The Michigan men’s tennis team had already lost the meet, but its No. 5 singles had the intensity of a championship game. Wolverine junior George Navas, facing off against Wake Forest freshman David Hopkins, won the first set 6-4 and dropped the second set 7-5 to leave the match to a 10-point tiebreaker.

The crowd was silent as both teams watched from a distance. Navas went up 8-4, but his opponent refused to give up. With a 9-8 lead and the chance to finish the match, the junior stepped up to serve. He hit a well-placed, cross-court approach shot off of Hopkins’s quick return to win the tiebreaker 10-8 and earn a point for No. 28 Michigan.

Unfortunately for the Wolverines, Navas' point was Michigan's only one of the meet. The Wolverines were down 6-0 to No. 23 Wake Forest by the time Navas started the tiebreaker.

“I don’t worry about everyone watching, but it’s difficult once the match is clinched by the other team,” Navas said. “I was (just) trying to salvage one point.”

The match started off on a sour note for Michigan. The Demon Deacons came out strong with 4-1 leads at No. 1 and No. 3 doubles. Sophomore Jason Jung and Navas appeared overwhelmed by the nation's No. 1 doubles team of Wake Forest junior Steven Forman and senior Cory Parr and Michigan lost 8-4.

Coupled with Michigan's 8-5 loss at No. 3 doubles, the Demon Deacons sealed the doubles point.

Wake Forest’s momentum hurt Michigan early on in singles competition. The Wolverines fell behind early, losing No. 1 and No. 2 singles in straight sets, with both of senior Andrew Mazlin’s decided by close tiebreakers at No. 2 singles.

“We were in every match, and we competed very hard,” Michigan coach Bruce Berque said. “We were losing a lot of tiebreakers (and) a lot of close ones tonight.”

Senior co-captain Peter Aarts’s match was also drawn out to a 10-point super tiebreaker for the decisive set after splitting 7-5, 6-7. Aarts failed to clinch a victory and lost the tiebreaker 10-6 at No. 4 singles.

“I think we played decent,” Aarts said. “I’m not going to say well and I’m not going to say bad – obviously not the level that we want to play at.”

Berque feels that there is a lot of potential for his team, but as the season continues, there will be fewer opportunities for players to prove themselves.

“We’re a good team despite our record, but we’re not our best yet,” Berque said.