Michigan Grinds Out Win at Princeton

Michigan Grinds Out Win at Princeton

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 a fast start at the top spot and rallying for a win at No. 3.

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.

Michigan’s No. 3 duo of Andrea Cerdan and Gala Mesochoritou battled back from an early break to get their match back on serve at 2-2. The pair took advantage of a late break and clinched the doubles point with a 6-4 win as Jones and Julia Fliegner were also on the cusp of winning their match at No. 2.

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…