On Friday, the Michigan men’s tennis team looked to continue its win streak in Big Ten play over Northwestern.
Through an emphatic 4-1 victory, the seventh ranked Wolverines (21-3 overall, 7-1 Big Ten) sailed past the twenty sixth ranked Wildcats (18-8, 6-2), handing them just their second Big Ten loss of the season.
The doubles point, which has become a struggle as of late for Michigan, was highly contested by the Northwestern pairs. However, the Wolverines had no intention of allowing that point from slipping out of their hands again.
Michigan’s pair of senior Ondrej Styler and junior Jacob Bickersteth battled back and forth with the Wildcats’ Natan Spear and Trice Pickens. Neither side took the edge as the match was locked at 5-5. But, due in part to Styler’s powerful serves and dominance at the net, Styler and Bickersteth secured the win. 7-5, over Spear and Pickens.
“We played it much better today,” Michigan coach Adam Steinberg said, referring to the doubles point. “We’ve been practicing it more and more. There’s still some adjustments we need to make, but I really liked our intention out there today.”
And the practice paid off for the Wolverines, as fifth-year Patrick Maloney and junior Nino Ehrenschneider took down their opponents in a hard fought battle. The game grinded to 6-6, as neither side could take a lead. Through flawless communication and teamwork, Maloney and Ehrenschneider took complete control of the tiebreaker and won the doubles point for Michigan.
In singles, the Wolverines had no plan of letting their foot off the gas.
Maloney started off the singles hot by beating his opponent in straight sets. But on the other side of the Varsity Tennis Center, fifth-year Andrew Fenty’s struggles cast a dark shadow over Maloney’s successes. Fenty’s mental mistakes and missteps gave Northwestern a breath of life as he was defeated by Steven Forman in straight sets, and made the score 2-1.
“It’s our philosophy that no one will play with more energy than we will,” Steinberg said. “For us, we call it the Michigan difference, and it’s something that we expect every day.”
That energy was instrumental on the remaining four courts, as Bickersteth followed in Maloney’s footsteps, beating the Wildcats’ Gleb Blekher in straight sets 6-2, 6-4. Michigan’s final point was long awaited, as Gavin Young battled through a gritty fight with Presley Thieneman of Northwestern.
Young made quick work of Thieneman in the first set, using his tall stature and powerful serve to stifle any opponent momentum, and looked to carry his energy and momentum into the next set.
“Big serves – especially for an indoor team – are crucial,” Steinberg said. “Having big guys that serve hard, it’s obviously very helpful.”
Thieneman, though, had a much different vision. He shot out to a 3-1 lead in the second set, and forced Young clawed his way back with long shots that painted both corners of Thieneman’s side of the court. A different script was nearly written, as Young found himself down 40-0. Young muscled his way back with well placed and powerful shots and, after a long rally, finally broke against Thieneman to tie the set at 4-4.
“I think early in the second set my mind was maybe wandering a little bit,” Young said. “We talk as a team about not giving our opponents any free points, so I had to walk back and maintain focus.”
After that, Young locked in.
The two continued to go back and forth until they found themselves at 6-6, where fast and precise hits from Young accompanied by his blistering serve completely overwhelmed Thieneman in the tiebreaker. With his match complete, and the Wolverines walking away with the win, Young feels confident in their newfound momentum.
“I feel like tennis is such a momentum sport,” Young said. “So once we get going, it’s going to be super hard to stop us.”
With the Big Ten tournament now exactly a week away, Michigan sits second in the conference with a lot of momentum behind their backs and all the tools to make a deep run. If Young’s words ring true, the Wolverines may just make a run for it all.