Week #14: Wolverines Set for Big Ten Tournament
4/26/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
April 26, 2016
» With one win at the Big Ten Tournament, Michigan can hit the 20-win plateau for the first time since the 2008 season.
» Michigan has received a first-round bye and will face either Iowa or Indiana in the quarterfinals on Friday (April 29).
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THIS WEEK
Friday, April 29 -- vs. Iowa/Indiana - Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals (Minneapolis, Minn.), 11:30 a.m. CDT
With a win ...
Saturday, April 30 -- Big Ten Tournament semifinals (Minneapolis, Minn.), 11 a.m. CDT
With another win ...
Sunday, May 1 -- Big Ten Tournament championship (Minneapolis, Minn.), Noon CDT
The No. 24-ranked University of Michigan men's tennis team (19-6) heads to the Big Ten Tournament as the No. 4 seed after tying with Illinois for third place in the conference with an 8-3 record. U-M has received a first-round bye and will face either Indiana or Iowa on Friday (April 29) in the quarterfinals at 11:30 a.m. CDT. The tournament is being hosted by the University of Minnesota.
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. Matches in progress when the dual match is clinched will be abandoned in postseason play. 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
• The Wolverines are the No. 4 seed for the Big Ten Tournament after tying for third place with Illinois at 8-3. U-M was the No. 11 seed in last year's tournament.
• Michigan won more Big Ten matches this season (8) -- head coach Adam Steinberg's second campaign -- than total matches a year ago (7).
• With one win at the Big Ten Tournament, Michigan can reach 20 wins for the first time since stringing together back-to-back 20-win seasons in 2007 and 2008.
• The Maize and Blue will face off against either Iowa or Indiana in the quarterfinals of the tournament on Friday (April 29) at 11:30 a.m. CDT. Michigan shut out Iowa this past weekend and defeated Indiana, 4-1, at the VTC earlier this season.
• Michigan is looking for its first Big Ten Tournament title since 1996.
• U-M moved to No. 24 in this week's ITA rankings after a pair of wins at home last weekend. Michigan has been in the top 25 for the last nine rankings releases.
• Michigan completed a 14-0 season at the Varsity Tennis Center this past weekend with a pair of shutout wins over Iowa and Nebraska. Michigan gave up just 14 total points to opponents at home this season after going 4-6 at the VTC a season ago. It was the first undefeated home season since the Varsity Tennis Center opened (1997).
• Five of Michigan's six losses have come to teams ahead of the Wolverines in the rankings -- No. 4 Ohio State, No. 13 Northwestern, No. 16 South Florida, No. 17 Illinois and No. 20 Kentucky. Michigan, which is No. 24 this week, has wins over No. 23 Tulsa and No. 25 Columbia.
• Michigan has won the doubles point in 16 matches this season, going 16-0 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 19 victories through 25 matches in 2015-16. [ Michigan Daily Column ]
• Sophomore Carter Lin leads U-M in singles wins with 21 as the first Wolverine to reach the 20-win plateau this season. Junior Kevin Wong picked up a win last weekend to join Lin in the 20-win club with 20. Junior/sophomore Davis Crocker has 18, and junior/sophomore Alex Knight checks in with 16 wins.
• In the latest edition of the ITA rankings, junior Jathan Malik comes in at No. 95 and junior/sophomore Alex Knight checks in at No. 123. New individual rankings were released on April 26.
• For the fifth 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. 81 in the latest edition of the rankings.
• Through 25 team matches, Michigan has already picked up 88 singles wins. Last season in 24 dual matches, the Wolverines totaled 46 singles victories. Michigan has also surpassed last year's win total (7).
UP NEXT
Fri-Sun, May 13-15 -- NCAA First and Second Rounds (Campus Sites)
Communications Contact: Sarah VanMetre
