University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers' Upset Bid Falls Short at 14th-ranked Michigan
3/31/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Minnesota battled 14th-ranked Michigan to several tight matches, but came up just short in a 5-2 men’s tennis dual match loss on Sunday in Ann Arbor, Mich.
The Gophers had singles wins from Tobias Wernet and Dino Bilankov, but two other tight matches went to the Wolverines, leading to the team victory. Minnesota is now 2-15 overall and 0-4 in the Big Ten, while Michigan won for the ninth straight time and is now 15-2 overall and 6-0 in the conference.
Wernet posted a 6-4, 6-4 win at No. 2 singles and Bilankov pulled out a 3-6, 7-6, 1-0 victory at No. 4 singles, taking the third-set super-tiebreaker by a 10-6 count.
In doubles, Derek Peterson and Raoul Schwark delivered an 8-3 victory over 56th-ranked Chris Madden and Andrew Mazlin. However, after Michigan won the No. 1 contest, the Wolverines escaped with the doubles point, pulling out a win at No. 2 as Bilankov and Sebastian Gallego lost 7-2 in a tiebreaker.
The other tight match came at No. 1 singles where Schwark lost an opening set tiebreaker to 61st-ranked Matko Maravic at No. 1 singles, but battled back for a 6-2 second-set win before losing 10-8 in the super-tiebreaker. Pierre Dumas also had a strong effort at No. 6 singles with a 7-6, 6-4 defeat.
The Gophers host Michigan State in a Big Ten match on Friday at the Baseline Tennis Center at noon.
Michigan 5, Minnesota 2
Singles
1. #61 Matko Maravic (MICH) def. #87 Raoul Schwark, 7-6, 2-6, 1-0(8)
2. Tobias Wernet (MINN) def. Mike Sroczynski, 6-4, 6-4
3. Andrew Mazlin (MICH) def. Sebastian Gallego, 6-2, 6-4
4. Dino Bilankov (MINN) def. Peter Aarts, 3-6, 7-6(6), 1-0(6)
5. Chris Madden (MICH) def. Chi-Lang Pham, 6-0, 6-2
6. George Navas (MICH) def. Pierre Dumas, 7-6(3), 6-4
Doubles
1. #20 Maravic/Navas (MICH) def. Pham/Wernet, 8-3
2. Aarts/Sroczynski (MICH) def. Bilankov/Gallego, 9-8(2)
3. Derek Peterson/Schwark (MINN) def. #56 Madden/Mazlin, 8-3
Players Mentioned
