Season Review: 2018-19 Michigan Men's Tennis
7/25/2019 3:50:00 PM | Men's Tennis
• Team Captains: Myles Schalet, Gabe Tishman
• Record: 18-9 overall, 7-4 Big Ten Conference (4th place)
• Big Ten Tournament: Semifinal
• NCAA Tournament: Round of 32
After it lost four starting seniors to graduation at the end of last season, the University of Michigan men's tennis team received key contributions from a pair of freshmen and a trio of upperclassmen during the 2018-19 campaign to win 18 matches and advance to the NCAA Round of 32 in its fourth straight tournament appearance. After knocking out Dartmouth, 4-2, in a tough first round, the Wolverines fell to No. 6-ranked Baylor. Michigan began the season ranked No. 23, and finished at No. 20 in the final Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) rankings.
Team Highlights
• The Maize and Blue returned to the NCAA Tournament for the fourth consecutive year and defeated Dartmouth, 4-2, in the first round. U-M fell to No. 6-ranked Baylor, in the round of 32.
• The Wolverines sent freshman Andrew Fenty to the NCAA Individual Singles Championships. Fenty fell in the first round to the No. 4-ranked Alex Rybakov, 6-3, 6-2, on May 20.
• Michigan won an exciting doubles point against No. 1 Ohio State in the Big Ten tournament semifinals (April 27), as it handed the Buckeyes their second doubles-point loss of the season.
• The Wolverines defeated No. 18-ranked Oklahoma at home, 4-2, on Feb. 2 to lift U-M to its biggest dual-match win of the season.
Individual Highlights
• Andrew Fenty finished the season ranked No. 56 in the country and qualified for the NCAA Individual Singles Championships. During his freshman campaign, he compiled an impressive 27-6 singles record and a 21-7 doubles record and in doing so, earned ITA Freshman of the Year, ITA Midwest Freshman of the Year, Midwest Player to Watch, Big Ten Freshman of the Year, and first-team All-Big Ten honors. He played to a crucial win against Ohio State when he defeated the No. 1 player in the country, JJ Wolf. Continuing his impressive streak, Fenty dropped only three matches in dual-match play. The Washington, D.C., native joined the "20/20" club, as he won at least 20 matches in singles and doubles.
• Patrick Maloney had an inspiring freshman campaign, going 16-9 in singles and 12-10 in doubles. A highlight of Maloney's season was when he clinched the match for the Wolverines against Oklahoma (Feb. 2) at No. 6 singles. With the match on the line, he stepped up and outlasted his opponent in the third set, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3.
• Gabe Tishman had an impressive final season in the maize and blue. After not seeing much singles action his first three years, he stepped up as co-captain, and compiled a 17-13 singles record and went 16-8 in doubles. Tishman was named Academic All-Big Ten for the third time.
• Myles Schalet compiled a 14-8 singles record and was 11-8 in doubles as a senior co-captain. He earned a crucial win against Oklahoma at No. 2 singles, while against Ohio State (April 27), he and his partner Fenty won, 6-0, en route to the doubles point. Schalet also was named Academic All-Big Ten.
• Connor Johnston had a breakthrough junior year on the singles court, winning 13 matches primarily at the No. 4 position after seeing limited action his first two seasons. He played the majority of his doubles matches at No. 1 and won 14 matches.
Honors and Awards
Andrew
Fenty
Gabe
Tishman
Myles
Schalet
Mattias
Siimar
Harrison
Brown
Big Ten Conference
All-Big Ten (First Team): Andrew Fenty
Sportsmanship Award: Gabe Tishman
Freshman of the Year: Andrew Fenty
Academic All-Big Ten
Nick Beaty, Jr., LSA Psychology
Myles Schalet, Sr., Sport Management
Gabe Tishman, Sr., Environment
Mattias Siimar, So., School of Information
Kristofer Siimar, So., School of Information
Harrison Brown, So., LSA Economics
ITA
Freshman of the Year, Midwest Freshman of the Year, Midwest Player to Watch: Andrew Fenty
Players Mentioned
