It wasn’t enough that Michigan’s No. 18 doubles team of junior Mike Sroczynski and sophomore Jason Jung had to play against the top teams in the country. They also had to deal with a raucous crowd.
- Clif Reeder / Daily
The duo qualified for the prestigious ITA National Indoor Tournament at the Boar’s Head Sports Club in Charlottesville, Va., last week by winning Michigan’s first-ever regional title last month at the Wilson/ITA Midwest Regional tournament.
In the consolation bracket semifinals, Jung and Sroczynski fell to Virginia’s Dom Inglot and Michael Shabaz, 7-5, 6-3.
“We lost our focus against Virginia because of all their fans supporting them,” Jung said. “We kept it close, but we couldn’t overcome the home-court advantage.”
Competing in the tournament for the first time, the duo got matched up against the same team it lost to in the Sweet 16 of last year’s NCAA Championships.
The Wolverines had to deal with the distraction of the crowd, but they also played on indoor courts, which made for a faster-paced match.
“We don’t usually play under those fast conditions, so it took Mike and myself a while to get used to it,” Jung said.
In the first round of the tournament, they lost 8-5 against No. 2 duo from Wake Forest to drop into the consolation bracket.
The Wolverines rebounded from the Wake Forest loss with an 8-5 win against No. 4 Texas A&M in the first round of the consolation bracket.
Sroczynski and Jung were the only Wolverines to qualify for the indoor tournament. The match was the last of the fall season and the team will resume play in January.
“It’s up to each person to practice on their own over winter break,” Jung said. “We had a strong fall season and hope to continue our success in the winter.”