Maryland Advances to 2nd Round of NCAAs
May 13, 2011
LIKE! Maryland Athletics on Facebook
DURHAM, N.C. - Maryland received strong play from the bottom half of its singles order, including a come-from-behind, match-clincher by Sergio Wyss, to post a 4-2 upset win over No. 29 Michigan on Friday, advancing to the second round of the NCAA Men's Tennis Championship.
The 44th-ranked Terrapins (13-12), making their first-ever appearance in the NCAAs, snapped a 2-all tie with Andy Magee's 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 over Michigan's Justin Rossi at No. 6 singles.
Wyss dropped the first set (7-5) to Barrett Franks, but evened the No. 4 singles match at one set apiece with a 6-4 win in the second.
"What a job Sergio did in the third set, after being down a set, then up a break (in the third) and starting to cramp," Maryland head coach Kyle Spencer said. "But he was able to fight through that and be mentally tough. I'm really proud of him."
After Franks got back on serve to pull even at 4-all in the third set, Wyss won the final two games.
Wyss' victory might not have been possible without strong play by John Collins who extended his No. 2 singles match with Jason Jung, the 55th-ranked player in the nation, with the Terps clinging to a 3-2 advantage.
"Jason Jung is a phenomenal player," Spencer said. "He grew up near me. I've known about him for a long time. For John, who is just a sophomore, to come in in that type of situation and give Sergio a little bit of breathing room and extend that match was huge for us. He played good tennis to get back in that second set."
Collins dropped the first set 6-1, but won the second 7-5. Jung was leading in the third set 4-1, but by that time Wyss had closed out Franks, sending the Terps to Saturday's second round where they will face Duke, the 11th overall seed in the 64-team field. The Blue Devils downed George Washington, 4-0, in the first round.
Maryland set the tone against Michigan (13-11) by capturing the doubles point after the match was delayed an hour by rain.
Collins and Maros Horny, the 34th-ranked tandem in the nation, clinched doubles with an 8-6 win over Jung and Shaun Bernstein.
"We have been playing well in doubles," Spencer said. "But we had three weeks off so you just don't really know (what to expect). No one has any momentum. But winning the doubles point helped us a lot today."
Jesse Kiuru, playing at No. 5 singles, had Maryland's fourth point of the day. The sophomore knocked off Chris Cha in straight sets (6-4, 6-1) giving the Terps a 2-1 lead.
The winner of Saturday's second-round match, which is scheduled for 3 p.m. at Duke's Ambler Tennis Stadium, will head to Stanford, Calif., next week for the NCAA round of 16.
