Week #13: Wolverines to Conclude Season at Home
4/19/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
April 19, 2016
» U-M is in search of completing its first perfect home record at the Varsity Tennis Center. Michigan is 12-0 at home entering the weekend.
» With a 6-3 record, Michigan sits in fourth place in the Big Ten. U-M is still in position to secure the No. 4 seed and a bye into quarterfinal action at the Big Ten Tournament.
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THIS WEEK
Friday, April 22 -- vs. Iowa (Varsity Tennis Center), 6 p.m.
Sunday, April 24 -- vs. Nebraska (Varsity Tennis Center), 10 a.m.
• Live Scoring/Live Video (*No live video if matches are played outdoors)
The No. 22-ranked University of Michigan men's tennis team (17-6, 6-3 Big Ten) concludes the regular season at home this weekend, hosting Iowa (11-14, 1-8 Big Ten) on Friday (April 22) at 6 p.m. and Nebraska (12-11, 3-6 Big Ten) on Sunday (April 24) at 10 a.m. Admission is free to all matches at the Varsity Tennis Center. Fans in attendance to Friday's match can receive a free block M Jell-o mold as a giveaway.
NCAA RULES
The NCAA has adapted new rules this year for tennis, which will be in effect all year long. Doubles action will begin immediately with no warmup, so fans are encouraged to arrive on time for matches. In addition, each doubles match will be one set to six, with a tiebreaker occurring at 6-all. The team that wins two-of-three matches will secure the doubles point. Following a five-minute intermission, singles action will begin with each match worth one point towards the team score. All singles matches will be played to completion unless the coaches agree to abandon the matches once the team outcome is decided. There will be no-ad scoring in both singles and doubles action.
WEATHER POLICY
Matches shall be played outdoors unless the projected weather forecast, for a minimum of two hours out of a four-hour time period from the start of the match, according to www.weather.com is: a high of less than 50 degrees or sustained winds (not including wind gusts) of more than 20 miles per hour.
WOLVERINE BITES
• U-M moved to No. 22 in this week's ITA rankings after last weekend's action. Michigan has been in the top 25 for the last eight rankings releases.
• The Wolverines are in fourth place in the Big Ten with a 6-3 record entering the final weekend of play. Michigan is in search of a first-round by securing a top-four seed for the upcoming Big Ten Tournament. The Big Ten Tournament will be held next week (April 28-May 1) at Minnesota.
• U-M is 12-0 at the Varsity Tennis Center this year, surrendering 14 total points to opponents at home this season. Michigan was 4-6 at home a season ago. U-M is in search of its first undefeated home season since the Varsity Tennis Center opened (1997).
• With a pair of wins this weekend, Michigan can reach 19 wins. It would mark just the third time the Wolverines have reached that total in the last 28 years. U-M won 20 matches during the 2007 and 2008 campaigns.
• Five of Michigan's six losses have come to teams ahead of the Wolverines in the rankings -- No. 5 Ohio State, No. 14 Northwestern, No. 15 Illinois, No. 17 South Florida and No. 20 Kentucky. Michigan, which is No. 22 this week, has wins over No. 23 Tulsa and No. 24 Columbia.
• Michigan has won the doubles point in 14 matches this season, going 14-0 in those matches. U-M is 3-6 when dropping the match's first point, coming back to win the match three times when dropping the first point (Alabama, Tulsa and Indiana).
• Michigan has made quite a turnaround in head coach Adam Steinberg's second season. The Wolverines have more than doubled last year's win total from seven in 2014-15 to 17 victories through 21 matches in 2015-16. Three of U-M's four losses have been to opponents currently ranked in the top 25 -- South Florida, Ohio State and Kentucky. [ Michigan Daily Column ]
• Sophomore Carter Lin leads U-M in singles wins with 20 as the first Wolverine to reach the 20-win plateau this season. Junior Kevin Wong won a pair of matches last weekend to move into second place with 19, with junior/sophomore Davis Crocker totaling 17 and junior/sophomore Alex Knight checking in with 16 wins.
• In the latest edition of the ITA rankings, junior Jathan Malik comes in at No. 97 and junior/sophomore Alex Knight checks in at No. 113. New individual rankings were released on April 19.
• For the fourth time this season, the doubles team of Runhao Hua and Alex Knight is ranked by the ITA. Michigan's top duo comes in at No. 84 in the latest edition of the rankings.
• Through 23 team matches, Michigan has already picked up 82 singles wins. Last season in 24 dual matches, the Wolverines totaled 46 singles victories. Michigan has also surpassed last year's win total (7).
• Iowa (11-14, 1-8 Big Ten) -- Iowa travels to Ann Arbor for Michigan's second-to-last home match of the season. Iowa has dropped its last six Big Ten contests and is 1-8 overall in conference play. Senior Dominic Patrick leads the team at No. 1 singles, as well as at No. 2 doubles. Michigan is 49-9 all-time against the Hawkeyes.
• Nebraska (12-11, 3-6 Big Ten) -- Nebraska, which will play at Michigan State prior to its trip to Ann Arbor, and Michigan will face each other in the season finale for both teams. The Huskers are led by brothers Dusty and Toby Boyer, who play No. 1 and 3 singles, respectively, as well as No. 1 doubles together. Michigan is 4-1 all-time against Nebraska.
UP NEXT
Thu-Sun., April 28-May 1 -- at Big Ten Tournament (Minneapolis, Minn.)
Communications Contact: Sarah VanMetre
