Michigan
California
Wolverines Rally for Win Over No. 4 California
2/8/2022 10:25:00 PM | Women's Tennis
» Michigan won the final five singles matches on court to rally from a 2-0 deficit for a 5-2 win over No. 4 Cal.
» With the win, head coach Ronni Bernstein became the all-time winningest coach in program history with 289 victories.
» The victory is Michigan's second this season without securing the doubles point.
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Varsity Tennis Center)
Result: #20 Michigan 5, #4 California 2
Records: U-M (4-2), Cal (4-1)
Next U-M Event: Sunday, Feb. 20 -- vs. Princeton (Varsity Tennis Center), Noon
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 20-ranked University of Michigan women's tennis team won the final five singles matches on court to erase a 2-0 deficit en route to a 5-2 win over No. 4 California on Tuesday evening (Feb. 8) at the Varsity Tennis Center. With the win, head coach Ronni Bernstein passed Bitsy Ritt as the program's winningest coach with 289 victories.
Cal took a doubles point that lasted more than an hour, getting a pair of tiebreak wins at No. 2 and No. 3.
Michigan got off to a fast start in doubles, getting a 6-2 win at No. 1 from Andrea Cerdan and Jaedan Brown. After the teams stayed on serve through the first four games, Michigan got the break it needed in the next game when Cal double-faulted on the deuce point. It was all Michigan from there, as the Wolverines won the final three games to get the win.
At No. 3, Kari Miller and Julia Fliegner raced out to a 4-1 lead with a pair of breaks before dropping two straight games. Fliegner held on her serve for a 5-3 lead but Cal won the next two games to tie the match at 5-5. Both teams held to send it to a breaker, where Cal won the final three points to get the win, 7-4.
Michigan's No. 2 duo of Nicole Hammond and Anca Craciun rallied from a 5-2 deficit to force a tiebreaker but fell 7-2 as Cal wrapped up the doubles point.
Cal quickly pushed its lead to 2-0 behind a 6-0, 6-1 singles win at No. 5.
Michigan slowly started to climb back into the match, first getting a straight-set win from Cerdan at No. 4. She jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first set and never looked back in recording the win. In the second, Cerdan got an early break at 2-1 and backed it up in the next game. She went up 5-2 before she was broken trying to serve out the match. Cerdan returned the favor in the next game, converting her fourth match point for a 6-2, 6-3 win to put U-M on the board.
It looked like Cal was going to pull ahead with its third point of the evening at No. 2, but Hammond started to turn her match midway through the second after being down a set and 4-1.
Brown evened the score at 2-2 with a 6-3, 6-3 win at No. 3. She went up a break at 4-2 in the first set, breezing to the win. In the second, Brown grabbed an early break at 2-1 but could not keep it as the set was tied at 3-3. It was all Brown from there as she won the final three games, converting on her second match point when Cal's forehand went long.
Hammond saved four match points in the second set to stay on court, winning 7-5 in the second to send her match to a third.
Miller rebounded from a first-set tiebreak loss to take a 6-0 lead to send her match at No. 1 to a third set as U-M needed to win two of the three remaining matches on court for the team win.
Fliegner came through to account for Michigan's third point, getting a 7-5, 6-4 win at No. 6. The Wolverine freshman found herself in a 5-3 hole before ripping off seven straight games to take control of the match. After winning the first set, she won the first three games of the second for an early 3-0 lead. The set got back on serve at 5-4, as Cal's Hannah Viller Moeller fought off three match points, but Fliegner broke at love as she came in for the swinging volley on her fourth match point.
Miller carried her momentum over from her second set into the third, breezing to a 6-1 win. She jumped out to 2-0 lead before Cal's Haley Giavara got on the board with a break in the next game. It was all Miller from there as she dropped just one game in the final two sets to clinch the match for Michigan.
Hammond completed her comeback at No. 2 with a 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 victory to provide the final 5-2 score. After battling back in the second set for the win, Hammond jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the final frame. No. 108 Valentina Ivanov answered back, eventually tying the set at 4-4. Hammond held on her serve and broke Ivanov in the ensuing game as her forehand went wide.
Michigan is back in action on Sunday, Feb. 20, hosting Princeton at noon at the Varsity Tennis Center.
Following are match-by-match results
Singles
No. 1 -- No. 17 Kari Miller (U-M) d. Haley Giavara (Cal), 6-7 (2), 6-0, 6-1
No. 2 -- No. 120 Nicole Hammond (U-M) d. No. 108 Valentina Ivanov (Cal), 2-6, 7-5, 6-4
No. 3 -- Jaedan Brown (U-M) d. No. 110 Jessica Alsola (Cal), 6-3, 6-3
No. 4 -- Andrea Cerdan (U-M) d. Julia Rosenqvist (Cal), 6-2, 6-3
No. 5 -- Katja Wiersholm (Cal) d. Gala Mesochoritou (U-M), 6-0, 6-1
No. 6 -- No. 99 Julia Fliegner (U-M) d. Hannah Viller Moeller (Cal), 7-5, 6-4
Doubles
No. 1 -- Jaedan Brown/Andrea Cerdan (U-M) d. Haley Giavara/Valetina Ivanov (Cal), 6-2
No. 2 -- Jessica Alsola/Katja Wiersholm (Cal) d. Anca Craciun/Nicole Hammond (U-M), 7-6 (2)
No. 3 -- Erin Richardson/Julia Rosenquvist (Cal) d. Kari Miller/Julia Fliegner (U-M), 7-6 (5)
Order of Completion: Doubles 1-3-2, Singles 5-4-3-6-1-2
Players Mentioned
