Michigan to Head to USTA Campus for Remainder of NCAA Tournament

» Michigan used a thrilling come-from-behind 4-3 win against No. 12 seed LSU to punch its ticket to the Sweet 16 for the ninth time since 2010.
» U-M will face No. 5 seed Pepperdine in the Round of 16, marking the third straight season that the teams have faced each other.
» The remainder of the NCAA Tournament will be held at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla.

THIS WEEK
Sun-Sat., May 16-22 -- at NCAA Team Championship (Orlando, Fla.)
NCAA Bracket | Championship Central
Sunday, May 16 -- vs. Pepperdine - Round of 16, 4 p.m.
Live Scoring | Live Video

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The University of Michigan women's tennis team (19-3) heads to Orlando, Fla., to the USTA National Campus for the remainder of the NCAA Tournament. U-M will square off against No. 5 seed Pepperdine (22-3) in the Round of 16, marking the third straight season that the teams have faced each other. Michigan and Pepperdine will play Sunday afternoon (May 16) at 4 p.m.

Wolverine Bites

• For the ninth time since 2010, the Wolverines punched their ticket to the Sweet 16 after picking up wins over Rice (4-1) and No. 12 seed LSU (4-3) in Baton Rouge, La. Michigan is one of three unseeded teams to advance out of the regional round.

• This year marks the first time that Michigan has advanced out of the regional round while playing on the road. Michigan previously advanced after hosting the first and second rounds at the Varsity Tennis Center.

• U-M and Pepperdine will face off for the third straight season and the first time in the postseason. Michigan's last match before the remainder of the 2020 season was canceled came at Pepperdine, a 4-1 win for the Waves in Malibu. Michigan took the doubles point, but Pepperdine answered by winning the first four singles matches off court. Pepperdine leads the all-time series, 4-2.

• The winner of Sunday's match will advance to face either No. 4 seed UCLA or No. 13 seed Georgia Tech, Wednesday (May 19). Michigan has advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament one time, coming in 2016 after a win over No. 7 seed Miami.

• Michigan's seniors stepped up in a big way in the win against LSU (May 8), accounting for three of Michigan's four points. Graduate student Chiara Lommer cut a 2-0 LSU lead in half with a straight-set win at No. 2. After the Tigers answered by going up 3-1, senior Alyvia Jones came through with a three-set win at No. 5. At No. 6, senior Bella Lorenzini found herself in a 3-0 hole to start the third, eventually facing 4-2 and 5-3 deficits. She won the final four games, sealing her win and putting Michigan's fourth point on the board.

• Senior Bella Lorenzini has made the most of her time in the singles lineup this season, going 5-0 at No. 6 after getting the nod at the bottom of the lineup against Michigan State (April 18). She clinched that match to wrap up Michigan's Big Ten championship, as well as putting the deciding point up against LSU (May 8).

• Freshman Kari Miller will represent Michigan at the 2021 NCAA Singles Championship. She pushed her singles record to 17-4 overall after picking up a pair of wins over the weekend at LSU. She is 14-4 in dual-match play, going 13-3 at No. 1 and 1-1 at No. 2.

• Graduate student Chiara Lommer and freshman Kari Miller were each named All-Big Ten after their stellar seasons. Lommer picked up the second all-conference honor of her career, while Miller was a unanimous pick to the team. [ Release ]

• Of the 10 Big Ten championships in Michigan program history, nine of them have come since 2010. Head coach Ronni Bernstein has led the Wolverines to Big Ten championships in 2010-15, 2017, 2019 and 2021. Michigan's first Big Ten title was captured in 1997. U-M is 137-7 (.951) in Big Ten play under Bernstein following this season's 15-1 record.

• In the latest individual rankings released by the ITA, freshmen Kari Miller (No. 57) and Gala Mesochoritou (No. 119) appear in the singles rankings, with Chiara Lommer and Jaedan Brown forming the No. 56-ranked doubles team.

• Graduate student Chiara Lommer became the 10th Wolverine in program history to reach 100 career wins, featuring a 106-45 record during her time at Michigan to rank eighth all-time. The lefty also is 11th historically at Michigan with a .702 singles winning percentage.

About the Opponent

• Pepperdine (22-3) knocked off Northern Arizona (4-0) and Stanford (4-2) at home to advance to its fifth consecutive Sweet 16. Pepperdine has four ranked singles players in No. 21 Jessica Failla, No. 77 Ashley Lahey, No. 89 Taisya Pachkaleva and No. 118 Shiori Fukuda. Pepperdine leads the all-time series, 4-2, after the teams have split the last two matches.

Last Time Out

Michigan advanced out of the first and second rounds at No. 12 seed LSU, getting a 4-1 win over Rice and a 4-3 win over the host Tigers.