Michigan
Illinois
Wolverines Rally to Win Fifth Straight, Take Down Illinois
4/22/2022 7:00:00 PM | Women's Tennis
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Varsity Tennis Center)
Result: #23 Michigan 4, Illinois 1
Records: U-M (15-5, 9-1 B1G), Illinois (14-8, 7-3 B1G)
Next U-M Event: Sunday, April 24 -- vs. Northwestern (Varsity Tennis Center), Noon
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 23-ranked University of Michigan women's tennis team won the first four singles matches off court in straight sets to erase an early deficit to run its winning streak to five in a 4-1 win over Illinois on Friday afternoon (April 22) at the Varsity Tennis Center. With the win, head coach Ronni Bernstein recorded her 300th win at Michigan, the first coach to reach the mark.
Michigan got a dominant 6-2 win at No. 2 doubles from Kari Miller and Andrea Cerdan, but Illinois countered by winning the final two matches to grab the early 1-0 lead.
U-M quickly took control in singles action, winning all six first sets.
Gala Mesochoritou was the first Wolverine off court, winning her eighth straight match with a 6-1, 6-2 victory at No. 6. She won the first five games of the first en route to the win. With her second set tied at 2-2, she ripped off four straight games, capped by a pair of aces on the final two points, for Michigan's first point of the afternoon.
Back at the top of the lineup, Kari Miller pulled out a 6-2, 6-4 win to give the Wolverines their first lead of the day. She jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first and that was all she needed to wrap up the win. Miller went up breaks at both 4-2 and 5-3 in the second but could not back them up in the ensuing games. With Kate Duong back to serve to stay in the set, Miller erased a 15-40 deficit and won the deuce point as she pushed Michigan ahead on the scoreboard, 2-1.
Nicole Hammond accounted for U-M's third point behind a 6-2, 6-2 win at No. 3. She won the first four games of the first set to coast to the win. She had an equally fast start in the second, winning the first three games before it got back on serve at 3-2. Hammond came through with another break in the next game and it was all her from there to put Michigan on the brink of the win.
Julia Fliegner did the clinching honors with a 6-3, 6-3 win at No. 5. She got the break she needed at 5-3 in the first set and backed it up for the win. In the second, she won two straight games for a 4-2 lead. After both players held in their ensuing games, Fliegner once again got the break to wrap up the second set at 6-3.
The remaining matches were abandoned as U-M recorded the 4-1 win to move to 9-1 in the Big Ten.
Following are match-by-match results
Singles
No. 1 -- No. 16 Kari Miller (U-M) d. Kate Duong (Ill), 6-2, 6-4
No. 2 -- No. 79 Jaedan Brown (U-M) vs. Ashely Yeah (Ill), 7-6 (5), 1-6, 0-1 abandoned
No. 3 -- Nicole Hammond (U-M) d. Josie Frazier (Ill), 6-2, 6-2
No. 4 -- Andrea Cerdan (U-M) vs. Megan Heuser (Ill), 7-5, 5-2 abandoned
No. 5 -- Julia Fliegner (U-M) d. Kasia Treiber (Ill), 6-3, 6-3
No. 6 -- Gala Mesochoritou (U-M) d. Emily Casati (Ill), 6-1, 6-2
Doubles
No. 1 -- Kate Duong/Megan Heuser (Ill) d. Jaedan Brown/Julia Fliegner (U-M), 7-6 (4)
No. 2 -- Kari Miller/Andrea Cerdan (U-M) d. Josie Frazier/Ashley Yeah (Ill), 6-2
No. 3 -- Emily Casati/Kasia Treiber (Ill) d. Anca Craciun/Nicole Hammond, 6-4 (U-M)
Order of Completion: Doubles 2-3-1; Singles 6-1-3-5
Players Mentioned
