Wolverines Rally to Knock Off Penn State

Wolverines Rally to Knock Off Penn State

Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Varsity Tennis Center)

Score: #4 Michigan 4, Penn State 3

Records: U-M (18-2, 4-0 B1G), PSU (14-8, 1-4 B1G)

Next U-M Event: Sunday, April 9 — vs. Ohio State (Varsity Tennis Center), Noon

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The No. 4-ranked University of Michigan men’s tennis team erased a 3-2 deficit by winning the final two singles matches on court, knocking off Penn State 4-3 on Friday afternoon (April 7) at the Varsity Tennis Center.

Penn State pulled ahead at 3-2 after winning a pair of straight-set matches at No. 3 and No. 4, leaving Ondrej Styler on court at No. 2 and Will Cooksey at No. 6 as Michigan needed to win both to capture the win.

Cooksey, who rallied from a 5-1 deficit in his first-set tiebreaker to win, grabbed a 2-0 lead in the second set at No. 6. After giving the break back, he again grabbed the break at 4-2 and consolidated it at 5-2. The two held serve over the next two games, as Cooksey put Michigan’s third point on the board.

Styler clinched the match for the Wolverines, winning 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 at No. 2. After breezing to the win in the first set, Styler fell behind early in the second and could not catch up, sending his match to a third. He faced a deuce point on his serve at 1-1, coming through with a big serve that went off his opponent’s racquet over the fence to hold at 2-1. Styler broke in the next game and held again, taking a 4-1 lead. That was all the space he needed as he put the fourth point up behind a 6-2 final-set win.

Penn State struck first, grabbing the doubles point by winning the last two matches to finish. U-M’s top duo of Andrew Fenty and Gavin Young won the first four games of their match, breezing to a 6-2 win.

PSU immediately answered with a 6-3 win at No. 3. Michigan fell behind 4-1 in the match but won two straight games to get back on serve. The Wolverines could not hold serve in the next game as the Nittany Lions kept the break and served out the match in the ensuing game.

Attention turned to court No. 2, where the match was on serve at 4-4. Michigan failed to hold its serve in the ninth game, falling behind a break at 5-4 right after the match at No. 3 ended. Penn State won four straight points on its serve to wrap…