Wolverines Set to Begin Fall Season
9/29/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
THIS WEEK
Tue-Sun., Sept. 30-Oct. 5 -- at Riviera/ITA All-American Championships (Pacific Palisades, Calif.)
Tournament Central
Fri-Sun., Oct. 3-5 -- at Purdue Invitational (West Lafayette, Ind.)
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The Wolverines, who return four regulars from last season's singles lineup, will kick off the fall tournament portion of the 2014-15 campaign this week. A small contingent of players is headed west for the ITA All-American, while the remainder of the team will travel to West Lafayette, Ind., for the Purdue Invitational. Michigan will participate in six tournaments this fall.
WOLVERINE BITES
• Heading out to California for the Riviera/ITA All-American are senior Emina Bektas (Indianapolis, Ind./New Braunfels), senior Sarah Lee (Los Angeles, Calif./Campbell Hall) and junior Ronit Yurovsky (New Kensington, Pa./Plum). Lee is participating in the qualifying singles draw, while Bektas and Yurovsky have already secured berths in the main draw. Yurovsky and Lee are competing as a doubles pair in the main draw. Qualifying singles will take place on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1, with the main draws for both singles and doubles kicking off on Oct. 2.
• The remainder of the Wolverines -- senior Kristen Dodge (Barrington, Ill./Barrington),sophomore Laura Ucros (Bogota, Colombia/Fundación Nuevo Marymount),sophomore Annie Wierda (Holland, Mich./Westminster Christian School), sophomore Sara Remynse (Richland, Mich./Gull Lake),freshman Kara Hall (Greenwood Village, Colo./Evert Tennis Academy), freshman Alex Najarian (Birmingham, Mich./Cranbrook Kingswood) and freshman Mira Ruder-Hook (Denver, Colo./Laurel Springs) -- will be in action at Purdue.
• U-M has a three-member freshman class in Mira Ruder-Hook, Kara Hall and Alex Najarian. The trio combined to form the No. 10 recruiting class in the country, giving Michigan the best class in the Big Ten.
• Michigan has 10 players on its roster, the largest roster under head coach Ronni Bernstein.
• Michigan does not host a tournament during the fall, playing everywhere from California to Indiana to Arizona. U-M will not play at the Varsity Tennis Center until Jan. 17-19, 2015, when the Wolverines host the Michigan Invitational. [ Schedule ]
• The Wolverines are well represented in the ITA preseason rankings, with Emina Bektas (No. 11), Ronit Yurovsky (No. 21) and Sarah Lee (No. 77) each earning singles rankings in the fall edition. Michigan boasts two ranked doubles teams in Lee and Yurovsky (No. 14) and Bektas and Mira Ruder-Hook (No. 29). [ Release ]
• The Wolverines return four of their top six singles players from last year in Emina Bektas (No. 1), Ronit Yurovsky (No. 2) and Sarah Lee (No. 3/4), with Laura Ucros and Kristen Dodge splitting time at No. 6. Michigan lost just two letterwinners from a season ago, returning seven.
• Head coach Ronni Bernstein is beginning her eighth season as head coach of the Wolverines. She has led Michigan to five straight Big Ten championships, seven NCAA Tournaments and has an overall record of 151-42 in Ann Arbor. In Big Ten action, she has a 69-4 mark to go with five titles. She has coached three Wolverines to eight All-America honors and had two players win three Big Ten Athlete of the Year awards.
• Michigan is coming off a 22-5 campaign in 2013-14, with the Wolverines putting together an 11-0 record in Big Ten play for their fifth straight Big Ten championship. Emina Bektas was named the Big Ten Athlete of the Year and earned ITA All-America honors in singles after winning a Michigan-record 38 matches. Ronit Yurovsky and Sarah Lee each earned All-Big Ten honors and Ronni Bernstein was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year.
• During the fall, each Wolverine will be competing as an individual. U-M will not be in action as a team until the dual-match portion of the season, which begins in January 2015.
Contact: Sarah VanMetre
