The Michigan men"s tennis team needed guts and determination from its singles players to avoid a fifth consecutive loss this past weekend.

After losing 7-0 on Friday night against Minnesota (1-1 Big Ten, 5-3 overall), Michigan (1-3, 7-4) rebounded yesterday with a convincing 5-2 victory over Wisconsin (1-2, 6-4).

Despite the weekend split, Michigan coach Mark Mees was frustrated with his team"s performance against the Gophers.

"We played pretty poorly at Minnesota and that is disappointing," he said. "We didn"t get it done at crunch time or any time. I thought we played better against Wisconsin."

After losing the doubles point for the fifth consecutive match, the Wolverines garnered five of the six singles contests against the Badgers.

Henry Beam outlasted No. 16 Danny Westerman, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 7-6 (3) at the No. 1 spot.

"Henry was tough as nails," Mees said. "He really came back and earned a great win against a very good player."

In addition to Beam"s valiant effort, Mees was very impressed with Greg Novak at No. 5, who he said, "willed his way back into the match." After dropping the first set to Alex Kazarov, Novak rallied for a 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 victory.

Anthony Jackson was the only other Wolverine to need three sets, as he defeated Dave Hippee 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 at No. 3. Matt Lockin and David Anving rolled in straight sets at No. 4 and 6, respectively, to preserve Michigan"s first Big Ten win of the season.

Led by the No. 1 singles player in Division I college tennis, Harsh Mankad, Minnesota defeated Michigan for the third consecutive time. Mankad, who is a former member of the India Davis Cup team, cruised past No. 1 Henry Beam 6-2, 6-4.

"Henry played decent tennis," Mees said. "But against a player like Harsh, you can"t just play decent tennis. I felt if he played like he did against Wisconsin, he would have had some better results."

Michigan had a difficult time adjusting to Minnesota"s extremely fast courts and unusual "bubble" facility.

But Mees refused to accept any excuses for his team"s performance.

"That"s part of tennis," he said. "We had plenty of time to practice. We just didn"t play good tennis."

Michigan will have this week off before returning to the confines of the Varsity Tennis Center on March 19 for a nonconference battle with Bowling Green.

This will give the Wolverines some needed time to improve.

"We have to get tougher as a team," Mees said. "We need to start playing the big points better."