Michigan
NCAA Individual Championships
Mesochoritou Advances in NCAA Singles Championship
5/20/2024 6:20:00 PM | Women's Tennis
Site: Stillwater, Okla. (Greenwood Tennis Center)
Event: NCAA Singles Championship (First Round)
Score: No Team Scoring
Next U-M Event: Tuesday, May 21 -- at NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships (Stillwater, Okla.), TBA
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STILLWATER, Okla. -- Gala Mesochoritou of the University of Michigan women's tennis team picked up a three-set win in the first round of the NCAA Singles Championship on Monday (May 20) at the Greenwood Tennis Center. She was one of three Wolverines competing in the event.
Making her first appearance in the NCAA Singles Championship, Mesochoritou picked up a 6-2, 1-6, 6-1 over No. 34-ranked Carolina Gomez Alonso of Arkansas to advance to the second round. Mesochoritou went up a break at 2-1 in the first set and did not look back in picking up the win.
Gomez Alonso returned the favor, going up 2-0 to start the second set en route to the 6-1 win to force a third. Mesochoritou won the first two games of the third set but was broken in the next game to keep it on serve at 2-1. She immediately broke back, igniting a run of four straight games to get the 6-1 third-set win.
Julia Fliegner saw her junior season come to an end, falling in straight sets (6-0, 6-2) to No. 2-ranked and seeded Amelia Rajecki of NC State. Fliegner finished the season with a 25-12 overall singles record, earning All-Big Ten honors and her second straight NCAA Singles Championship berth.
Kari Miller saw her illustrious singles career come to a close, falling in straight sets (6-1, 6-2) to No. 29 Alexandra Yepifanova of Stanford. Miller was broken in the first game of the first set and could not make up the difference, dropping the first. In the second, the pair exchanged three straight breaks of serve in the middle stages before Yepifanova consolidated the break at 5-2. Miller fought off one match point on her serve in the next game but could not save the second.
Miller is one of three Wolverines to earn four singles berths in a career, joining Ronit Yurovsky and Emina Bektas. She won 95 singles matches during her career, good for 10th all-time at Michigan despite not playing a fall season as a freshman. She is guaranteed All-America honors by receiving a seed for this tournament.
Miller and Jaedan Brown, a No. 5-8 seed, start NCAA Doubles Championship play tomorrow (Tuesday, May 21), with Mesochoritou competing in the second round.
NCAA Singles Championship First Round
No. 57 Gala Mesochoritou (U-M) d. No. 34 Carolina Gomez Alonso (Arkansas), 6-2, 1-6, 6-1
No. 2 Amelia Rajecki (NC State) d. Julia Fliegner (U-M), 6-0, 6-2
No. 29 Alexandra Yepifanova (Stanford) d. No. 5 Kari Miller (U-M), 6-1, 6-2
Players Mentioned
