Michigan
Notre Dame
Siimar's Upset Clinches Win Over No. 12 Notre Dame
2/23/2019 6:35:00 PM | Men's Tennis
» Andrew Fenty earned his team-leading 12th victory of the season.
» Mattias Siimar defeated No. 15-ranked Alex Lebedev for the match clincher.
» The Wolverines rattled off four consecutive singles wins after UND jumped out to a 2-0 lead.
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Varsity Tennis Center)
Result: #18 Michigan 4, #12 Notre Dame 3
Records: U-M 6-2, ND 8-5
Next U-M Event: Wednesday, Feb. 27 -- at Michigan State (East Lansing, Mich.), 6 p.m.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 18-ranked University of Michigan men's tennis team came from behind after dropping the doubles point to secure a 4-3 win over No. 12-ranked Notre Dame Saturday afternoon (Feb. 23) at the Varsity Tennis Center.
Notre Dame took a tight doubles point, coming through with wins at No. 3 and No. 1 within moments of each other.
Michigan's No. 3 duo of senior Myles Schalet and freshman Patrick Maloney fell in a 5-2 hole before slowly climbing back in the match. The Wolverines fought off two match points to get back on serve at 5-4, but Notre Dame broke right back in the next game to claim the 6-4 victory.
Moments later, the Fighting Irish grabbed a 6-3 victory at No. 1 after taking advantage of a late break to go up 5-3. U-M's top pair of junior Connor Johnston and sophomore Harrison Brown went down 2-0 to start before answering with two straight games to get back on serve for the next three games before ND took control at 5-3.
The Wolverines jumped out to a fast start in singles play, winning all but one of the first sets. After a Fighting Irish victory at No. 4, U-M rattled off four consecutive wins for the comeback.
Senior Gabe Tishman made quick work at No. 6 with a 6-4, 6-4 win, while freshman Andrew Fenty continued his impressive play with his team-leading 12th victory of the season with a 6-4, 7-5 win at No. 3.
Schalet gave the Maize and Blue its first lead of the afternoon with a 7-6 (4), 6-3 victory at the second spot in the lineup, before Mattias Siimar earned his team-leading fifth consecutive win over No. 15-ranked Alex Lebedev.
After winning the first set, 6-4, Siimar dropped the tiebreaker in the second set, 7-4, before clinching the match for U-M with a third set, 6-1 victory.
Michigan is next in action on Wednesday (Feb. 27), kicking off Big Ten action at Michigan State. The match will be at 6 p.m.
Following are match-by-match results
Singles
No. 1 -- No. 56 Mattias Siimar (U-M) d. No. 15 Alex Lebedev (ND) 6-4, 6-7(2), 6-1
No. 2 -- Myles Schalet (U-M) d. Richard Ciamarra (ND) 7-6(4), 6-3
No. 3 -- Andrew Fenty (U-M) d. Axel Nefeve (ND) 6-4, 7-5
No. 4 -- Tristan McCormick (ND) d. Connor Johnston (U-M) 6-4, 6-4
No. 5 -- Matt Gamble (ND) d. Patrick Maloney (U-M) 7-6(5), 6-3, 6-3
No. 6 -- Gabe Tishman (U-M) d. Guillermo Cabrera (ND) 6-4, 6-3
Doubles
No. 1 -- No. 17 Richard Ciamarra/Tristan McCormick (ND) d. Connor Johnston/Harrison Brown (U-M), 6-3
No. 2 -- Mattias Siimar/Andrew Fenty (U-M) vs. Alex Lebedev/Axel Nefeve (ND), 4-4 abandoned
No. 3 -- Grayson Broadus/Matt Gamble (ND) d. Myles Schalet/Patrick Malone (U-M), 6-4
Order of Completion: Doubles 3-1, Singles 4-6-3-2-1-5
Players Mentioned
