Michigan
Illinois
U-M Advances to B1G Championship with Win Over Illinois
4/29/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
April 29, 2017
» Michigan advances to the Big Ten Championship for the first time since 2013.
» The Wolverines are in search of their 37th Big Ten championship and first since 1996.
» U-M's 22 wins are the third-best total in school history and the most since winning 26 matches in 1988.
Site: West Lafayette, Ind. (Schwartz Tennis Center)
Event: Big Ten Tournament (Semifinals)
Score: #16 Michigan 4, #25 Illinois 2
Records: U-M (22-5), ILL (16-11)
Next U-M Event: Sunday, April 30 -- vs. Ohio State - B1G Tournament Final (West Lafayette, Ind.), 11 a.m.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- The second-seeded University of Michigan men's tennis team held on for a 4-2 victory over third-seeded Illinois in the Big Ten Semifinals on Saturday (April 29) afternoon at the Schwartz Tennis Center.
With the win, U-M advances to the conference championship and will take on top-seeded Ohio State tomorrow (Sunday, April 30) at 11 a.m. Michigan will be in search of its 37th Big Ten championship and first since 1996.
Michigan took the doubles point to take an early 1-0 lead, taking courts one and three. The duo of Jathan Malik and Connor Johnston earned a 6-1 victory at No. 1 doubles, while Myles Schalet and Kevin Wong clinched the doubles win for U-M with a 6-3 triumph at No. 3.
The Wolverines collected victories on courts three and four to bring the score to 3-1 and put the team on the brink of victory. After Illinois took No. 1 singles to even the score at one-apiece, U-M gained points after a 6-4, 6-4 win by Schalet at court three, and a 6-2, 6-4 triumph by Runhao Hua at No. 4.
After dropping court five, Michigan clinched its ticket to the championship bout with Ohio State after a 7-6, 6-4 win by Davis Crocker on court six.
Sunday will be a rematch of the 2013 Big Ten Championship match, when Ohio State and Michigan met for the title in Columbus, Ohio.
Following are match-by-match results:
Singles
No. 1 -- #5 Aleks Vukic (IU) def. #80 Jathan Malik (U-M) 6-4, 6-0
No. 2 -- #123 Alex Knight (U-M) vs. #39 Aron Hiltzik 6-3, 3-6, 1-3 (abandoned)
No. 3 -- Myles Schalet (U-M) def. Aleks Kovacevic (IU) 6-4, 6-4
No. 4 -- Runhao Hua (U-M) def. Gui Gomes (IU) 6-2, 6-4
No. 5 -- Zeke Clark (IU) def. Carter Lin U-M) 7-5, 6-4
No. 6 -- Davis Crocker (U-M) vs. Noe Khlif (IU) 7-6 (11), 6-4
Doubles
No. 1 -- #22 Jathan Malik/Connor Johnston (U-M) def. Alex Jesse/Aleks Kovacevic (IU) 6-1
No. 2 -- Runhao Hua/Alex Knight (U-M) def. Aleks Vukic/Vuk Budic (IU) 5-4 (abandoned)
No. 3 -- Myles Schalet/Kevin Wong (U-M) def. Gui Gomes/Aron Hiltzik (IU) 6-3
Order of Completion: Doubles 1-3, Singles 1-3-4-5-6
Communications Contact: TJ Garske
