Charney, Doubles Team to Compete at American Collegiate Player Wildcard Playoffs
5/27/2026 12:00:00 PM | Women's Tennis
ORLANDO, Fla. -- The University of Michigan women's tennis team will be well-represented at the American Collegiate Player Wildcard Playoffs, set for June 16-18 at the USTA National Campus Collegiate Center. Piper Charney will compete in singles, with Lily Jones teaming with Jessica Bernales in doubles.
Charney is coming off her second straight All-America honor, finishing her junior season ranked No. 8 in singles with a 24-11 overall record. She compiled a 13-8 dual-match record, going 10-4 at No. 1 singles and 3-4 at No. 2. She earned All-Big Ten first-team honors and a spot on the all-tournament team at the Big Ten Tournament.
Jones and Bernales went 18-11 as a duo this past season, going 9-8 in dual matches together at the top of the lineup. The pair competed together in the 2024 NCAA Doubles Championship and finished this season ranked No. 22.
Six wild-card entries into the 2026 U.S. Open (four singles, two doubles) will be awarded via the second-year playoff event. The winners of the four-player men's and women's singles playoff and four-team men's and women's doubles playoff will earn U.S. Open main draw singles and doubles wild cards, respectively, while the men's and women's singles finalists will earn U.S. Open Qualifying wild cards. All singles and doubles matches will be played in a best-of-three-set format featuring regular scoring, with a 10-point tiebreak at 6-all in the third set.
The full fields are below, listed by the schools with which each player or team competed in 2025-26. Reese Brantmeier automatically qualified based on having won the NCAA Singles Championships in the fall. The remaining selections were made based on a number of criteria, including 2025-26 match record, ITA ranking, ATP/WTA ranking, professional and head-to-head results, and more.
Women's Singles
Reese Brantmeier (North Carolina)
Luciana Perry (Ohio State)
Piper Charney (Michigan)
Katrina Scott (Tennessee)
Women's Doubles
DJ Bennett/Ava Esposito (Auburn)
Reese Brantmeier/Alanis Hamilton (North Carolina)
Valeria Ray/Bridget Stammel (Vanderbilt)
Jessica Bernales/Lily Jones (Michigan)
Competition Schedule
* All matches are scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. each night, subject to change
Tuesday, June 16
Men's and Women's Singles Semifinals
Wednesday, June 17
Men's and Women's Doubles Semifinals
Thursday, June 18
Men's and Women's Singles Finals
Men's and Women's Doubles Finals
Jones finished her illustrious career this past season, leaving Michigan ranked fourth all-time with 117 singles wins. She was part of four Big Ten championship teams and won three Big Ten Tournament titles, highlighted by being named the Most Outstanding Player at this year's tournament. Jones finished the season ranked No. 19, going 31-10 overall in singles action. Playing at the top of the lineup alongside Charney, Jones went 4-3 at No. 1 and 10-4 at No. 2 for a 14-7 overall dual-match record.
Michigan went 21-7 this past season, winning its fourth straight Big Ten championship and fourth Big Ten Tournament title in the last five years. U-M hosted the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament en route to its fourth straight Sweet 16 before falling 4-2 at No. 5 North Carolina this past weekend (May 8).
