Notes & Quotes: Michigan 4, Vanderbilt 3
2/25/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Feb. 25, 2012
N O T E S
• With today's win, Michigan evened the all-time series against Vanderbilt at 5-5. The Wolverines have taken four of the last five meetings between the programs.
• Michigan has dropped the doubles point in just three duals this season. U-M has twice rallied from the initial deficit to earn the dual victory.
• Sophomore Alex Buzzi is the fifth different Wolverine player to clinch a U-M dual win this season.
Q U O T E S
Michigan Head Coach Bruce Berque
On the Wolverine win ... "Mark [Merklein] and I were definitely proud of the team today. We felt like we were playing catch up the whole time, and they bent but never broke. They maintained their composure when we were down 3-0 and struggling on some other courts. Things definitely weren't going well for us for a time, but when it really mattered at the end, a couple of our guys stepped up. It was good when Alex Petrone won, because it got us on the board. When Barrett [Franks] won, it was a huge momentum lift for us. At that point, Alex [Buzzi] was already up a set. We hung around, didn't fold, didn't panic and got it done in the end."
On Barrett Franks' dual-tying win ... "Barrett did great. He was down 3-4 in the third set and had to save three break points to avoid having his opponent serve for the dual match. He saved those points with big serves then played a good game to break and served it out under pressure."
On Alex Buzzi's final match ... "When he was going out onto the court, he knew he had to win to even give us a chance. But there was also a possibility that if one of the other guys didn't step up, the match would be over before he even got that chance to come through. Alex is a pretty cool customer. He's pretty relaxed and deals with pressure situations pretty well. He got up early and did a good job of playing better tennis than his opponent."
On the doubles play ... "We were ready to play. We just had a few execution problems and fell behind early. Vanderbilt took advantage of those early leads and was able to get a step on us. I give a lot of credit to Vanderbilt; I thought they played a really great match. In some ways, I feel like we're fortunate to get out of there with a win. But it's credit to our guys for keeping their composure and toughing it out when it mattered."
