Ann Arbor, Mich. – The trip up to Ann Arbor did not go as planned for the Notre Dame men’s tennis team as they fell 6-1 to #36 ranked Michigan on Thursday night. The doubles point went to the Wolverines with wins at #2 and #3 doubles while the top spot would go unfinished with the duo of Nefve and Che leading the #14 doubles team in the country.
In singles, graduate student Aditya Vashistha would dominate Ondrej Styler 6-1, 6-3 at #2 singles. Vashistha has not lost in his last five outings on the singles court, having claimed three wins and two unfinished matches, both of which he was leading when play was suspended.
Michigan would get to the needed fourth point with wins at #5, #6 and #4 to secure the team win. But with the remaining matches being played out to completion, the Irish would fight hard with Axel Nefve and Matt Che side by side. They would both lose the first set but make a push back in the second. Nefve would win his second set and force a deciding 10-point tiebreak to determine the winner on the top court. Ultimately, he would fall to Andrew Fenty, a two-time All-American, 12-10 in the final set. Che would push the 75th ranked player in the country to a second set before his opponent would seal the 6-2, 7-6(9) win and conclude the night.
Up Next:
The Irish will return home for their next five matches beginning with a double header this Sunday, February 27th. They will host #3 ranked Ohio State at 3pm before taking on Illinois-Chicago at 7:30pm Sunday night.
Box Score
#36 Michigan 6 – #27 Notre Dame 1
Doubles
- Che/Nefve(ND) vs. #14 Ehrenschneider/Fenty 4-3 Did Not Finish
- Styler/Young(MICH) def. Conklin/Halpin(ND) 6-3
- Maloney/Beaty(MICH) def. Fu/Malkowski(ND) 6-2
Singles
- Fenty(MICH) def. #95 Nefve(ND) 6-4, 3-6, 1-0(10)
- Vashistha(ND) def. Styler(MICH) 6-1, 6-3
- #75 Bickersteth(MICH) def. Che(ND) 6-2, 7-6(9)
- Maloney(MICH) def. Conklin(ND) 6-3, 6-3
- Young(MICH) def. Fu(ND) 6-2, 6-1
- Ehrenschneider(MICH) def. Malkowski(ND) 6-4, 6-1
Order of finish: Doubles(3, 2); Singles (5, 2, 6, 4, 1, 3)