Michigan
Illinois
U-M Starts Fast, but Falls to Illinois in B1G Semifinals
4/28/2018 7:35:00 PM | Men's Tennis
» The Wolverines claimed the doubles point for the 16th time this season.
» Michigan will await the identity of its next opponent during the NCAA selection show on Tuesday (May 1).
Site: Iowa City, Iowa (Hawkeye Tennis and Recreation Complex)
Event: Big Ten Tournament (Semifinals)
Score: #8 Illinois 4, #13 Michigan 1
Records: U-M (20-5), UI (21-6)
Next U-M Event: May 1 -- NCAA Selection Show, 5:30 p.m.
IOWA CITY, Iowa -- The third-seeded University of Michigan men's tennis team won the doubles point, but was unable to slow the Illini in singles play as the Wolverines were eliminated from the Big Ten Tournament by No. 2 seed Illinois, 4-1, on Saturday afternoon (April 28).
Michigan will learn of its next opponent when it is announced during the NCAA selection show, which is scheduled for Tuesday, May 1 at 5:30 p.m.
The Maize and Blue claimed the doubles point for the 16th time this season to take an early 1-0 lead. At No. 1, the duo of sophomore Connor Johnston and junior Myles Schalet earned a 6-3 win, while the clincher came at No. 3 from freshman Harrison Brown and senior Alex Knight, 7-5. The No. 72-ranked combination of senior Runhao Hua and freshman Mattias Siimar held a 5-4 advantage before the point-clinching game ended.
Singles play was tightly contested, with four out of the six first sets being separated by two points or less, and one being decided by a tiebreaker. The Wolverines came away on the wrong end and found themselves down on each court heading into the second sets. Illinois earned straight-sets victories at No. 3 and No. 1 to take over the lead.
Playing at No. 6, senior Carter Lin battled back to take the second set, 6-2, but fell short in the third set, 6-3, to put U-M on the brink of defeat.
Illinois went on to pick up a win at No. 3 to seal the victory and advance to the Big Ten Championship tomorrow (Sunday, April 29) against No. 1 seed Ohio State.
Following are match-by-match results
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Singles
No. 1 -- No. 16 Aleks Vukic (UI) def. No. 15 Alex Knight (U-M), 6-4, 7-5
No. 2 -- No. 47 Runhao Hua (U-M) vs. Aron Hiltzik (UI), 5-7, 6-4, 1-0, unfinished
No. 3 -- No. 83 Alex Brown (UI) def. Myles Schalet (U-M), 6-1, 6-0
No. 4 -- Zeke Clark (UI) def. Mattias Siimar (U-M), 7-6 (2), 7-5
No. 5 -- Aleks Kovacevic (UI) def. Carter Lin (U-M), 6-2, 2-6, 6-3
No. 6 -- Davis Crocker (U-M) vs. Caleb Chakravarthi (UI), 5-7, 5-3, unfinished
Doubles
No. 1 -- Myles Schalet/Connor Johnston (U-M) def, Alex Brown/Caleb Chakravarthi (UI), 6-3
No. 2 -- No. 72 Mattias Siimar/Runhau Hua (U-M) vs. Zeke Clark/Aleks Kovacevic (UI), 5-4
No. 3 -- Alex Knight/Harrison Brown (U-M) def. Aleks Vukic/Vuk Budic (UI). 7-5
Order of Completion: Doubles: 1-3; Singles: 3-1-5-4
Players Mentioned
