Michigan
Illinois
Michigan Falls Short at No. 17 Illinois
4/17/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
April 17, 2016
» The Wolverines won at No. 2 doubles before falling at No. 3. Illinois took the doubles point after winning a 7-5 tiebreaker at No. 1 for the early 1-0 lead.
» U-M got a straight-set singles win from junior Kevin Wong to account for its only point of the day.
Site: Champaign, Ill. (Atkins Tennis Center)
Score: #17 Illinois 4, #21 Michigan 1
Records: U-M (17-6, 6-3 Big Ten), ILL (17-7, 8-1 Big Ten)
Next U-M Event: Friday, April 22 -- vs. Iowa (Varsity Tennis Center), 6 p.m.
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- The No. 21-ranked University of Michigan men's tennis team dropped a tightly contested doubles point and three of the first four singles matches off court in a close 4-1 loss to No. 17 Illinois on Sunday afternoon (April 17) at the Atkins Tennis Center.
In doubles action, the No. 2 pair of juniors Jathan Malik and Kevin Wong breezed to a 6-1 win.
Illinois got the break it needed at 4-3 on court No. 3, taking a 6-4 win to even the doubles score.
The match at the top spot headed to a tiebreaker at 6-6 as neither team could break serve. Junior/sophomore Alex Knight and sophomore Runhao Hua jumped out to a 2-0 lead but then faced a 4-2 deficit. U-M ripped off three straight points for a 5-4 advantage in the breaker, but Illinois won the final three points to win the doubles point with a 7-5 win in the tiebreaker.
Illinois extended its lead to 3-0 with wins at No. 3 and No. 2.
Wong put U-M's first point on the board, winning 6-2, 6-2 at No. 5 to trim Illinois' lead to 3-1.
With Michigan needing to win the final three matches on court, Knight roared back in the second set to win the frame over No. 12-ranked Jared Hiltzik with a 7-1 tiebreak win.
At the same time, junior/sophomore Davis Crocker entered a third set at No. 6, and Hua was down a break in the second set.
Crocker went down 4-1 to start the third set, while Hua got the break back that he needed to even his second set at 5-5. Knight won the first game of his third set at No. 1, but Jared Hiltzik won three straight to take a 3-1 lead.
Hua was back on serve in the second set but lost the next two games as Illinois clinched the match with a straight-set win at No. 4.
U-M returns home to close out the regular season, hosting a pair of matches next weekend. First up is a Friday evening (April 22) match against Iowa at 6 p.m.
Following are match-by-match results
Singles
No. 1 -- No. 112 Alex Knight (U-M) vs. No. 12 Jared Hiltzik (Ill), 4-6, 7-6 (1), 2-4 abandoned
No. 2 -- No. 4 Aleks Vukic (Ill) d. No. 93 Jathan Malik (U-M), 6-2, 6-4
No. 3 -- No. 70 Aron Hiltzik (Ill) d. Carter Lin (U-M), 6-3, 6-2
No. 4 -- Julian Childers (Ill) d. Runhao Hua (U-M), 6-4, 7-5
No. 5 -- Kevin Wong (U-M) d. Brian Page (Ill), 6-2, 6-2
No. 6 -- Davis Crocker (U-M) vs. Alex Jesse (Ill), 6-4, 1-6, 2-5 abandoned
Doubles
No. 1 -- Aron Hiltzik/Aleks Vukic (Ill) d. No. 74 Alex Knight/Runhao Hua (U-M), 7-6 (5)
No. 2 -- Jathan Malik/Kevin Wong (U-M) d. Brian Page/Julian Childers (Ill), 6-1
No. 3 -- Jared Hiltzik/Aiden Jiang (Ill) d. Myles Schalet/Lubomir Cuba (U-M), 6-4
Order of Completion: 2-3-1, Singles 3-2-5-4
Communications Contact: Sarah VanMetre
Players Mentioned
