Michigan
Virginia Tech
Singles Wins Lead Michigan to Dual-Opening Victory Over Virginia Tech
1/16/2022 8:27:00 PM | Men's Tennis
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Varsity Tennis Center)
Result: #17 Michigan 5, Virginia Tech 2
Records: U-M (1-0), Virginia Tech (1-1)
Next U-M Event: Friday, Jan. 21 -- vs. Western Michigan (Varsity Tennis Center), 6 p.m.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 17-ranked University of Michigan men's tennis team opened the 2022 spring season with a 5-2 win over Virginia Tech on Sunday (Jan. 16) at the Varsity Tennis Center. The Wolverines won five singles matches to earn the victory, the program's first over the Hokies.
A rare loss of the doubles point by Michigan, the first since March 28, 2021, snapped an eight-match streak. Ondrej Styler and Gavin Young never trailed at No. 2 and took the match 6-4. The No. 43-ranked team of Andrew Fenty and Nino Ehrenschneider, the ITA Midwest doubles champion, fell behind 3-0 and was not able to recover in a 6-3 loss at No. 1. The Hokies sealed the point in a back-and-forth battle at No. 3 with Jacob Bickersteth and Patrick Maloney. After going point-for-point the entire match, the Hokies claimed the last points for a 7-5 win.
No. 67 Bickersteth evened the team scoring at 1 with a quick win at No. 3 singles. He cruised with 6-1, 6-2 victories over Alvaro Saez-Royuela Ariza.
On the next court over, Fenty suffered a loss at No. 1 singles to No. 78 Ryan Fishback as Virginia Tech (1-1)Â regained the team lead at 2-1.
Ehrenschneider and Maloney both secured singles wins to give the Wolverines their first lead and within one point of the match, 3-2. Ehrenschneider made the first set look easy with a 6-1 victory and pulled out a 7-5 win in the second. After a 6-3 game one, Maloney edged out Alberto Orso with the last two points after being tied up 4-4.
The match came down to No. 2 and No. 5 singles -- both in their third sets but with both Styler and Young leading.
After dropping his first set 6-1, Young started off hot in the second, jumping out to a 4-0 lead. After Scott Sculley rallied to tie the set at 4-4, Young grabbed the last two points to force a third game. He stayed on task, taking a 4-1 advantage before closing it out with a 6-3 set to win his match and secure the match-winning point for Michigan (1-0).
Just two points away from a win, Styler and Carlo Donato finished out their match as Styler claimed the 6-4 win after splitting the first two sets 6-3 and 2-6.
Michigan is back in action on Friday (Jan. 21) when it hosts Western Michigan at the Varsity Tennis Center. First serve is set for 6 p.m.
Following are match-by-match results
Singles
No. 1 -- No. 78 Ryan Fishback (VT) d. Andrew Fenty (U-M), 6-0, 6-3
No. 2 -- Ondrej Styler (U-M) d. Carlo Donato (VT), 6-3, 2-6, 6-4
No. 3 -- No. 67 Jacob Bickersteth (U-M) d. Alvaro Saez-Royuela Ariza (VT), 6-1, 6-2
No. 4 -- Patrick Maloney (U-M) d. Alberto Orso (VT), 6-3, 6-4
No. 5 -- No. 43 Gavin Young (U-M) d. Scott Sculley (VT), 1-6, 6-4, 6-3
No. 6 -- Nino Ehrenschneider (U-M) d. Alex Ix (VT), 6-1, 7-5
Doubles
No. 1 -- No. 43 Andrew Fenty/Nino Ehrenschneider (U-M) l. Ryan Fishback/Jordan Chrysostom (VT), 6-3
No. 2 -- Ondrej Styler/Gavin Young (U-M) d. Alvaro Ariza/Scott Sculley (VT), 6-4
No. 3 -- Carlo Donato/Alberto Orso (VT) d. Patrick Maloney/Jacob Bickersteth (U-M), 7-5
Order of Completion: Doubles 1-2-3, Singles 3-1-6-4-5-2
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Players Mentioned
