Notes & Quotes: #20 Michigan 5, #17 Notre Dame 2
3/21/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
March 21, 2012
N O T E S
• With today's win, the Wolverines improved to 11-22 in the all-time series against Notre Dame. U-M has claimed the last two meetings against the Fighting Irish.
• Freshman Emina Bektas owns a 12-4 record against ranked opponents this season, including eight of her last 13 matches.
• Freshman Sarah Lee has clinched four dual wins for the Wolverines this season.
• Michigan's top doubles pairing of Bektas and sophomore Brooke Bolender own a 3-5 record against ranked opponents this season. The Wolverine duo also defeated Georgia's then-No. 2-ranked Chelsey Gullickson and Nadja Gilchrist, 8-5, earlier this season.
Q U O T E S
Michigan Head Coach Ronni Bernstein
On beating Notre Dame ... "We needed this one. We've been away from home, and we lost a tough one last Sunday to North Carolina. We've had a tough stretch away from home, so this one was definitely good for the girls. We always have battles with Notre Dame. We lost a tough doubles match. We needed to step up as a team. We've struggled to get the whole team at one time in a match. The singles performance was great. We won a lot of tight first sets, a lot of tiebreakers and kept the momentum going."
On the Wolverines performing under pressure ... "There was a little bit of pressure on them, and this was a good opportunity to see what we're made of. We've lost some close ones, where we didn't come through. This was close; it was 5-2, but it could have gone the other way, especially after losing the doubles point. We definitely feel good about getting this one. Notre Dame is a good team. They're ranked pretty close to us and will go on to beat some good teams.
"We have to remember that we're young. We've got so many freshmen in our roster. You saw Sarah [Lee] and Emina [Bektas] both come through at the end, while Brooke [Bolender] and Sam are only sophomores. It takes a while to get used to being in those situations, where you need to come through under pressure. That's what college tennis is about; you're playing for your team, not yourself. I think this will help us. I feel good about this win."
U-M Freshman Sarah Lee
On her focus during her match ... "I've really been working on being patiently aggressive, which means stepping in, going for big targets and just playing my game. The whole match was kind of like a rollercoaster ride. That's something I've also been working on. My points are either really good or really bad, and I'm looking for that consistency. I wanted to focus on being solid."
On rebounding from her first dual loss ... "It was nice to have a match so soon after that, so I could regain some of my confidence. Sunday's match didn't go so well, but I definitely feel like I'm back on track."
