Michigan continues road to national title with emphatic win over Cal

After a dominant win against Toledo on Saturday, the No. 7 Michigan men’s tennis team hoped to follow up its performance against California-Berkley during its quest for a national championship.

And it did.

The Wolverines (26-4 overall) played valiantly against a tough Golden Bears (13-11) team, and went on to claim a 4-0 victory.

Doubles started off close, as matches on all three courts were contested. Junior Jacob Bickersteth and senior Ondrej Styler broke late in their match. And using their momentum, the pair served out the match to win, 6-3, to put Michigan on the board.

Soon after, fifth-year Patrick Maloney and junior Nino Ehrenschneider broke late as well, and held their next two service games to win, 6-4.

Following the wins, the remaining match was abandoned as the Wolverines clinched the doubles point.

“(Doubles has) been something that we really have leaned on the last few years,” Michigan coach Adam Steinberg said. “We play some of the best doubles in the country and it left us for a little while this year, but I feel like today was one of the best we’ve played. To do it in May is good timing, right when we need it. We’ll keep working this week and get ready hopefully to do it again against USC.”

Starting off strong in singles, junior Gavin Young put on a strong performance by breaking early and serving consistently. Taking an early lead in the first set, he continued to fight. Following suit in the second set, he secured the match with another dominant performance, defeating his opponent, 6-3, 6-2.

“I think I broke the second game in the first set,” Young said. “Then I was able to hold the rest. I was really happy with the way I served, and in the second set I think I broke that first game.”

Soon after, Bickersteth finished off a commanding effort to secure the Wolverines’ second singles match victory, 6-3, 6-2.

Styler then followed suit with a win of his own. Much like his teammates, he broke serve often, and opened up early leads in both sets. This powered him to a 6-2, 6-1 victory. With Michigan’s third straight-set victory, Styler clinched the match for the Wolverines.

Michigan looked prime to secure additional victories after beating the Golden Bears. Ehrenschneider won his first set and was deadlocked in a second set battle while Maloney fired back in his match with a second set victory, and had the momentum going into the final set.

Overall, a team-led victory pushed the Wolverines to an ardent win.

“When one person is out there, we want to make them feel like they’re playing against all six of us,” Young said. 

In under two hours, Michigan claimed an assertive win, as all six players proved too much for California-Berkley to handle.