Michigan
USC
Michigan Falls in Heartbreaker to No. 1 USC in ITA Team Indoor Semis
2/16/2020 5:56:00 PM | Men's Tennis
» The Wolverines won the doubles point for 10th time in 12 matches.
» The Wolverines defeated No. 7 Texas A&M and No. 4 Texas to reach the semifinals
» U-M will be on the road next week when they travel to Oklahoma State on Friday (Feb. 21) and Notre Dame on Sunday (Feb. 23).
Site: Madison, Wis. (Nielsen Tennis Stadium)
Event: ITA National Team Indoor Championship
Result: #13 Michigan 3, #1 USC 4
Records: U-M (10-2), USC (8-1)
Next U-M Event: Friday, Feb. 21 -- at Oklahoma State (Stillwater, Okla.) 6 p.m. CST
MADISON, Wis. -- A tremendous run at the ITA National Tem Indoor Championship by the No. 13-ranked University of Michigan men's tennis team came to an end as it fell to No. 1 USC, 4-3, in the semifinals on Sunday (Feb. 16) at Nielsen Tennis Stadium.
Michigan won the doubles point and jumped out to a 3-1 lead before USC won four singles matches. In a marathon match the score was tied, 3-3, coming down to a third-set tiebreak at No. 2 singles between No. 1 Daniel Cukierman and No. 43 Ondrej Styler.
Styler, who clinched two team match points this season (vs. Mississippi and Texas A&M) could not make it three against USC. He took a 6-1 edge in the first set, but set two went to Cukierman, 7-5, after the Trojan broke at 5-5 for the final two points. Styler, down, 2-5, in the third set, respond by winning four of the next five points to force a tiebreaker. Cukierman jumped out, 5-0, before surrendering two points to Styler and then tacking on the last two points for a 7-2 result.
The No. 4-ranked doubles team of Andrew Fenty and Mattias Siimar gave the Wolverines the edge, winning the first doubles match, 6-4. The Trojans evened things up with a win at No. 2, leaving Harrison Brown and Patrick Maloney at No. 3 to try to earn the doubles point. Not having led throughout their match, Brown and Maloney jumped out a 3-0 lead in the tiebreaker before taking a 5-1 advantage. USC cut it back to 5-3 before Michigan closed out on a 2-1 run for the 7-4 tiebreaker win and the doubles point.
No. 33-ranked Riley Smith knotted the team score at 1-1 after a 6-3, 6-4 win over Siimar at No. 3 singles.
Connor Johnston took down No. 15-ranked Mor Bulis in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4 at No. 4 singles. In the second set, Johnston battled from a 4-3 deficit to run off three straight points for the win and put Michigan back in the lead, 2-1.
No. 48-ranked Fenty handed No. 24 Brandon Holt a loss at No. 1 singles, winning, 6-4, 6-1 as Michigan was one point away from taking the team score, 3-1.
Things started to turn in favor of the Trojans as they took the lead in all three of the remaining matches, all in third sets.
Nick Beaty who won a 6-2 set 1, dropped the second set, 6-4 and was unable able to get ahead in the third set as No. 65 Stefan Dostanic won the third set, 6-3 set No. 5.
No. 96 Maloney got off to a lead after winning the first set, 6-3, against No. 69 Ryder Jackson in the first set. He had two chances to finish off Jackson in the second set, leading, 5-4 and 6-5, but ended up in a tiebreaker. Tied at 2-2, Jackson scored four straight points before Maloney fought off match point to make it 6-3. Jackson got the final point on the next serve for the 7-6 (3) win to split the first two sets. In the third, Maloney and Jackson traded two points apiece before Jackson took a 5-2 lead scoring the next three points and en route to a 6-3 win.
Next weekend, Michigan will head to Oklahoma State on Friday (Feb. 21) and Notre Dame on Sunday (Feb. 23). They will mark the final two non-conference dual matches before Big Ten play begins on Feb. 29 when the Wolverines host Penn State at noon inside the Varsity Tennis Center.
Following are match-by-match results
Singles
No. 1 -- No. 48 Andrew Fenty (U-M) d. No. 24 Brandon Holt (USC), 6-4, 6-1
No. 2 -- No. 1 Daniel Cukierman (USC) d. No. 43 Ondrej Styler (U-M), 1-6, 7-5, 7-6 (2)
No. 3 -- No. 33 Riley Smith (USC) d. Mattias Siimar (U-M), 6-3, 6-4
No. 4 -- Connor Johnston (U-M) d. No. 15 Mor Bulis (USC), 6-3, 6-4
No. 5 -- No. 65 Stefan Dostanic (USC) d. Nick Beaty (U-M), 2-6, 6-4, 6-3
No. 6 -- No. 69 Ryder Jackson (USC) d. No. 96 Patrick Maloney (U-M), 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-3
Doubles
No. 1 -- No. 58 Daniel Cukierman/Riley Smith (USC) d. No. 4 Andrew Fenty/Mattias Siimar (U-M), 6-4
No. 2 -- Connor Johnston/Ondrej Styler (U-M) d. Mor Bulis/Ryder Jackson (USC), 6-3
No. 3 -- Harrison Brown/Patrick Maloney (U-M) d. Stefan Dostanic/Bradley Frye (USC), 7-6 (4)
Order of Completion: Doubles 1-2-3, Singles 3-4-1-5-6-2
Players Mentioned
