5A — Thursday, January 24, 2019
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Chiara Lommer, Lanie Van Linge
highlight improvement for Michigan
Ronni
Bernstein
poured
herself a cup of coffee as she
pondered some decisions she
probably didn’t want to make just
yet.
Stunned, Bernstein was faced
with one question after stumbling
out of the gate: How do you move
forward after a nightmare like
Saturday?
“We could see some (doubles)
lineup changes,” Bernstein said
after Saturday’s matches. “It’s
something I’ll think about over a
cup of coffee.”
No team wants to start its
season on the wrong side of a
sweep — let alone one at the
hands of its rival. But Saturday,
the No. 10 Michigan women’s
tennis
team
did
just
that,
prompting some brainstorming
from the coach.
The first leg of the Michigan
Invitational — the team’s annual
three-day exhibition tournament
over Martin Luther King Jr. Day
weekend — did not treat the
Wolverines well. Unranked Ohio
State marched into Ann Arbor’s
Varsity
Tennis
Center
and,
just two hours later, left with a
triumphant sweep in the four-
match exhibition doubles series.
Repeated cheers of “Go Bucks”
rained down from the stands
when the Buckeyes began the
afternoon with a pair of dominant
wins. After dropping the first two
matches, 6-1 and 6-2, Michigan
kept the scoreboard close in the
last two. Despite the damage
already being done, the hope
of a quick turnaround injected
life into the four remaining
Wolverines’
teammates,
who
looked on from the neighboring
courts.
Just when it looked like the
ball was starting to bounce
Michigan’s way, the Buckeyes
slammed the door shut. The
Wolverines’
rally
aspirations
took a blow when freshman
Lanie Van Linge and sophomore
Bella Lorenzini dropped their
match, 7-5. Moments later, Ohio
State clinched the sweep by
toppling junior Giulia Pairone
and freshman Anca Craciun, 7-6.
Bernstein’s
cup
of
coffee
certainly
paid
dividends.
Saturday’s losing pairs were
separated on Sunday and Monday,
and
the
new
partnerships
propelled the Wolverines to
a combined five doubles wins
over No. 14 Georgia Tech and
Tennessee.
Van Linge and junior Chiara
Lommer stood out most among
the
new
tandems,
clicking
instantly despite having little
experience with each other.
“In college doubles, you need
to be ready to play with any one
of your teammates,” said senior
Kate Fahey on Saturday.
The Van Linge-Lommer duo
showed
flashes
of
potential
in a 7-5 win over Tennessee’s
Johanna
Silva
and
Rebeka
Mertena on Sunday. Lommer’s
left-handed serve and Van Linge’s
quick reflexes at the net made the
team’s serve tough to break, but
Michigan’s hiccups on the serve
receive kept the match close.
Monday presented the new
partnership’s tallest task — a
showdown with the 14th-ranked
Yellow
Jackets’
pairing
of
Nadia Gizdova and Dalila Said.
With
pressure
mounting
in
the weekend’s final stages, Van
Linge and Lommer played their
best tennis of the young season.
Behind Van Linge’s natural net
instincts and Lommer’s heavy
topspin forehand, the tandem
put an exclamation point on
the Wolverines’ night-and-day
improvement with a convincing
6-2 victory.
“I
was
happy
with
how
the change went on Sunday
and Monday,” Bernstein said.
“Because we were more energetic,
we were able to compete. (Our
players) are so used to playing
for themselves before they get
here, so they need to figure out
that energy piece and playing for
a team. They’re hearing it a lot,
and it was a completely different
Sunday and Monday from what
we saw Saturday.”
A weekend which began with
a deafening slew of “Go Bucks”
in Michigan’s home building
during a painful sweep took a
180-degree turn for the better.
Monday’s success punctuated the
team’s doubles improvement in
encouraging fashion as “Go Blue”
cheers echoed off the complex’s
maize and blue championship
banners.
In the end, a mere cup of coffee
saved the Wolverines’ weekend
from catastrophe.
DANIEL DASH
Daily Sports Writer
‘M’ tops Michigan State, 30-10
Forty-one seconds. That’s all
it took for redshirt junior Stevan
Micic at the 133-pound weight
class to reverse the momentum in
Michigan’s favor during its Friday
night dual against in-state rival
Michigan State.
Micic attacked early and often,
and by the 30-second mark of the
match was halfway in on a single-
leg takedown. In an attempt to
sprawl and evade being taken
down,
Micic’s
opponent,
the
Spartans’ Anthony Tutolo, dove
beneath
him.
Micic,
sensing
the opportunity in hand, took
advantage, driving Tutolo to the
mat and onto his back. Seconds
later, the referee blew his whistle,
and Micic had seized six team
points, an early lead and the
momentum.
Including Micic’s match, the
fifth-ranked
Wolverines
(7-0
overall, 3-0 Big Ten) cruised en
route to six consecutive match
wins, icing the dual in the process.
After sophomore J.T. Correll at
the 184-pound weight class was
pinned, Michigan responded by
squeezing out wins at 197 and
heavyweight, finishing the dual
with a 30-10 victory over Michigan
State (4-5, 1-3).
“I really liked our team’s
aggressive
style
of
wrestling
last night,” said Michigan coach
Sean Bormet. “I thought we did
a really good job of pressing our
offense and extending ourselves
throughout
the
entire
seven
minutes. It was a great dominating
win.”
One particular wrestler who
dominated for the Wolverines was
a redshirt junior in the 165-pound
weight class, Logan Massa, who
scored nine takedowns, including
four in the first period. Massa
ended his bout with a 20-9 victory,
securing four team points in the
process.
Another
bright
spot
was
redshirt sophomore Kanen Storr
at the 141-pound weight class, who
flashed his prowess from the top
position, and battled his way to a
13-7 victory after falling behind
3-0 in the first period.
“(His riding) is an area he is
very capable in, and something
that he has put a lot of work into, so
to see him really commit himself
to riding that kid, it really paid
off,” Bormet said. “It was a big
difference in that match.”
Also paying off has been the
return of fifth-year senior Alec
Pantaleo at the 157-pound weight
class, who in his third match back
from injury dominated en route to
a 12-3 major decision. His presence
at 157 has given Michigan a boost
to its already vaunted lineup.
Though the match was officially
a victory for the Wolverines
following redshirt junior Myles
Amine’s victory at the 174-pound
weight
class,
redshirt
junior
Jackson Striggow’s match at the
197-pound weight class provided
quite the drama late.
Leading 6-4 (with 1:12 of riding
time, which would add a point at
the match’s end) with one second
left in the third period, Striggow
had a mental lapse, and was
driven to his back for a two-point
takedown
immediately
before
time expired. Unaware of the
riding time rule, the Spartan fans
erupted, believing the match was
headed to overtime, tied at six.
On the mat, Michigan State’s
Brad Wilton knew his opponent
had the riding time advantage, but
believed he obtained a takedown
with several seconds left on the
clock, and thus deserved near-fall
points. Upon further review, the
officials determined that because
time had expired, Wilton did not
hold Striggow on his back for
more than two seconds. Furious,
Wilton hurried off the mat, while
Striggow breathed a sigh of relief.
Reflecting on the match as a
whole, Bormet could not help but
be happy.
“It was fun,” Bormet said. “It
was a dominating win.”
ADAM RICH
Daily Sports Writer
MADELINE HINKLEY/Daily
Redshirt junior Stevan Micic took six points against Michigan State’s Anthony Tutolo in last Friday’s match.
MAX KUANG/Daily
Chiara Lommer helped turn around Michigan’s fortunes after a loss on Saturday.
Fahey displays tenacity
Kate Fahey might have
many
attributes,
accolades
and awards to her name, but
the senior Michigan women’s
tennis player is arguably best
defined by her determination
to win.
This was clear during a
disappointing 6-1 doubles loss
with senior Brienne Minor at
the Michigan Invitational on
Saturday. Fahey’s frustration
with her play, even slamming
her racket on the court at
one point, was obvious as the
15th-ranked pair struggled to
stay competitive with a lower-
ranked opponent.
“It was tough,” Fahey said.
“They’re a good team but
I think Bri and I definitely
needed to compete better.”
Fahey,
the
third-ranked
singles player in the country,
had the opportunity to put
the loss behind her with a win
against an unranked opponent
in Tennessee senior Sadie
Hammond. While she was
looking forward to coming
back focused and ready to
compete, Fahey quickly fell
behind 0-3 in the first set.
“The first match of the
season, I think everyone was
a little bit nervous, especially
coming out of doubles,” Fahey
said. “The momentum was
kind of on the other side.”
While some players may not
have been able to overcome
the
early
deficit,
Fahey’s
motivation to come back and
win the match was clear. Her
early struggles did not get in
her head, and she continued to
compete, tying the set 3-3 and
eventually going on to lose a
hard-fought set 6-7. Despite
losing the set, Fahey shook off
her early failures and returned
to her typically dominant play,
winning the final two sets
and only dropping two games
combined over that span.
“It was a tough first set and
she let it go, and mentally was
tough from the start of the
second,” said Michigan coach
Ronnie Bernstein. “So I think
that’s
the
difference.
She
could’ve, after that first set,
struggled a little bit mentally
and not been positive, but I
think that’s what turned it
around.”
As Fahey’s play improved,
so
did
her
attitude.
Her
screams of “Come on!” after
each point went from ones
of frustration to motivation,
getting louder as the points
got bigger and keeping her
focused on the task at hand.
“I’m a super competitive
person,”
Fahey
said.
“I
definitely
express
my
emotions
a
lot,
everyone
knows that. I think it helps
me kind of because when I get
within myself and I kind of
shut down it definitely brings
my level down. So I like to
yell ‘Come on!’ I like to get
pumped up.”
Added Bernstein: “When
you have her on your side
you’re in good shape. She’s the
best competitor.”
Fahey
finished
the
tournament 3-0 in singles
with wins in straight sets on
Sunday and Monday, and 1-2
in doubles.
The final chapter of Fahey’s
storied Michigan career has
just begun, and Fahey just
might be ready to lead the
team to places it has never
been.
WOMEN’S TENNIS
JACK KINGSLEY
For the Daily
Michigan places second at Windy City Invitational
Justin Hopgood had competed
just five times in his Michigan
career.
In 2017 — his sophomore year
— he competed four times on high
bar, earning a high score of 14.40
in his first-ever competition. Last
year, he competed just once on
floor exercise for the Wolverines.
But on Saturday, Hopgood
stepped up to the high bar with
Michigan looking for a hit routine.
Michigan had earned a lackluster
66.30 on parallel bars, with just
two scores above the 12-point
range. On the next rotation, high
bar — Hopgood’s specialty — the
Wolverines needed to get things
back on track.
Hopgood
calmly
delivered
to the tune of a 13.950 score for
a clean routine that ended with
a stuck dismount. And while
Michigan
competed
on
that
apparatus early in the meet, his
score held up throughout the rest
of the meet, and he notched his
second career event win.
In part thanks to Hopgood’s
routine, the Wolverines went on to
place second out of the six teams
at the Windy City Invitational
with a score of 402.00.
“It was surreal,” Hopgood
said. “There’s really no feeling
like that, hitting a great set and
then finishing it off with a stuck
dismount and then going back
to a bench full of guys that had
your back. There’s nothing that
compares to that.”
Prior to Hopgood’s set on the
high bar, Michigan struggled on
parallel bars, its first event of the
night. It was similar to last April at
the NCAA Championships, when
the Wolverines began the meet on
parallel bars and put themselves
in an insurmountable hole.
When faced with the choice
of which event to start on at the
Windy City Invitational, Michigan
coach Kurt Golder decided to face
the Wolverines’ demons head on
and start on the parallel bars.
“We did a pretty decent job
there,” Golder said. “Not fully
what we’re capable of, not what
we’ve done in practice, but we
came away — that being our first
event, usually you’ll see scores
escalate throughout the meet,
but one of our guys held for the
first-place score, (junior) Mitchell
Brown. We were really pleased
with that.”
Brown
has
been
a
more
consistent figure in the lineup
than Hopgood, but his role is
typically to contribute a clean,
dependable routine — not to be
one of Michigan’s highest scorers.
But when Brown took his turn
on the parallel bars on Saturday,
he flipped and swung his way to
a score of 14.350, a career high
and three-tenths of a point higher
than the next closest competitor,
sophomore Cameron Bock. The
two Wolverines were the only
gymnasts to score above 14.00 on
the event.
“(Brown) has kind of been a
regular for the last couple years,
but never producing the super
big scores,” Golder said. “For him
to come out the champion, and
particularly that being our first
event, was really good.”
But
Brown
and
Hopgood
weren’t the only gymnasts who
notched
event-title
wins
on
Saturday.
Sophomore Nick Guy’s score of
14.50 on vault put him in a three-
way tie for first place on the event
and broke his previous career high
by a tenth.
Outside of the three event-
title wins — and Bock winning
the all-around title — the nerves
and jitters that come along with
the first meet of the season
reared their heads for Michigan.
Multiple gymnasts fell or had
other large mistakes, which left
the Wolverines settling for second
place rather than the meet win
they felt they were capable of.
“I’d give us a B,” Golder said.
“The one thing is, all the other
teams had a competition before
this. Usually, you get a lot of the
bugs out between the first and
second competition, so I think
they were all at a little bit of an
advantage to us.
“We hung in there with them,
but like I said, you can never be
satisfied if you could’ve won and
you didn’t win.”
BAILEY JOHNSON
Daily Sports Writer
NATALIE STEPHENS/Daily
Michigan coach Kurt Golder said his team hung in, but it was hard to be satisfied with a second-place performance at the Windy City Invitational.