Michigan
Illinois
Wolverines Rally for Win at Illinois
4/2/2023 4:28:00 PM | Women's Tennis
Site: Champaign, Ill. (Atkins Tennis Center)
Score: #5 Michigan 4, Illinois 2
Records: U-M (15-3, 7-0 B1G), UI (12-6, 4-1 B1G)
Next U-M Event: Saturday, April 8 -- at Purdue (West Lafayette, Ind.), Noon
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Lily Jones rallied from down a set and 5-2 to put the deciding point on the board as the No. 5-ranked University of Michigan women's tennis team rallied for a 4-2 win at Illinois on Sunday afternoon (April 2) at the Atkins Tennis Center. With the win, U-M remained unbeaten in Big Ten action at 7-0.
Michigan looked poised to take the doubles point after grabbing big leads on all three courts before Illinois mounted a rally to grab the match's first point.
U-M's No. 2 duo of Julia Fliegner and Jones breezed to a 6-1 win at No. 2 as the first match off court. Illinois erased a 4-1 Michigan lead at No. 1 and a 5-2 lead at No. 3, winning both matches to take the doubles point and the 1-0 lead.
U-M won three first sets in singles action, meaning the Wolverines were going to need at least one three-set win to get the team victory.
Kari Miller pulled Michigan even in the team match with a 6-3, 6-3 win at the top spot. She jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first set, which was all she needed to get the win. Miller went up a break at 4-2 but that ignited a run of three straight breaks of serve between the opponents. When Miller went up 5-3, she did not give the break back and cashed in on her second match point to get the Wolverines on the board.
At the same time, Illinois looked poised to regain the lead with a straight-set win at No. 5. Jones had other ideas as she stormed back from being down a set and 5-2 to win 7-2 in the second-set tiebreaker to send her match to a third set.
Andrea Cerdan pushed the Wolverines ahead for the first time all afternoon with a 6-2, 6-4 win at No. 4. Cerdan broke midway through the first set at 4-2 and did not look back in the win. She stayed patient in the second set, which remained on serve through the first nine games. With her opponent back to serve and Cerdan holding a 5-4 lead, the Wolverine grabbed two match points. She made good on the first one, giving Michigan a 2-1 lead.
Michigan's lead did not last long as Illinois pulled out a three-set win at No. 2, tying the match at 2-2.
Fliegner rebounded from a tough loss in the first-set tiebreaker to grab a 6-3 second-set win and force a deciding set at No. 3. Fliegner dropped her first service game but stayed in the rest of the set, going up a break at 5-3 and serving it out in the ensuing game.
Gala Mesochoritou had a chance to serve out her match at No. 6 but was unable to, still holding a 5-4 lead at the bottom of the lineup. She held a pair of match points in the next game, winning a near minute-long point to wrap up a 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 win as Michigan nudged back in front, 3-2.
Jones was up 4-1 in her third set and Fliegner was at 1-1 when Mesochoritou put the third point on the board. After holding her serve, Jones had a match point on the deuce point in the next game but was unable to convert, sending her back to line to serve out the match as Fliegner went up a break at 2-1 on her court.
Jones raced out to a 40-0 lead at No. 5 but dropped the next four points as her lead in the set shrunk to 5-3. Fliegner consolidated the break and went ahead 3-1 on the court right next to Jones as Michigan continued to search for its fourth point.
Jones again held match points in the next game as Kasia Treiber was serving to stay in the match. She converted her sixth match point, ripping a return winner to clinch the team match with her come-from-behind win.
Michigan continues its four-match road swing next weekend, first traveling to Purdue on Saturday (April 8) to face the Boilers at noon.
Following are match-by-match results
Singles
No. 1 -- No. 47 Kari Miller (U-M) d. Kate Duong (Illinois), 6-3, 6-3
No. 2 -- No. 121 Ashley Yeah (Illinois) d. No. 30 Jaedan Brown (U-M), 0-6, 6-3, 6-4
No. 3 -- No. 37 Julia Fliegner (U-M) vs. Megan Heuser (Illinois), 6-7 (2), 6-3, 4-1 abandoned
No. 4 -- Andrea Cerdan (U-M) d. Josie Frazier (Illinois), 6-2, 6-4
No. 5 -- No. 63 Lily Jones (U-M) d. Kasia Treiber (Illinois), 4-6, 7-6 (1), 6-3
No. 6 -- Gala Mesochoritou (U-M) d. Kida Ferrari (Illinois), 3-6, 6-2, 6-4
Doubles
No. 1 -- Kate Duong/Megan Heuser (Illinois) d. No. 2 Jaedan Brown/Kari Miller (U-M), 6-4
No. 2 --No. 76 Lily Jones/Julia Fliegner (U-M) d. Josie Frazier/Emily Casati (Illinois), 6-1
No. 3 -- Kida Ferrari/Violeta Martinez (Illinois) d. Merri Kelly/Andrea Cerdan (U-M), 7-6 (9)
Order of Completion: Doubles 2-1-3, Singles 1-4-2-6-5
Players Mentioned
