Michigan
Cal
Wolverines Knock Off Cal to Start West Coast Swing
3/1/2023 6:15:00 PM | Women's Tennis
Site: Berkeley, Calif. (Hellman Tennis Complex)
Score: #5 Michigan 4, California 3
Records: U-M (8-1), Cal (3-4)
Next U-M Event: Saturday, March 4 -- at Pepperdine (Malibu, Calif.), Noon PST
BERKELEY, Calif. -- The No. 5-ranked University of Michigan women's tennis team won the first three points of the team match and got a three-set win from Andrea Cerdan at No. 6 to put the deciding point on the board in a 4-3 Michigan win over California on Wednesday afternoon (March 1) at the Hellman Tennis Complex.
Michigan took a tightly contested doubles point, coming through in a tiebreaker at No. 3 to clinch the point. Gala Mesochoritou and Cerdan fell behind early at 2-0 and again at 4-2. The Wolverine pair won two straight games to knot the match at 4-4, but they were broken in the next game at 5-4. U-M returned the favor in the next game, as a Mesochoritou hit a service-return winner on the deuce point to stay on court at 5-5.
Both teams held in their ensuing service games to send the match to a breaker. It was all Michigan in the early going as U-M jumped out to a 6-3 lead for three match points. Cal fought off all three for a 6-6 tie. The teams went back and forth until U-M converted on its fifth match point when Cal netted a forehand to clinch the doubles point for U-M.
Michigan won the first doubles match to finish, a 6-1 win for Lily Jones and Julia Fliegner at No. 2. Jones and Fliegner broke on the deuce point for a 3-1 lead, consolidating the break in the next game for a 4-1 lead. That was all the room they needed as they breezed to the 6-1 win.
Cal answered with a win at No. 1, setting up the deciding match at No. 3.
Michigan won just two first sets in singles action, getting wins from Kari Miller at No. 1 and Fliegner at No. 3.
Miller took control early in both sets to put Michigan's second point on the board. After winning the first set, Miller jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the second set before Haley Giavara won two straight games. Miller came through in the next one to extend Michigan's lead to 2-0 and pick up her second win at the top of the lineup this season.
Fliegner wasted little time after Miller finished to push Michigan's lead to 3-0 with a 6-0, 6-3 win at No. 3. After breezing to a first-set win, she won three of the first four games in the second set and kept her serve the rest of the way in the straight-set win.
Cal got on the board with a straight-set win at No. 5, trimming Michigan's lead to 3-1. The Golden Bears strung together another match, winning in straight sets at No. 5 as U-M's advantage shrunk to 3-2.
Jaedan Brown and Cerdan each won their second sets at No. 2 and No. 6, respectively, to keep Michigan in the hunt for its fourth point. Brown rallied from a 3-0 deficit in her second set to win 7-5, with Cerdan jumping out to a big lead and holding on for a 7-5 win when Makenna Thiel's second serve found the net on set point.
Cerdan won the race to finish, recording a 6-3 win to clinch the team match for Michigan. She was broken in the first game when her running forehand found the net cord, but she was able to return the favor and break right back to keep the set on serve.
The Wolverine looked poised to take control of the set after breaking Thiel again on a double fault for a 4-2 lead, but Cerdan could not keep the advantage as she was broken right back. The trend continued as Cerdan broke Thiel again for a 5-3 lead, as Cerdan was able to hold in her final service game for a 6-3 victory.
Cal's Jessica Alsola was able to convert a 6-2 third set at No. 2, providing the final 4-3 margin.
Michigan wraps up its spring break trip to the Golden State on Saturday (March 4), playing at Pepperdine at noon PST.
Following are match-by-match results
Singles
No. 1 -- No. 45 Kari Miller (U-M) d. Haley Giavara (Cal), 6-2, 6-3
No. 2 -- No. 36 Jessica Alsola (Cal) d. No. 21 Jaedan Brown (U-M), 6-4, 5-7, 6-2
No. 3 -- No. 32 Julia Fliegner (U-M) d. No. 122 Katja Wiersholm (Cal), 6-0, 6-3
No. 4 -- Hannah Viller Moeller (Cal) d. No. 55 Lily Jones (U-M), 7-5, 7-5
No. 5 -- Berta Passola Folch (Cal) d. No. 113 Gala Mesochoritou (U-M), 6-4, 7-5
No. 6 -- Andrea Cerdan (U-M) d. Makenna Thiel (Cal), 3-6, 7-5, 6-3
Doubles
No. 1 -- No. 16 Jessica Alsola/Katja Wiersholm (Cal) d.No. 2 Jaedan Brown/Kari Miller (U-M), 6-3
No. 2 -- Lily Jones/Julia Fliegner (U-M) d. Haley Glavara/Erin Richardson (Cal), 6-1
No. 3 -- Andrea Cerdan/Gala Mesochoritou (U-M) d. Hannah Viller Moeller/Makenna Thiel (Cal), 7-6 (7)
Order of Completion: Doubles 2-1-3, Singles 1-3-5-4-6-2
Players Mentioned
