Michigan
Duke
Wolverines Rally for Comeback Win at No. 8 Duke
4/6/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
April 6, 2016
» Michigan got singles wins from Brienne Minor, Kate Fahey, Alex Najarian and Ronit Yurovsky in the victory. Yurovsky, who clinched today's match with a three-set win at No. 1, also clinched Michigan's last win over Duke on March 1, 2013.
» Michigan picked up its second win over a top-10 opponent this season. U-M also defeated No. 2 North Carolina.
Site: Durham, N.C. (Ambler Tennis Stadium)
Score: #11 Michigan 4, #8 Duke 3
Records: U-M (13-4), Duke (15-4)
Next U-M Event: Saturday, April 9 -- vs. Rutgers (Varsity Tennis Center), Noon
DURHAM, N.C. -- The No. 11-ranked University of Michigan women's tennis was down 3-0 before winning the final four singles matches on court to defeat No. 8-ranked Duke, 4-3, on Wednesday afternoon (April 6) at the Ambler Tennis Stadium.
U-M dropped a tightly contested doubles point as Duke took a 1-0 lead. At No. 3, junior Sara Remynse and senior Ronit Yurovsky were first off court with a 6-4 win. Duke answered with a 6-3 win at No. 2 to tie the doubles ledger.
With the point coming down to the match at No. 1, freshmen Brienne Minor and Kate Fahey were broken as Duke took a 5-3 lead. With the Blue Devils heading back to the service line to serve out the match, Michigan returned the favor, and Minor held serve to knot the match at 5-5.
Both teams held serve in their ensuing games to send the match to a tiebreaker. In a back-and-forth affair, the teams were tied at 4-4, before Duke won three of the next four points for a 7-5 win for the doubles point.
Duke took the first two singles matches off court for a 3-0 lead. At the same time, Fahey rebounded for a 6-0 second-set win at No. 3 to head to a third set to stay on court after dropping the first set.
Minor got the Wolverines on the board with a 7-5, 6-2 win at No. 2, jumping out to a 4-0 lead in the second set en route to the win to cut Duke's advantage to 3-1.
The remaining matches on court were at No. 1, No. 3 and No. 5. Yurovsky fell down a break at 4-2 in the second set at No. 1 but won two straight to get back on serve at 4-4. Fahey recovered from a 2-0 hole in the third to tie the set at 3-3 at No. 3, while sophomore Alex Najarian took a 6-1 win in the second at No. 5 to keep all three matches on court.
Fahey was the first to finish, winning her final set at 7-5 to bring Michigan to within a point at 3-2. Najarian, who jumped out to a 3-0 lead in her third set, followed right behind Fahey with a 6-2 third-set win to tie the team match at 3-3.
At the same time, Yurovsky headed to a second-set tiebreaker at No. 1. Down a set to No. 25 Beatrice Capra, Yurovsky took the breaker, 7-4, to head to a third set on the top court.
Yurovsky grabbed an early break in the third set for a 3-1 lead, but Duke broke back to tie the set at 3-3. Yurovsky broke back in the next game, jumpstarting a string of three straight games for the Wolverine to clinch the team match with a 6-3 third-set win.
Michigan returns to Big Ten action this weekend, first hosting Rutgers on Saturday (April 9) at noon.
Following are match-by-match results
Singles
No. 1 -- No. 14 Ronit Yurovsky (U-M) d. No. 25 Beatrice Capra (Duke), 6-4, 7-6 (4), 6-3
No. 2 -- No. 18 Brienne Minor (U-M) d. Kaitlyn McCarthy (Duke), 7-5, 6-2
No. 3 -- No. 74 Kate Fahey (U-M) d. No. 67 Chalena Scholl (Duke), 2-6, 6-0, 7-5
No. 4 -- Samantha Harris (Duke) d. Mira Ruder-Hook (U-M), 6-0, 6-1
No. 5 -- Alex Najarian (U-M) d. Christina Makarova (Duke), 6-7, 6-1, 6-2
No. 6 -- Jessica Ho (Duke) d. Sara Remynse (U-M), 6-2, 6-1
Doubles
No. 1 -- No. 19 Beatrice Capra/Ellyse Hamlin (Duke) d. No. 54 Brienne Minor/Kate Fahey (U-M), 7-6 (5)
No. 2 -- No. 72 Kaitlyn McCarthy/Samantha Harris (Duke) d. Alex Najarian/Mira Ruder-Hook (U-M), 6-3
No. 3 -- Ronit Yurovsky/Sara Remynse (U-M) d. Alyssa Smith/Chalena Scholl (Duke), 6-4
Order of Completion: Doubles 3-2-1, Singles 4-6-2-3-5-1
Communications Contact: Sarah VanMetre
Players Mentioned
