University of Washington
Michigan
Dawgs Drop 4-3 Slugfest At No. 22 Michigan
February 11, 2011 | Men's Tennis
Feb. 11, 2011
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - The Husky men's tennis team gave a great showing in its first trip away from home, but came up just a few points shy of the win, as 22nd-ranked Michigan fought back to grab a 4-3 victory at the Varsity Tennis Center, an extremely tough first road setting for the Dawgs. 23rd-ranked Washington (6-1) held a 3-2 lead late, but the Wolverines came back with two straight third set victories.
Freshman Daniel Schmidt showed some signs of the player he should be for the Huskies today, as he nearly pulled off the clincher for UW. In just his third collegiate match, Schmidt held a one set lead at fourth singles over Shaun Bernstein, and took the second set to a tiebreak, but Bernstein pulled out the breaker, 7-5, and that proved to be the swing Michigan needed. Bernstein went on to win the third set, 6-2, which tied the match at 3-3 overall.
Most impressive today for the Dawgs was the continuing roll of sophomore Kyle McMorrow, who took another big step towards establishing himself as a top singles presence on the national scene, with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over 35th-ranked Jason Jung. The Wolverine senior was an NCAA tourney qualifier in both singles and doubles last year. McMorrow has now run off 11 wins in a row and is 16-2 overall for the year.
Senior Martin Kildahl also remained undefeated in dual play, improving to 7-0 with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 win over Justin Rossi at the No. 3 singles spot. Kildahl's win gave the Dawgs a 3-2 advantage.
The clinching point came at sixth singles, where sophomore Marton Bots dropped his first dual of the year, but not without a lengthy fight. He lost the first set in a tiebreak to Chris Cha, but broke serve late to force another tiebreak in the second set, which he remarkably pulled out, 11-9, to force a third. But Cha was able to bounce back in the third, and clinch it for Michigan, 6-2.
Senior Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan couldn't quite break through against Evan King at the No. 1 spot, falling 6-4, 6-4. At No. 5 singles, senior Tobi Obenaus lost a first set tiebreaker, and couldn't reverse course against Barrett Franks, dropping a 7-6 (2), 6-3 decision.
After dropping two of their last three doubles points, Washington showed a great deal of progress today by taking the top two doubles matches to clinch the point and grab the early 1-0 lead. Most impressive was 30th-ranked McMorrow and Nedunchezhiyan, who defeated 28th-ranked Jung and King, 8-5, in the No. 1 match. Jung and King were NCAA tourney competitors a year ago. 33rd-ranked Kildahl and Obenaus then secured the point for the Huskies with an 8-6 victory at second doubles against Rossi and Madden.
Washington will have to bounce back quick tomorrow as they face 44th-ranked Vanderbilt on Michigan's courts. The Commodores were NCAA tourney qualifiers last year. UW and Vandy get underway at 11:30 a.m. Pacific.
Washington Men's Tennis
Ann Arbor, Mich. - Varsity Tennis Center
February 11, 2011
No. 22 Michigan 4; No. 23 Washington 3
Doubles
1) (30) McMorrow/Nedunchezhiyan (UW) def. (28) Jung/King (UM), 8-5
2) (33) Kildahl/Obenaus (UW) def. Madden/Rossi (UM), 8-6
3) Bernstein/Cha (UM) def. Bots/Bator (UW), 8-5
Order of finish: 3, 1, 2
Singles
1) Evan King (UM) def. (92) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (UW), 6-4, 6-4
2) (81) Kyle McMorrow (UW) def. (35) Jason Jung (UM), 6-4, 6-1
3) (83) Martin Kildahl (UW) def. Justin Rossi (UM), 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
4) Shaun Bernstein (UM) def. Daniel Schmidt (UW), 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2
5) Barrett Franks (UM) def. Tobi Obenaus (UW), 7-6 (2), 6-3
6) Chris Cha (UM) def. Marton Bots (UW), 7-6 (4), 6-7 (9), 6-2
Order of finish: 2, 1, 5, 3, 4, 6
Players Mentioned
