U-M Tops No. 5 Ohio State for Big Ten Tournament Championship
4/26/2026 2:42:00 PM | Women's Tennis
Site: Columbus, Ohio (Auer Tennis Complex)
Event: Big Ten Tournament (Finals)
Score: #18 U-M 4, #5 Ohio State 2
Records: U-M (19-6), OSU (23-4)
Next U-M Event: Monday, April 27 -- NCAA Selection Show (NCAA.com), 4:30 p.m.
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The No. 18-ranked University of Michigan women's tennis team won its fourth Big Ten Tournament title in the last five seasons, knocking off No. 5-ranked Ohio State, 4-2, in the championship match on Sunday afternoon (April 26) at the Auer Tennis Complex. It also marked Michigan's seventh Big Ten Tournament title since 2015.
The 2026 Big Ten Tournament champions add another conference crown. Michigan has now reached the tournament final in 21 consecutive seasons, a streak dating back to 2004-05. The win also avenged last season's finals loss to the Buckeyes.
U-M claimed the doubles point with wins at No. 2 and No. 3 after Ohio State took the first match off court at No. 1.
Reese Miller and Laura Rahnel evened the doubles matches with a 6-4 win at No. 2. Michigan went up a break at 5-3 but could not serve it out as Ohio State broke back at love. The Wolverines regrouped in the next game, jumping out to a 40-0 lead and converting their third match point to level the team score to 1-1.
At No. 3, Piper Charney and Emily Sartz-Lunde clinched the doubles point with a 6-4 win. After missing a match point on the deuce point at 5-3, Michigan reset with Sartz-Lunde serving at 5-4 and converted its second match point to secure the opening point.
Needing three singles wins, Michigan got first-set victories from Charney at No. 1 and Lily Jones at No. 2.
Ohio State evened the match at 1-1 with a win at No. 3 singles.
Michigan grabbed the next two points from the top of the lineup. Charney earned a 6-0, 3-6, 6-2 win at No. 1 to give U-M a lead it did not relinquish. After cruising through the first set, she dropped the first three games of the second before getting back on serve at 3-4. Ohio State forced a third set, but Charney won four of the first five games and closed it out with a break to push Michigan ahead, 2-1.
Jones followed with a 7-5, 6-4 win at No. 2 to extend the lead. She won four of the first five games before No. 5-ranked Teah Chavez rallied to take a 5-4 lead. Jones responded by winning three straight games to claim the first set. In the second, she broke at 3-2, and after trading breaks, converted at 4-4 and held serve to finish the match.
Ohio State added a point at No. 4 to trim the Michigan lead to 3-2.
Sartz-Lunde clinched the match with a 1-6, 6-1, 6-4 win at No. 5. After splitting the first two sets, she fell behind 3-0 in the third before winning four straight games. After the Buckeyes evened the set at 4-4, Sartz-Lunde broke at love and held at love to secure the title.
Laura Rahnel was on serve at 1-2 in the third set at No. 6 when play was abandoned.
Charney and Jones were named to the All-Tournament Team, with Jones earning Most Outstanding Player honors after going 3-0 in singles. The title marks head coach Ronni Bernstein's 20th Big Ten championship over her 19 seasons, including 13 regular-season titles and seven tournament crowns.
Michigan will await its selection to the NCAA Tournament, with the selection show set for Monday (April 27) at 4:30 p.m. on NCAA.com. First- and second-round matches will be played next weekend (May 1-3) at campus sites.
Following are match-by-match results:
Singles
No. 1 -- No. 13 Piper Charney (U-M) d. No. 4 Luciana Perry (OSU), 6-0, 3-6, 6-2
No. 2 -- No. 36 Lily Jones (U-M) d. No. 5 Teah Chavez (OSU), 7-5, 6-4
No. 3 -- No. 124 Sophia Cisse Ignatiev (OSU) d. Reese Miller (U-M), 6-3, 6-4
No. 4 -- No. 76 Nao Nishino (OSU) d. Jessica Bernales (U-M), 7-6 (6), 6-3
No. 5 -- Emily Sartz-Lunde (U-M) d. No. 122 Audrey Spencer (OSU), 1-6, 6-1, 6-4
No. 6 -- Laura Rahnel (U-M) vs. Hephzibah Oluwadare (OSU), 3-6, 6-3, 1-2 abandoned
Doubles
No. 1 -- No. 32 Flora Johnson/Luciana Perry (OSU) d. No. 26 Jessica Bernales/Lily Jones (U-M), 6-2
No. 2 -- Reese Miller/Laura Rahnel (U-M) d. Teah Chavez/Hephzibah Oluwadare (OSU), 6-4
No. 3 -- Piper Charney/Emily Sartz-Lunde (U-M) d. Sophia Cisse Ignatiev/Audrey Spencer (OSU), 6-4
Order of Completion: Doubles 1-2-3; Singles 3-2-1-4-5
Players Mentioned
