Michigan
Northwestern
Wolverines Drop Heartbreaker to No. 13 Northwestern
4/8/2018 4:19:00 PM | Women's Tennis
» Michigan clawed back from a 3-1 deficit to tie the team match behind singles wins from Alyvia Jones and Chiara Lommer. Brienne Minor also chipped in a singles win earlier in the team match.
» Senior Mira Ruder-Hook was the last Wolverine on court, dropping a tough three-set match at No. 6, 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (4) as Northwestern claimed the 4-3 win.
» The loss snapped Michigan's seven-match win streak.
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Varsity Tennis Center)
Score: #13 Northwestern 4, #24 Michigan 3
Records: U-M (11-9, 7-1 B1G), NU (15-4, 8-0 B1G)
Next U-M Event: Saturday, April 14 -- vs. Maryland (Varsity Tennis Center), noon
• Photo Gallery
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 24-ranked University of Michigan women's tennis team tied the team match at 3 after being down 3-1, but lost the final match on court in a third-set tiebreaker as No. 13-ranked Northwestern came away with a 4-3 win on Sunday afternoon (April 8) at the Varsity Tennis Center.
Michigan climbed out of a 3-1 hole by getting a pair of straight-sets wins at No. 4 and No. 3. At No. 4, freshman Alyvia Jones took advantage of a late break in the second, going up 5-3 and heading back to the service line to close it out. She made good on her second match point, ripping a forehand cross court for the win and U-M's second point.
Moments later, sophomore Chiara Lommer tied the team match at 3 with a 6-3, 7-5 win at No. 3. Lommer was down 5-3 in the second before ripping off four straight games to win her eighth straight match.
All attention now turned to court No. 6, where the third set had just begun between senior Mira Ruder-Hook and NU's Alex Chatt. Ruder-Hook saved three break points in the fifth game of the set, keeping it on serve at 3-2. The two stayed on serve throughout the next several games before Ruder-Hook's best chance presented itself in the 10th game. The Wolverine jumped out to a 40-15 lead on Chatt's serve, but NU saved three match points to keep it on serve at 5. Both players held serve to send the third set to a tiebreaker.
Chatt scored the first two points of the breaker before Ruder-Hook got the next two to tie it up at 2. Chatt took control from there, winning four of the next five points for a 6-3 lead. Ruder-Hook fought off one match point but Chatt cashed in on the next one to seal the match for the Wildcats.
NU won the doubles point, earning wins at No. 1 and No. 2 for the early 1-0 lead.
Junior Brienne Minor briefly tied up the team match on the heels of a 6-3, 7-5 win at No. 2. Minor and NU's Lee Or exchanged breaks in the second before Minor held her serve in the final game of the set, taking a 7-5 win to seal the win.
The Wildcats got a pair of straight-sets wins at No. 5 and No. 1 over the next several minutes to grab a 3-1 lead before U-M began its comeback.
Michigan will be back in home action next Saturday (April 14), when it hosts Maryland at noon at the Varsity Tennis Center. Â
Following are match-by-match results
Singles
No. 1 -- No. 49 Erin Larner (NU) d. No. 29 Kate Fahey (U-M), 6-4, 6-3
No. 2 -- Brienne Minor (U-M) d. No. 105 Lee Or (NU), 6-3, 7-5
No. 3 -- No. 95 Chiara Lommer (U-M) d. No. 70 Maddie Lipp (NU), 6-3, 7-5
No. 4 -- Alyvia Jones (U-M) d. Julie Byrne (NU), 6-4, 6-3
No. 5 -- Inci Oguy (NU) d. Lera Patiuk (U-M), 6-3, 6-2
No. 6 -- Alex Chatt (NU) d. Mira Ruder-Hook (U-M), 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (4)
Doubles
No. 1 -- No. 4 Erin Larner/Maddie Lipp (NU) d. Brienne Minor/Kate Fahey (U-M), 6-1
No. 2 -- Lee Or/Alex Chatt (NU) d. Chiara Lommer/Lera Patiuk (U-M), 6-3
No. 3 -- Alyvia Jones/Mira Ruder-Hook (U-M) d. Julie Byrne/Rheeya Doshi (NU), 6-3
Order of Completion: Doubles 1-3-2; Singles 2-5-1-4-3-6
Players Mentioned
