Michigan
Princeton
Michigan Grinds Out Win at Princeton
2/18/2023 2:12:00 PM | Women's Tennis
Site: Princeton, N.J. (Jadwin Gymnasium)
Score: #5 Michigan 5, Princeton 2
Records: U-M (7-1), PU (6-4)
Next U-M Event: Friday, Feb. 24 -- vs. Kentucky (Varsity Tennis Center), 4 p.m.
PRINCETON, N.J. -- With two matches left on court in third sets and No. 5-ranked Michigan needing just one to clinch the team win, Lily Jones pulled out a 6-4 win in the final set at No. 4 to push Michigan to a 5-2 win over Princeton at Jadwin Gymnasium.
Jones broke at the beginning of the third set and kept the break the rest of the way, holding in her final service game for a 6-4 win. She picked up a 6-2 first-set win and suffered a late break in the second to send her match to a third set.
The Wolverines won the doubles point for the early 1-0 lead, using fast starts at the top two courts to get the point.
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Michigan's top pair of Kari Miller and Jaedan Brown, ranked No. 3 nationally, won their 20th match of the season together in a 6-3 victory. Miller and Brown got an early break and won four of the first five games for a 4-1 lead. The teams each held over the next four games with Miller serving out a 6-3 win.
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It was much of the same at No. 2 for Julia Fliegner and Jones as they also won four of the first five games for a 4-1 lead. Michigan had a chance to serve out the match at 5-2 but Princeton prevailed on the deuce point and held in the next game for a 5-4 Michigan advantage. U-M got the job done the second time on Fliegner's serve, wrapping up a 6-4 win to clinch the match's first point.
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At No. 3, Andrea Cerdan and Gala Mesochoritou battled back from an early break to eventually lead 5-4 before the match was abandoned.
Michigan won first sets at Nos. 3-6 in singles action.
Mesochoritou pushed Michigan's lead to 2-0 with a 6-1, 6-1 win at No. 5. The Wolverine took control early in both sets en route to the win.
Princeton countered with a straight-set win at No. 1, cutting Michigan's lead in half at 2-1.
Fliegner accounted for the third Michigan point on the board, winning 6-2, 6-4 at No. 3. Fliegner took control midway through the first set, turning a 3-2 lead into a 6-2 win. In the second, she jumped out to a 3-1 lead and kept the break throughout to get the win.
The Tigers again cut into the Michigan lead behind a straight-set win at No. 2, with U-M holding a 3-2 team lead.
The remaining two matches -- Jones at No. 4 and Cerdan at No. 6 -- both headed to third sets as U-M needed just one to put the team match away.
Cerdan's final set stayed on serve throughout, as she was unable to convert three break chances at 4-3. She held at love in the next game for a 5-4 lead but lost the next two games, needing to break in the final game for a chance at a tiebreaker. Princeton double-faulted on match point, sending it to a breaker.
Jones clinched the team match in the middle of the tiebreak at No. 6, which Cerdan eventually won 7-3 for a 5-2 score.
U-M returns to the Varsity Tennis Center on Friday (Feb. 24), hosting Kentucky at 4 p.m. Admission is free.
Following are match-by-match results
Singles
No. 1 -- No. 4 Daria Frayman (Princeton) d. No. 36 Jaedan Brown (U-M), 6-3, 6-1
No. 2 -- Leena Bennetto (Princeton) d. No. 79 Kari Miller (U-M), 6-1, 7-6 (3)
No. 3 -- No. 33 Julia Fliegner (U-M) d. Neha Velaga (Princeton), 6-2, 6-4
No. 4 -- No. 49 Lily Jones (U-M) d. Zoe Howard (Princeton), 6-2, 4-6, 6-4
No. 5 -- No. 98 Gala Mesochoritou (U-M) d. Maia Sung (Princeton), 6-1, 6-1
No. 6 -- Andrea Cerdan (U-M) d. Grace Joyce (Princeton), 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (3)
Doubles
No. 1 -- No. 3 Jaedan Brown/Kari Miller (U-M) d. Daria Frayman/Eva Elbaz (Princeton), 6-3
No. 2 -- No. 51 Lily Jones/Julia Fliegner (U-M) d. Maia Sung/Grace Joyce (Princeton), 6-4
No. 3 -- Andrea Cerdan/Gala Mesochoritou (U-M) vs. Zoe Howard/Leena Bennetto (Princeton), 5-4 abandoned
Order of Completion: Doubles 1-2, Singles 5-1-3-2-4-6
Players Mentioned
