Special from
Zoo Tennis
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ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Parity is the watchword in NCAA Division I tennis these days, yet contests that come down to a final match are rare. College tennis fans who adjusted their plans Friday for the NCAA Super Regional between No. 10 seed University of Southern California and No. 7 seed University of Michigan were treated to that singular excitement, with Michigan’s Ondrej Styler winning a third set tiebreaker at line 1 singles for a 4-3 victory that put the Wolverines into the NCAA quarterfinals for the second straight year.
Ondrej Styler won the Clinching Match for Michigan
© Zoo Tennis
A chance of afternoon rain led the NCAA committee to move the start time up three hours to 1 p.m., and the Michigan fans had barely settled into their seats when the Wolverines went up 1-0, dominating the doubles point.
Michigan's Patrick Maloney and Nino Ehrenschneider took a 6-1 decision over Bradley Frye and Learner Tien at line 2, with Andrew Fenty and Gavin Young defeating USC's Samuel Rubell and Wotjek Marek 6-1 at line 1 to conclude a 29-minute doubles point.
Michigan head coach Adam Steinberg was pleased with his team's play, but knew the match was far from over.
"We couldn't have played doubles better," said Steinberg, who is in his ninth year leading the Wolverines. "But we said that they're not going to give in, they're too good."
