Michigan
UCLA
Singles Play Pushes U-M Past No. 24 UCLA
3/22/2025 7:06:00 PM | Women's Tennis
Site: Los Angeles, Calif. (Los Angeles Tennis Center)
Score: #5 Michigan 4, #24 UCLA 1
Records: U-M (12-3, 5-0 Big Ten), UCLA (6-6, 1-3 Big Ten)
Next U-M Event: Sunday, March 23 -- at USC (Los Angeles, Calif.), 1 p.m. PT
LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- The No. 5-ranked University of Michigan women's tennis team moved to 5-0 in Big Ten action, winning the first four singles matches to finish in a 4-1 win over No. 24-ranked UCLA on Saturday afternoon (March 22) at the Los Angeles Tennis Center.
UCLA won the doubles point, taking wins at No. 1 and No. 3.
Michigan countered in singles action, taking five first sets from the Bruins to change the momentum of the match.
Piper Charney pulled Michigan level behind a 6-2, 6-3 win over No. 78 Kimmi Hance. Charney raced out to early leads in both sets to get Michigan on the board.
Emily Sartz-Lunde followed a few minutes later, winning 6-3, 6-1 at No. 4. Sartz-Lunde took advantage of a late break in the first set, carrying that over into the second set where she dropped just one game for a 2-1 U-M lead.
Much like Sartz-Lunde, Lily Jones took advantage of a late break in the first set for the win. Jones broke in the final game of the first set, winning 7-5 at No. 2. Jones won the first two games of the second set, dropping just two along the way in the 7-5, 6-2 win.
With Michigan needing just one more point to clinch the match, Julia Fliegner, Jessica Bernales and Reese Miller were left on court. Fliegner dropped her first set in a tiebreaker, with Miller and Bernales winning their respective first sets.
Bernales and Miller each fell in their second sets, meaning Michigan would need to win a three-set match to clinch the win.
Bernales grabbed a 4-2 lead in the final set but could not consolidate the break, with UCLA answering with two straight games to tie the third at 4-4. Around the same time, Fliegner won the final two points in her second-set tiebreaker to force a third set at the top of the lineup.
Miller came through for the Maize and Blue, accounting for Michigan's fourth point in a 7-5, 4-6, 6-2 victory at No. 6. Down 40-0 in the sixth game of the third set on UCLA's serve, Miller ripped off four straight points to grab the break at 4-2. It was all the space she needed as she won the ensuing two games to seal the win for the Wolverines.
Michigan completes a two-match West Coast swing tomorrow (Sunday, March 23), playing at No. 16 USC at 1 p.m. PT.
Following are match-by-match results
Singles
No. 1 -- No. 3 Julia Fliegner (U-M) vs. No. 29 Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer (UCLA), 6-7 (3), 7-6 (5), 0-1 abandoned
No. 2 -- No. 34 Lily Jones (U-M) d. No. 38 Kate Fakih (UCLA), 7-5, 6-2
No. 3 -- No. 22 Piper Charney (U-M) d. No. 78 Kimmi Hance (UCLA), 6-2, 6-3
No. 4 -- No. 86 Emily Sartz-Lunde (U-M) d. No. 64 Elise Wagle (UCLA), 6-3, 6-1
No. 5 -- Jessica Bernales (U-M) vs. Ahmani Guichard (UCLA), 6-4, 4-6, 6-5 abandoned
No. 6 -- No. 123 Reese Miller (U-M) d. Olivia Center (UCLA), 7-5, 4-6, 6-2
Doubles
No. 1 -- Elise Wagle/Kimmi Hance (UCLA) d. Piper Charney/Julia Fliegner (U-M), 6-2
No. 2 -- Jessica Bernales/Lily Jones (U-M) vs. Olivia Center/Kate Fakih (UCLA), 5-4 abandoned
No. 3 -- Ahmani Guichard/Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer (UCLA) d. Bayley Sheinin/Reese Miller (U-M), 6-3
Order of Completion: Doubles 1-3; Singles 3-4-2-6
Players Mentioned
