April 15, 2012
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – University of Iowa men’s tennis players Garret Dunn and Michael Swank defeated the 13th-ranked doubles team in the nation as the Hawkeyes competed against Michigan on Sunday at the Varsity Tennis Courts. The big upset doubles victory wouldn’t be enough for the Hawkeyes (1-19, 0-9) as the Wolverines (15-5, 8-1) came out on top, 6-1.
“The story of the day for us was Garret and Michael beating the 13th-ranked team in the nation,” said head coach Steve Houghton. “In my time at Iowa, we’ve never beaten a team ranked this high nationally, so this was a great accomplishment for Garret and Michael.”
The Wolverines won No. 2 and No. 3 doubles to take a 1-0 lead, but the Hawkeyes would garner momentum with a big victory at No. 1 doubles against Evan King and Shaun Bernstein, who entered the day with a 12-4 record at the top doubles position. Dunn and Swank would win the match after winning a tiebreaker, 8-7 (2). It was Dunn and Swank’s seventh No. 1 doubles victory and second Big Ten No. 1 doubles win this season. Dunn and Swank have played every match at the No. 1 position this season.
Dunn would also lead the Hawkeyes in singles play, winning at the No. 4 position against Barrett Franks in a match that went to a super tiebreaker. Dunn would win the match 4-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10-5) for his third consecutive Big Ten singles victory. Dunn has a 9-9 singles record this season, leading the team in victories.
Sophomore Jonas Dierckx played a very competitive No. 3 singles match and forced a super tiebreaker after winning the second set 6-4 against Michael Zhu after Zhu won the first set by the same margin. Zhu would win the super tiebreaker 10-5.
Iowa played a nationally ranked team for the seventh consecutive match with Michigan being ranked No. 22. The Hawkeyes will hit the courts next on April 20th at Wisconsin before finishing the season at home against Minnesota on April 22. That match will be senior day for Iowa as the Hawkeyes will honor seniors Will Vasos, Tom Mroziewicz and Christopher Speer.
No. 22 Michigan 6, Iowa 1
Singles
No. 1 — No. 8 Evan King (U-M) d. Matt Hagan (Iowa), 6-2, 6-2
No. 2 — Alex Petrone (U-M) d. Will Vasos (Iowa), 6-1, 6-4
No. 3 — Michael Zhu (U-M) d. Jonas Dierckx (Iowa), 6-3, 6-7 (7), 1-0 (6)
No. 4 — Garret Dunn (Iowa) d. Barrett Franks (U-M), 4-6, 6-4, 1-0 (5)
No. 5 — Alex Buzzi (U-M) d. Tom Mroziewicz (Iowa), 6-2, 6-2
No. 6 — Eli Brown (U-M) d. Christopher Speer (Iowa), 6-4, 6-3
Doubles
No. 1 — Garret Dunn/Michael Swank (Iowa) d. No. 13 Evan King/Shaun Bernstein (U-M), 8-7 (2)
No. 2 — Barrett Franks/Alex Buzzi (U-M) d. Jonas Dierckx/Matt Hagan (Iowa), 8-2
No. 3 — Alex Petrone/Michael Zhu (U-M) d. Will Vasos/Tom Mroziewicz (Iowa), 8-3
Order of Completion: Doubles 2-3-1; Singles 5-1-2-6-4-3