles
No. 1 -- #26 Jung/Navas (U-M) d. Phillip Arndt/Hadash, 8-2
No. 2 -- Madden/Mazlin (U-M) d. Dehn/Gallego, 8-4
No. 3 -- Aarts/Daniel (U-M) vs. Bilankov/Wernet, 6-5 (unfinished)
Order of Completion: Doubles 1-2, Singles 4-3-1-6-2-5
Players Mentioned
