Michigan
Michigan Invitational
U-M Begins Action at the Michigan Invitational
1/16/2021 5:56:00 PM | Women's Tennis
» Michigan's freshman class of Merri Kelly, Jaedan Brown, Kari Miller and Gala Mesochoritou went 4-0 in singles action as U-M was 8-2 on the singles court in matches against Ohio State and Wisconsin.
» The Wolverines took three of four doubles matches from Ohio State, highlighted by Chiara Lommer and Brown knocking off OSU's No. 42-ranked pair.
» This is the first and only tournament action for the Maize and Blue. There is no team scoring at the event, with each player participating as an individual.
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Varsity Tennis Center)
Event: Michigan Invitational (Day 1 of 3)
Result: No team scoring
Next U-M Event: Sunday, Jan. 17 -- host Michigan Invitational (Varsity Tennis Center), 1 p.m.
• Complete Results
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 22-ranked University of Michigan women's tennis team kicked off its season by hosting the first day of the Michigan Invitational Saturday (Jan. 16) at the Varsity Tennis Center.
U-M took three of four doubles matches from No. 13-ranked Ohio State.
Michigan's pair of graduate student Chiara Lommer and freshman Jaedan Brown quickly fell behind, 2-0. It was all U-M from there, as the Wolverine duo reeled off six straight games for a 6-2 win over No. 42-ranked Irina Cantos Siemers and Kolie Allen.
Senior Bella Lorenzini and freshman Kari Miller were the next victorious Wolverines, coming away with a 6-3 win. The early stages of the match stayed on serve until U-M broke late and Miller served out the match.
U-M's final doubles victory came courtesy of freshmen Gala Mesochoritou and Merri Kelly. Their match stayed on serve throughout, sending the match to a tiebreaker. U-M took control midway through, grabbing a 4-2 lead before making good on its third match point in a 7-5 breaker win.
Michigan pivoted to singles play after doubles, playing eight matches against Wisconsin and two against Ohio State. U-M went 7-1 against Wisconsin and split the two matches against Ohio State.
Miller wasted little time wrapping up the first singles win of her career, cruising to a 6-1, 6-1 triumph over Wisconsin's Anna Makarova.
Sophomore Nicole Hammond picked up a straight-set win over Ohio State's Madeline Atway. After grabbing a 6-4 win in the first set, it all Hammond in the second as she breezed to a 6-1 win.
Sophomore Andrea Cerdan, who is ranked No. 71 in singles by the ITA, came away with a 6-3, 6-4 win over the Badgers' Miruna Tudor in Michigan's third singles victory of the day.
Mesochoritou was also victorious in her first singles action, winning a 7-6 (2), 6-3 match over Jordana Osso of Wisconsin. Following her tiebreak win in the first set, Mesochoritou rushed out to a 5-1 lead in the second and had a pair of match points on her serve. Osso fought both off as part of a two-game spurt to close the gap to 5-3. Mesochoritou served out the match in the ensuing game to clinch her first win as a Wolverine.
Brown was the third freshman to pick up their first win behind a 7-6 (4), 6-4 win over UW's Antonela Stoica. Brown took advantage of a late break in the second for a 5-4 lead and served out the match in the ensuing game.
Lommer grinded out her match, as has been the case throughout her career. The first set featured three major swings as Lommer raced out to a 2-0 lead before facing a 5-2 hole. The lefty took over from there, winning five straight to take the first set. After falling in a 5-6 hole in the second and Wisconsin's Ava Markham heading back to serve it out for a third set, Lommer staved that off as a double fault on the deuce point sent it to a breaker. Lommer quickly fell behind, 2-0, but won six straight points to eventually take a 7-4 to wrap up the match.
It was all Lorenzini in her singles match against Natasya Semenovski of Wisconsin, as the Wolverine senior dropped just three games en route to a 6-2, 6-1 win.
Kelly wrapped up a 4-0 singles record for Michigan's freshman class, coming from behind to take a 1-6, 7-6 (5), 1-0 (8) win over Wisconsin's Charmaine Seah. After storming back to take the second set and forcing a 10-point tiebreaker in lieu of a full third set, Kelly raced out to a 9-3 lead. Seah fired back, winning five straight points, but Kelly made good on her sixth match point.
U-M will continue action at the Michigan Invitational Sunday (Jan. 17), first playing doubles against Wisconsin at 1 p.m. The Wolverines will face Northwestern in singles following the completion of doubles.
Players Mentioned
