Michigan
Iowa
Michigan to Take Hot Streak on the Road to Iowa, Nebraska
3/18/2021 2:40:00 PM | Men's Tennis
THIS WEEK
Friday, March 19 -- at Iowa (Iowa City, Iowa), Noon CDT
Live Scoring | Live Video
Sunday, March 21 -- at Nebraska (Lincoln, Neb.), 10 a.m. CDT
Live Scoring | Live Video
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Coming off of its biggest win this season and unbeaten in the Big Ten, the University of Michigan men's tennis team heads on the road for its next four matches. First up, the Wolverines take on Iowa on Friday (March 19) at noon CDT, followed by a 10 a.m. CDT match on Sunday (March 21) at Nebraska.
Wolverine Bites
• Michigan moved back into the top 10 in the latest edition of the ITA poll (March 17), up five places to No. 8 after a 2-0 weekend with a win over then-No. 8 Ohio State and are now 6-1 overall.
• The Wolverines sit atop the Big Ten standings as the lone unbeaten team at 6-0 after a 4-3 win versus Ohio State, Michigan's first win in the series since 2001.
• Ondrej Styler was named the Big Ten Men's Tennis Athlete of the Week on Tuesday (March 16) after going 2-0 at No. 2 singles and 2-0 at No. 2 doubles, including wins over two ranked opponents. No. 28-ranked Styler is 5-2 at No. 2 singles this season, is 5-1 in league play and has won his last three matches.
• Andrew Fenty, ranked No. 14, is 5-1 at No. 1 singles with his lone loss to a higher-ranked opponent, No. 5 Cannon Kingsley of OSU.
• Patrick Maloney is a perfect 4-0 mark at No. 3 singles.
• Nick Beaty had a six-match win streak snapped on Sunday vs. Ohio State. He is a 11-3 in singles this season.
• Mattias Siimar is on a tear, winning his last six matches after a three-set loss to a ranked opponent to start the year.
• Jacob Bickersteth is 5-3 in his first season as a Wolverine with a 3-2 mark in Big Ten play at No. 5 and No. 6.
• The No. 2-ranked doubles team of Andrew Fenty and Mattias Siimar are 9-1 on the season and sport a 4-1 Big Ten record. They have won their last three matches, including a 6-4 win over Ohio State's No. 4-ranked pair, John McNally and Robert Cash
• Connor Johnston and Ondrej Styler, who were a steady No. 2 pair last year, returned to the court this past weekend, going 0-2.
• Nick Beaty and Harrison Brown split last weekend at No. 3 doubles.
• Michigan has won the doubles point in five of seven matches this season.
Who's Who
Ranked Singles Players
No. 14 -- Andrew Fenty, Michigan
No. 28 -- Ondrej Styler, Michigan
No. 39 -- Kareem Allaf, Iowa
No. 83 -- Connor Johnston, Michigan
Ranked Doubles Teams
No. 2 -- Andrew Fenty/Mattias Siimar, Michigan
No. 17 -- Will Davies/Oliver Okonkwo, Iowa
Series History
Michigan leads, 53-10, in the all-time series against Iowa, though it was the Hawkeyes that claimed the last win in the series, a 4-0 match in 2019. Looking at the last 10 matches, Michigan is 8-2 over that span.
The Wolverines lead, 8-1, in the all-time series with the Cornhuskers and have shut out Nebraska in the last four meetings. Nebraska's only win in the series was in 2015, a 4-0 Michigan loss.
About the Opponents
Iowa is 4-5 overall and 4-3 in the Big Ten. Last weekend, the team split against Wisconsin and Minnesota, two opponents Michigan has defeated. The Hawkeyes have a ranked doubles pair in No. 17 Will Davies and Oliver Okonkwo. They will take their 7-2 record up against U-M's No. 2-ranked pair of Andrew Fenty and Mattias Siimar at No. 1 doubles. In singles, Michigan's biggest challengers may be at No. 3 and No. 4 as Joe Tyler and Davies are 11-2 combined.
Nebraska is looking for its first win of the season at 0-7. The Huskers have yet to win at No. 1 or No. 2 singles and have had one win at No. 3. Shunya Mruyama has had the best success (2-0 at No. 4 singles) and is 5-5 on the season. At No. 5, William Gleason split his two matches last weekend as did Patrick Cacciatore at No. 6. Nebraska has used three different pairings at each position in doubles with Albert Sprlak-Pak winning both his matches at No. 1 and 2 doubles last weekend with different partners.
Up Next
Friday, March 26 -- at Illinois (Champaign, Ill), 6 p.m. CDT
Sunday, March 28 -- at Northwestern (Evanston, Ill.), Noon CDT
Players Mentioned
