How Wolverines Women's Tennis Team Turned Around its Championship Season
5/8/2018 12:30:00 PM | Women's Tennis, Features
By Steve Kornacki
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The Wolverines had lost their mojo, confidence and focus. They had fallen to 4-8 in women's tennis matches and wondered what in the world had gone wrong. They had never lost more than eight matches in head coach Ronni Bernstein's 10 previous seasons, and it was only March 11.
Was this season going down the drain?
They all wondered that, but Bernstein pulled them together with a meeting and discussion that convinced them they had clean slates. It was only what happened from that point forward that mattered to their coach.
And then they won and won again, and again. Michigan went 13-1 from that point forward and capped the comeback by winning the Big Ten Tournament on April 29, propelling them to a No. 17Â ranking and an NCAA Tournament berth with a Friday (May 11) opener against Hawaii in Palo Alto, California.
"This year it felt especially good to win it because of where we came from in the beginning of the year," said Bernstein. "It was pretty incredible, and I'm proud of the group for gaining confidence and momentum throughout the year -- and finishing it off like that. It was pretty awesome."
Quite fittingly, their conference tourney triumph was secured by a pair of comeback wins.
The Wolverines (17-9) trailed top seed Northwestern, 3-2, with two matches remaining at the Baseline Tennis Center in Minneapolis.
Kate Fahey beat Erin Larner, who had been unbeaten in Big Ten play, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. That meant the championship would come down to Chiara Lommer versus Maddie Lipp of the Wildcats. With all other play completed, the players and coaches of both teams congregated around the court where they were trading shots.
"Both teams are out there and it's on both kids," said Bernstein. "It's pressure, and it's going to be who handles it best, and Chiara (KEY-r-uh) stepped up."
She won, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 -- identical to Fahey's scores.
The Wolverines rushed the court for a joyous group hug centered around Lommer.
"I threw my racket to the side," said Lommer, "and I turned to everyone else. I wanted to feel the win with everyone else."
Fahey said: "Once I won, I rushed over to watch (Lommer). It's amazing watching her compete, but the whole time I knew she was going to win. We had complete faith in her."
It was Lommer's 12th straight win, boosting the sophomore from Glenview, Illinois, to 31-9 on the season.
"She's an awesome competitor," said Bernstein. "She told me how nervous she was, but you don't see it. She never takes off a point, and mentally is super tough."
Lommer said: "I was 2-0 against Maddie in previous matches, and I was confident even when I was down -- especially when I knew I had to win for the team. The pressure was on me, and I actually enjoyed the pressure of that match because I wanted to win the tournament.
"Having it come down to me was putting it in my hands for the championship, and I liked it and stepped up."
It had been up to Fahey to keep the championship hopes alive, and she also succeeded. It has been an exceptional season for Fahey, who reached the quarterfinals of the NCAA Singles Championship that teammate Brienne Minor won in 2017, and has repeated as a qualifier in the national singles tournament.
"She's a lot like Chiara actually," said Bernstein. "They are amazing competitors. She's super intense and has done a great job at the top (No. 1 singles). When you have somebody like that who gets that point at the top of the lineup, it's a huge boost to everyone else."
Fahey, a junior from Fair Haven, New Jersey, takes a 27-8 record into the national tournament.
"That is really special," said Fahey. "I had a great time last year with Bree (Minor). We got pretty far, and obviously Bree won it. We were able to bounce things off one another and help one another.
"It's a bummer I don't have teammates going with me, but I'm excited for another opportunity. Last year, I was very nervous, and this year I will have a little more experience."
Minor (11-6) had knee surgery after getting a U.S. Open wild card invite, and had to get healthy before regaining her rhythm and game. But she has done that down the stretch, winning seven straight matches.
Fahey's the only Wolverine woman to reach an .800 career winning percentage with a 94-23 (.803) record.
"I try not to think about my individual results too much," Fahey said with a smile. "I just try to think about getting a point up on the board for my team, and I guess I've done that 80 percent of the time, which I'm really happy about. Getting that point on the board is what matters most to me."Â
Minor and Alyvia Jones had won earlier that day in the Big Ten tourney to contribute to the victory points.
It was the second conference tournament title for the Wolverines, who also won it in 2015, and it had been delivered by Fahey and Lommer digging down deep. Lommer was down, 3-0, in the third and deciding set, but won six of the next seven games.
"It was kind of like our whole season," Bernstein said. "And she had a rough patch during that match, too. She lost focus, and the other girl did a good job of switching things up, and she got off to a slow start.
"But Chiara just kept believing, and she was willing to step up on the court more than the other girl. She was more offensive, and decided, 'Hey, I'm going to go for this.'"
Seven weeks after losing, 4-0, at Texas only two days after losing, 4-0, at Baylor, the Wolverines were running onto the court in Minneapolis and embracing Lommer. Bernstein knew it was time to talk to her team after "getting crushed" in Austin.
"We had sort of a heart-to-heart," said Bernstein, who has seven Big Ten regular-season titles and seven NCAA Sweet 16 appearances with the Wolverines. "The trickiest part is that we'd played 13 of the first 14 matches on the road, and I tried to schedule the toughest competition I could."
All nine Michigan losses came to top-25 teams, and included losses to four of the top-five ranked teams.
Bernstein continued, "We had some injuries and some weird stuff happened, and you just lose confidence. We got crushed, came home and talked about it: 'Hey, it's a new season. Our out-of-conference is done, and we have the people in place, and if we can get healthy and get our confidence back, we're going to take it one match at a time.' We won our first match and we were 1-0. Then we were 2-0.
"I mean, we just forgot the beginning. I think they thought I was getting more and more upset with them, but I wasn't upset. It's just that we weren't competing. We were rolling over -- which is what we just don't do. If you doubt yourself, it makes it even tougher. So, we talked, and just flipped it. Really, it was like a completely new season."
Wiping the slate clean after a poor start is something many coaches attempt, but it is only successful if players believe they indeed have the talent and completely buy into the approach.
"Since Texas," said Lommer, "we've embraced a different mind-set. Coming into the Big Ten (matches) we've always been at the top for the last few years. So, even though our record wasn't great, we went in believing. We refreshed and forgot everything to that point. And even when we lost to Northwestern, 3-4, we played them again in the tournament and won.
"When we were struggling, everyone wanted to work through it, and after meeting with the coaches, we had meetings by ourselves. We tried to work through the problems we were struggling with and help each other up."
Fahey added, "After Texas, we all felt we'd hit bottom and couldn't go any lower. I'd never lost so many matches as a team and it was definitely tough. But we had to determine what kind of team we wanted to be. We started to play more as a team and have more fun.
"It was definitely a new season. We went into the Big Ten with a blank slate like nothing had happened. That really happened. We were able to do it because we had eight girls doing it all the time. I'm really proud of this team and how resilient we are. We could've had a really bad season, but turned it around with a lot of heart."
What will it take for the Wolverines to continue marching in the NCAA event?
"It's just one match at a time," said Bernstein. "I don't look past Hawaii. We're going to be ready for them and keep the same mentality that we've had to bounce back this year and get to where we are.
"It's a tough draw. (Host) Stanford (which opens with St. John's) is always one of the best that competes for a national championship. We've played them the last two years and they've taken us out, but in really close matches.
"But we're excited, feeling good, and playing our best tennis. I'm just really proud of this group. As a coach, you want to see them hang together, and we could've easily thrown it in. But they showed toughness, and that's cool to see."
Players Mentioned
