Michigan
Oklahoma
Wolverines Rally in Final Match to Down No. 13 Oklahoma
1/21/2024 5:58:00 PM | Women's Tennis
Site: Norman, Okla. (Headington Family Tennis Center)
Score: #4 Michigan 4, #13 Oklahoma 3
Records: U-M (1-1), OU (2-2)
Next U-M Event: Friday, Jan. 26 -- vs. Utah - ITA Kickoff (Varsity Tennis Center), 10 a.m.
NORMAN, Okla. -- Senior Gala Mesochoritou fought off a match point in the second set to win in a tiebreaker, eventually taking the third set in another tiebreaker as the No. 4-ranked University of Michigan women's tennis team picked up a 4-3 win over No. 13 Oklahoma on Sunday afternoon (Jan. 21) at the Headington Family Tennis Center.
With the team match tied at 3-3, Mesochoritou put the deciding point on the board behind a 3-6, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (4) win at No. 4. She jumped out to a 2-0 lead to start the match in the first set but could not keep the advantage in dropping the 6-3 decision. She buckled down from there, fighting off a match point in the second to split and head to a third. Mesochoritou grabbed three match points in the third-set breaker, converting on the second for Michigan's fourth point of the afternoon.
Also accounting for Michigan's points on the afternoon were a pair of singles wins from Kari Miller and Julia Fliegner at the top two spots, along with the doubles point.
Michigan struck first by virtue of the doubles point, taking the 1-0 lead behind wins at No. 3 and No. 1.
U-M's No. 3 duo of Lily Jones and Piper Charney were the first off court, recording a 6-2 win. The Wolverines got the break they needed at 4-2 when an Oklahoma volley went long. Jones fought off two break points on her ensuing service game to consolidate the break at 5-2. U-M completed the match by breaking OU's serve again for the 6-2 victory.
Oklahoma answered with a win at No. 2, turning attention to court No. 1 for the match's first point between two of the best doubles teams in the country.
Miller and Jaedan Brown, ranked No. 8, got the Wolverines on the board with a 7-5 win over second-ranked Dana Guzman and Alina Shcherbinina. The match was tied at 4-4 when it became the deciding match, as Oklahoma held their serve on a lob shot winner on the deuce point. U-M was broken in the next game, giving the Sooners a chance to serve out the match. Miller and Brown fought off a pair of match points, winning the final two points to knot the match at 5-5. With momentum in their favor, the duo won the next two games to avoid the breaker in a 7-5 victory for a 1-0 team lead.
In singles action, U-M took a pair of first sets at No. 1 from Miller and at No. 5 from Charney as the Sooners took the other four.
Miller, ranked No. 10 in singles, wasted little time staking Michigan a 2-0 lead behind a 6-1, 6-1 win at No. 1 over No. 72 Alina Shcherbinina.
The Sooners answered with wins at No. 6 and No. 3 to tie the team match at 2-2.
At that time, Fliegner got a huge break late in her second set en route to sending her match to a third at No. 2. She went up 5-3 and served out the set in her next service game to force a third set. It was all Fliegner in the third as she dropped just one game in the 2-6, 6-3, 6-1 win over No. 16 Florencia Urrutia for a 3-2 Michigan lead.
The Sooners again had an answer behind a three-set win at No. 5, setting up Mesochoritou's heroics at No. 4
Michigan opens home action at the Varsity Tennis Center next weekend (Jan. 26-27), hosting the ITA Kickoff for the first time since 2020. Michigan will face Utah in the first round on Friday (Jan. 26) at 10 a.m. Purdue and Arkansas round out the field competing for a berth to the ITA National Team Indoor Championship.
Following are match-by-match results
No. 1 -- No. 10 Kari Miller (U-M) d. No. 72 Alina Shcherbinina (OU), 6-1, 6-1
No. 2 -- No. 39 Julia Fliegner (U-M) d. No. 16 Florencia Urrutia (OU), 2-6, 6-3, 6-1
No. 3 -- No. 37 Dana Guzman (OU) d. Jaedan Brown (U-M), 6-3, 6-1
No. 4 -- No. 82 Gala Mesochoritou (U-M) d. Chloe Noel (OU), 3-6, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (4)
No. 5 -- Julia Garcia Ruiz (OU) d. Piper Charney (U-M), 4-6, 6-4, 6-3
No. 6 -- No. 112 Ava Catanzarite (OU) d. No. 47 Lily Jones (U-M), 6-2, 6-2
Doubles
No. 1 -- No. 8 Jaedan Brown/Kari Miller (U-M) d. No. 2 Dana Guzman/Alina Shcherbinina (OU), 7-5
No. 2 -- Chloe Noel/Julia Garcia Ruiz (OU) d. Julia Fliegner/Reese Miller (U-M), 6-2
No. 3 -- Piper Charney/Lily Jones (U-M) d. Romana Cisovska/Roisin Gilheany (OU), 6-2, 6-2
Order of Completion: Doubles 3-2-1, Singles 1-6-3-2-5-4
Players Mentioned
