MMT: The Hunt For A Big Ten Championship
The MMT* continued its hunt for a Big Ten title today, when it beat Penn State 6-1 at home. On Sunday Michigan plays Ohio for championship of the universe. Chart? Chart.
| Team and Court | Score |
|---|---|
| #22 King/Bernstein 1 | 7—9 |
| Franks/Buzzi 2 | 9—8(2) |
| Petrone/Zhu 3 | 9—8(6) |
| Name and Court | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| #8 Evan King 1 | 6—4 | 6—2 | |
| Alex Petrone 2 | 4—6 | 6—1 | 6—0 |
| Shaun Bernstein 3 | 0—6 | 3—6 | |
| Michael Zhu 4 | 6—3 | 6—2 | |
| Barrett Franks 5 | 7—6(5) | 6—4 | |
| Alex Buzzi 6 | 6—3 | 6—1 |
*Michigan Men's Tennis
Bernstein is back in the singles lineup, this time at 3 court. First out with an 0-6 is a nasty way to go but having Bernstein back in action is more important than dropping a point to Penn State. The million dollar question is how efficient his serve is. I was not present at the April 20th match and highlights of the match available here do not feature any Bernstein serves. Presumably he will be ready for Sunday, which at least lets Buzzi play on 6 again. It was a banner day for the rest of the singles courts. The players showed fine placement and fine footwork, at least in the highlights.
Petrone had a fine day of RAGE on 2 after dropping the first set 4-6, only yielding one point in the next two sets. That's just nasty.
I am still worried about 1 court in doubles(duh, 3 straight losses) but 7-9 isn't half bad. Ohio features the nation's #1 doubles team of #12 Chase Buchanan and #6 Blaz Rola, who play 2 and 1 courts in singles, respectively. Michigan has the #22 ranked doubles team on 1 court, but it has fallen on hard times lately, and Ohio also features the nation's #34 doubles team.
So...we need 4 singles victories. If I had to guess...King. Buzzi. Franks. Zhu. And to make it extra personal, MWT* also plays Ohio on Sunday with the Big Ten on the line at noon at VTC.
Win the Big Ten. Beat Ohio.
*Michigan Women's Tennis
serve the traditional way early in doubles but without alot of power.
It has been a productive season. OSU 6-1. This match is about whether King can win the Big Ten player of the Year award. This team can be a threat next year if Bernstein and Zhu meet
expectations and King comes back.
John W.
P.S. It is possible for UM to win? Sure..anything is possible but highly unlikely against the #3 ranked team. Too hard to pull an upset on the road especially in Tennis. UM is going to need
to win the doubles point. If they only have to win 3 singles matches then King and Buzzi have the best shot.
I don't see Zhu or Petrone winning. Not because they aren't quality players but the level of competition is significantly higher against OSU. I could see Franks hanging tough. Its going
to have to come from the bottom of the lineup. No way Bernstein is going to win with an underhanded serve and the inability to hit overheads or deal with high volleys.
OSU is rock solid. I think next year UM could scare OSU at home after Petrone and Zhu have another year to develop.
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