Michigan
NCAA Individual Championships
Minor Punches Final Four Ticket
5/27/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
May 27, 2017
» Brienne Minor picked up her 30th win of the season and became the first Wolverine in school history to advance to the final four of the NCAA Singles Championship with a 6-2, 6-4 win over No. 18 Sara Daavettila of North Carolina.
» Kate Fahey saw her stellar sophomore season come to an end in a 6-4, 6-3 loss to No. 40 Estela Perez-Somarriba of Miami. Fahey finished with a 36-7 overall mark, tying her with Minor for second on the single-season wins list.
» It marks the first time in school history that two players participated in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Singles Championship. Michigan was one of two schools (Florida) to have two players in the final eight.
Site: Athens, Ga. (Dan Magill Tennis Complex)
Event: NCAA Singles Tournament (Quarterfinals)
Score: No Team Scoring
Next U-M Event: Sunday, May 28 -- at NCAA Individual Championships (Athens, Ga.), 1:30 p.m.
ATHENS, Ga. -- Sophomore Brienne Minor of the University of Michigan women's tennis team punched her ticket to the final four of the NCAA Singles Championship with a straight-set win in quarterfinal competition on the fourth day of action (Saturday, May 27) at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex. Minor is the first Wolverine in school history to advance to the final four.
Minor grabbed a 6-2, 6-4 win over North Carolina's No. 18 Sara Daavettila. Minor took the first set, 6-2, after racing out to a 5-1 lead. Minor had a chance to serve out the set in seventh game of the frame but was broken on a deuce point. She answered right back with a break in the next game, coming through on a deuce point to take the early lead in the match.
Minor and Daavettila exchanged breaks to start the second, but Minor held her second time back to the service line to regain a 2-1 lead. Minor took a 3-1 lead but dropped the next three games to fall behind at 4-3. Minor answered right back with a three-game run of her own, breaking Daavettila on a deuce point to win her 30th match of the season.
Sophomore Kate Fahey saw her 16-match winning streak come to an end in a 6-4, 6-3 loss to Miami's No. 40 Estela Perez-Somarriba. Fhaey was broken at 3-2 in the first, jump starting a three-game stretch of consecutive breaks between the two players. Perez-Somarriba finally held serve, taking a 5-3 lead. Fahey held in her next game, putting the pressure on Perez-Somarriba to take the set on her serve. She came through, winning the first set at 6-4.
Fahey fell behind a break to start the second, dropping a deuce point to fall in the early hole. Facing a 3-0 deficit, Fahey got one of the breaks back to get on the board at 3-1. She held in her next game to cut the lead to 3-2, but Perez-Somarriba held on to the break over the final four games to seal the match with a 6-3 victory.
Fahey completes her sophomore season with a 36-7 overall record, dropping just three matches since the calendar flipped to 2017. Her 36 wins put her in a tie with Minor for second all-time on the single-season list, and she earned All-America honors for the first time in her career by virtue of making the Round of 16.
Minor will face Vanderbilt's Sydney Campbell in tomorrow's (Sunday, May 28) semifinal round at 1:30 p.m.
Following are match-by-match results:
Singles
#40 Estela Perez-Somarriba (Miami) d. #26 Kate Fahey (U-M), 6-4, 6-3
#24 Brienne Minor (U-M) d. #18 Sara Daavettila (UNC), 6-2, 6-4
• Previous Results: Round of 16 | Second Round | First Round
Communications Contact: Sarah VanMetre
Players Mentioned
