Michigan
Ohio State
Michigan Knocks Off No. 19 Ohio State
3/31/2019 4:34:00 PM | Women's Tennis
» Michigan won the doubles point and three of the first four singles matches to beat No. 19 Ohio State, 4-1, to remain unbeaten in Big Ten action.
» Michigan got singles wins from Brienne Minor, Chiara Lommer and Giulia Pairone, along with the doubles point, to account for its four points on the afternoon.
» Both Minor and Pairone were down, 5-2, in their respective second sets before storming back to win in straight sets.
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Varsity Tennis Center)
Result: Michigan 4, #19 Ohio State 1
Records: U-M (11-4, 7-0 B1G), OSU (15-3, 4-1Â B1G)
Next U-M Event: Saturday, April 6 -- at Northwestern (Evanston, Ill.), 11 a.m. CDT
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan women's tennis team ran its win streak to six matches in a 4-1 win over No. 19-ranked Ohio State to stay atop the Big Ten standings on Sunday afternoon (March 31) at the Varsity Tennis Center.
Michigan grabbed the early lead by taking the doubles point with wins at No. 1 and No. 2.
It was all Michigan at the top spot as seniors Kate Fahey and Brienne Minor jumped out to a 3-0 lead and never looked back in a 6-3 win. Ohio State fought off one match point on its serve to get within two games, 5-3, sending Fahey back to serve for the match. The Wolverines held at love to take the first match off court.
The Wolverines clinched the point with a 6-4 win at No. 2 from junior Giulia Pairone and freshman Anca Craciun. The duo fell down a break at 3-2, with Ohio State holding its serve in the ensuing game for a 4-2 Buckeye advantage. Michigan won the final four games of the match to take a 6-4 win. After Michigan broke back to tie it at 4, Pairone held on her serve to make it 5-4 Michigan. OSU fell in a 40-15 hole on its serve to stay in the match at 5-4 but was able to fight off one match point. Pairone and Craciun delivered on the second match point as a Pairone lob into the corner set up a Craciun overhand winner for the match's first point.Â
Michigan took five first sets in singles action, with its lone loss coming at No. 5.
Minor provided Michigan its second point, taking a 6-2, 7-5 win at No. 4. After breezing to a first-set win, Minor won the first two games of the second set before Ohio State won five straight for a 5-2 lead. Minor answered with her own five-game run, while also fighting off two set points at 5-4. Minor broke at love in the final game to wrap up the straight-sets win.
Ohio State halved the Michigan advantage behind a straight-sets win at No. 5.
Junior Chiara Lommer put Michigan on the brink of the team win behind a 6-4, 7-5 win over No. 78 Shiori Fukuda at No. 3. Lommer took advantage of a late break in the first set, going up 5-4 and then serving it out in the ensuing game. The lefty went up a break at 4-2 in the second, but Fukuda won two straight games to knot the score at 4. Lommer broke Fukuda again on a deuce point in the set's 11th game, going up 6-5 and heading back to the line to serve it out. Lommer held at love to give Michigan its third point of the afternoon.
It appeared as if Michigan was going to have to win a third set to put its fourth and final point on the board as the match at No. 1 was in a third, the match at No. 6 was about to start a third and Pairone was down three games in the second set at No. 2.
Pairone followed a similar script to Minor, falling in a 5-2 hole in the second set after winning the first. Pairone slowly chipped away, holding serve to tie the set at 5. OSU's Kolie Allen held on her serve for a 6-5 advantage, forcing Pairone to hold for a tiebreaker. Pairone saved two set points in the game, eventually holding to send it to a tiebreaker.
Pairone took a 5-2 lead in the tiebreaker before Allen won two straight points to get back in it at 5-4. It was all Pairone from there as she won the next two points to give Michigan the win.
The matches at No. 1 and No. 6 were abandoned.
Michigan will be back on the road next weekend, heading to Northwestern for a match against the Wildcats on Saturday (April 6) 11 a.m. CDT.
Singles
No. 1 -- No. 4 Kate Fahey (U-M) vs. No. 55 Isabelle Boulais (OSU), 6-4, 3-6, 2-2 abandoned
No. 2 -- No. 107 Giulia Pairone (U-M) d. No. 61 Kolie Allen (OSU), 6-4, 7-6 (4)
No. 3 -- No. 21 Chiara Lommer (U-M) d. No. 78 Shiori Fukuda (OSU), 6-4, 7-5
No. 4 -- No. 29 Brienne Minor (U-M) d. Danielle Wolf (OSU), 6-2, 7-5
No. 5 -- Luna Dormet (OSU) d. Anca Craciun (U-M), 6-4, 6-3
No. 6 -- Alyvia Jones (U-M) vs. Mary Beth Hurley (OSU), 6-3, 4-6, 0-1 abandoned
Doubles
No. 1 -- No. 76 Kate Fahey/Brienne Minor (U-M) d. No. 35 Isabelle Boulais/Shiori Fukuda (OSU), 6-3
No. 2 -- Giulia Pairone/Anca Craciun (U-M) d. Kolie Allen/Andrea Ballinger (OSU), 6-4
No. 3 -- Chiara Lommer/Alyvia Jones (U-M) vs. Danielle Wolf/Luna Dormet (OSU), 4-5 abandoned
Order of Completion: Doubles 1-2 Singles 4-5-3-2
Players Mentioned
