The clock struck midnight on the Michigan men’s lacrosse team’s season in Albany on Saturday. 

During an uphill battle in the pouring rain, the Wolverines (10-7 overall) fought to sustain their season but ultimately came up short, losing 15-8 to the No. 1 overall seed Duke (15-2).

The Blue Devils, a team with three First-Team All Americans to Michigan’s none, seemed to be an insurmountable opponent, but the Wolverines had been upsetting top teams since March. Comfortable within its role as an underdog, Michigan fought valiantly, knotting the score up at two each as the first quarter ended. 

Although Duke’s First-Team All American and Tewaaraton Award favorite attacker Brennan O’Neill hit two quick goals to put Duke ahead early, the Wolverines responded, netting two goals of their own from junior midfielder Isaac Aronson and graduate attacker Bryce Clay, including one on penalty time.

“When you have a Tewaaraton finalist just playing at a high level, it doesn’t matter what you do Xs and Os,” Conry said. 

Going into the second quarter, Michigan was right where it wanted to be — on par with the No. 1 team in the country — but a three goal run by the Blue Devils in the first four minutes seemed to take some air out of the Wolverines. Duke would go on to score another two goals towards the end of the half, with O’Neill contributing an additional two goals.

“Sometimes you’ve got guys on the other team that are just that talented, just that good,” senior midfielder Jacob Jackson said. “(O’Neill) got the better of us.” 

On the other end of the field, the Blue Devils’ defense was aggressive and suffocating. While it would go on to earn Duke a whopping five minutes of penalty time, the Wolverines certainly felt the pressure, committing a number of turnovers. Senior attacker Josh Zawada capitalized off of one of the man-up opportunities, however, and Jackson contributed a goal as well to bring the score to 7-4 going into halftime. 

“We were getting our shots, but they were contested,” Michigan coach Kevin Conry said. “And (their) goaltender played great. … We thought we had great looks, and he ended up swallowing up on us.” 

The third quarter found the Wolverines digging themselves deeper into the hole. Although graduate defenseman Andrew Darby and the Michigan defense better contained O’Neill, the rest of the Blue Devils took advantage of the opportunities presented to them, slamming home another four goals. On the Wolverines’ offensive end, however, Michigan’s star attacker, junior Michael Boehm, didn’t attempt a single shot, leaving the Wolverines in dire straits. 

Early in the fourth quarter, though, Zawada was once again able to connect, bringing Duke’s lead back to four points. But the Blue Devils and O’Neill were not going away easily. O’Neill flipped a shot over his shoulder, while facing away from the goal, to send Duke on a four goal run that Michigan could not come up with an answer for. With no goals from two key pieces of the three-headed attack that the Wolverines had built their fantasy season on, Michigan surrendered to the Blue Devils.

“(Duke was) built to win a national championship right now,” Conry said. “And we aren’t yet. But we have established a really great framework.”

This NCAA Tournament run came off the backs of a team that shocked the country, beating Ohio State twice in one week, Maryland twice in the season, and emerging Big Ten Champions after going 0-5 in conference play just one year before. The first round knockout of No. 8 Cornell only reinforced what the Wolverines had been saying all season – “Why not us?”

“If you would have told me last year that this year we were going to lose in the quarterfinals to Duke, I would have been ecstatic,” Jackson said. “Especially after the year we had. But I don’t think there’s any going back from this season.”

“When you look at the season that we had, we almost became America’s team, the Cinderella story,” Conry agreed. “The problem with that in the future is that everybody knows who you are. We don’t sneak up on anybody.

“We’re not going to be Cinderella anymore. The ball is over.”  

Although the curfew on the Wolverines’ season may have come sooner than they would have liked, this season sets an unforeseen precedent in the history of Michigan lacrosse. Although they won’t be Cinderella anymore, Michigan has the opportunity to become something even better — a great program, not just a historic team.

The post ‘The ball is over’: Michigan falls to Duke, 15-8, in the NCAA quarterfinals appeared first on The Michigan Daily.

I am 20 years old, and up until last week, had only driven a car twice in my life. When I walked into the Michigan Secretary of State at the beginning of April to take the permit test, the lady at the counter gawked at my non driver ID. Anxious, I began to pull my passport out of my bag — maybe she needed another form of ID? But no, she was just shocked that a Midwestern college student didn’t have a driver’s license.

“How do you even get anywhere?” she asked. 

I laughed it off; little did she know that in high school I commuted an hour and 15 minutes each way, every day — just not by car. I woke up at 5:45 a.m. to catch the 6:35 a.m. train that snaked its way through upper Manhattan and into the Bronx. The 15-stop ride on the one train typically had me reading the book chapter assigned the night before, or in the winter, watching the sunrise out of the plexiglass windows. Then came the 20 minute long bus ride with standing room only, often transporting hordes of my classmates and I at a time. 

Driving wasn’t an option. There was no student parking lot.

It became a carefully planned routine. I would meet friends at the 103rd Street subway station, often taking the stairs two at a time to squeeze through the doors just before the train pulled out of the station. The 6:35 a.m. train and its corresponding Bx10 got me to school with 10 minutes to spare, just enough time to grab a coffee from the food truck parked outside and swipe in for attendance. If I woke up late, or forgot my basketball uniform on the way to the subway and had to run back to grab it, I would have to take the 6:42 a.m. train, bemoaning the seven-minute difference all the way to school.

It’s easy to take a good thing for granted if it’s all you’ve ever known. Especially if that thing looks like the New York City subway.

Although I may vehemently defend the NYC subway to anyone who tries to criticize it in front of me, I am well aware of its defects. It’s dirty, you’re usually 20 seconds away from getting kicked in the face by acrobats, someone’s always yelling about something, there’s rats, it’s always under construction, it hardly ever runs on time; the list goes on and on. But at the end of the day, I remind my friends, it exists. 

Three years before most of my Michigan friends were even able to get their permits, my parents started letting me take the subway by myself (albeit on short trips). I didn’t have to rely on one of my parents being off work to take me to a friend’s house, worry about parking at concerts or sporting events or work out a designated-driver situation with friends for parties — and with the free MetroCards given to all NYC public school students, it was incredibly economical.

For a city more than 10 times the size of Ann Arbor, New York is infinitely more interconnected. My high school, located just within the city limits, drew students from four out of five boroughs, with many commuting in by train. I had friends who grew up all over the city, a massive web connected by the brightly-colored strings of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority lines. 

In my entire life, I have never lived farther than six blocks from a subway station, meaning that I have never been more than a six-minute walk away from all the resources that New York has to offer. Independent mobility was the expectation, not the gift that came when I turned 16.

So when I came to Ann Arbor, it was a rude awakening. 

A three-mile trip to the doctor’s office, only an 11-minute drive, turned into a 40-minute winding bus ride. To make matters worse, the bus came only once an hour. To get to my 2:30 p.m. appointment on time, I would have to take the 1:07 p.m. bus, leaving me with almost twice as much time spent commuting/waiting than spent at the appointment itself. 

Additionally, for a city with its own Amtrak station, there are remarkably few trains that pass through it, and almost none going east. The closest Amtrak hub is Chicago, meaning that what should be an hour-and-a-half-long train ride to my best friend’s college in Northwestern Ohio becomes a multi-day, multi-leg trip. Going five hours in the wrong direction isn’t just inefficient, though; it’s also expensive.

What used to be a five-minute walk to the grocery store became a full-day ordeal, as I now needed to ask friends with cars to drive me. Going to a concert meant pre-planning what buses to take, sometimes leaving early as the buses stopped running, instead of piling onto a subway car whenever the concert happened to end. The independence and flexibility I had never thought to treasure had disappeared.

For the first time in my life, I was trapped. 

Now, before you mistake me, I’m not necessarily advocating for a NYC-style subway system in Ann Arbor. It would be incredibly expensive to build and disrupt daily life for many people. But a rail system could alleviate the housing crisis, giving many students more affordable off-campus housing options, as well as greatly decrease carbon emissions. 

With the University only recently opening its eyes to the extreme lack of housing it provides its students and the continuing GEO strike, housing is a hot-button issue in Ann Arbor right now. Finding affordable and adequate housing seems to be almost impossible, and it’s not uncommon to hear students lamenting about the year-round process. With the creation of a rail line that connects Central Campus to outer neighborhoods of Ann Arbor, more housing would be within students’ boundaries, both physically and financially. 

Additionally, with the implementation of a subway system, the city of Ann Arbor could reduce its dependence on cars, lowering our carbon footprint drastically. As a college town, small apartments and homes are the norm, so to really live up to our green arboretum namesake, all we would need to do is increase public transit ridership.

Although a subway system winding through Ann Arbor is a dreamy ideal, that’s all it really is — at least for right now. As a more practical and instant solution, more frequent TheRide schedules with more stops in and around campus would be very effective. Additionally, prioritizing buses with the creation of bus lanes on highly-trafficked streets such as State or Main could entice people to leave their cars at home. 

It’s easy to imagine a car-free State Street with bus and bike lanes, outdoor dining options in the summer and fall and more efficient intersections. Never again would I have to get splashed with slush as a car tries to swerve through the hordes of students who couldn’t care less about traffic signage. Cutting a 20-minute walk to the Intramural Sports Building in 20-degree weather in half for a heated bus ride is a fantasy I often catch myself daydreaming about on those snowy winter evenings. 

As I wait for the city of Ann Arbor to see my vision, I’ve begun to see theirs. As someone who’s waited four years to get my permit, much to the chagrin of my parents, I’ve really enjoyed driving so far. I appreciate the privacy and immediacy it provides in comparison to all kinds of public transportation. There’s no waiting for a delayed train and no worries about figuring out which train to take or what happens if you get on the wrong one. Being able to drive provides its own type of independence that I had been so ignorant of.

But like I said, it’s easy to take a good thing for granted when it’s presented to you as significantly flawed. Driving for me meant circling our neighborhood in New York for what felt like hours, looking for parking in a sea of cars that seemed to be collecting dust on the side of the road. It meant getting perpetually stuck in rush hour traffic, because in the city that never sleeps, it always seems to be rush hour. In the same way that getting anywhere in Ann Arbor without a car was incredibly inconvenient, getting anywhere in New York with a car felt like a waste of time. 

As I head back to New York for the summer, I will relish my time spent on the subways, even when the AC inevitably breaks down on the hottest day of the summer, leaving me pressed up against my equally sweaty seat partner. I will remind myself of all the times I was stuck in Ann Arbor, wishing for an easier way to get to the grocery store, or my friend’s house when it’s cold out. And I guess I’ll finally get my license.

Statement Columnist Lucy Del Deo can be reached at ldeldeo@umich.edu

The post Subway dreaming appeared first on The Michigan Daily.

Graduate midfielder Peter Thompson did some gardening Sunday — cutting through the best of the Ivy League to bring the Michigan men’s lacrosse team to victory.

The Wolverines had been trading goals with No. 8 Cornell all game, neither team ever able to amass a lead greater than two. Pushed into sudden death overtime, Michigan knew it was now or never as the Wolverines fought to keep their dream-like season alive — and yet they weren’t worried. 

“We tend to feel comfortable being uncomfortable,” Thompson said.

Down an elite attacker and one of its best facilitators, sophomore Ryan Cohen, and with senior attacker Josh Zawada effectively neutralized by the Big Red’s All-American defenseman Gavin Adler, Michigan needed someone to step up and score. Junior attacker and All-Big Ten First Team awardee Michael Boehm seemed the logical pick, especially coming off the hat trick that solidified him as the program’s single-season goal record holder. 

Luckily for Michigan, Cornell thought so too.

Just over a minute into overtime, Boehm skirted the endline, looking for an opening and taking short jabs towards the crease. Graduate attacker Bryce Clay set a screen for Boehm behind the Big Red’s goal, rolling out to the left wing as his defender attempted to double-team the star scorer. As the defenders converged on Boehm, he whipped the ball over to Clay, who rocketed it into the pocket of Thompson. On a beautiful cut in from the wing, Thompson’s momentum propelled the ball into the net, and the Wolverines erupted from the sideline. 

“It’s been a plethora of guys all season,” Thompson said. “(Michigan offensive coordinator Scott) Bieda … does a great job of going with the hot hand sometimes, and … I guess that was me today.”

Thompson stepped up at multiple moments during Sunday’s NCAA Tournament matchup, beginning in the very first quarter. With just over a minute left in the first period, he took a long shot from the wing, knotting the score up at four before the quarter break. 

“(Thompson)’s the Energizer Bunny,” Michigan coach Kevin Conry said. “Not only has he contributed significantly with points and playing time, but his energy on a day in and day out basis has really boosted our roster. It’s been great.”

Three quarters later, both teams seemed to be running out of gas — except for Thompson. Notching two goals, only 36 seconds apart, to lock in a hat trick and give Michigan the lead with less than five minutes to go, he provided the jolt of energy the Wolverines had been lacking. Unfortunately for Michigan, though, Cornell found its second wind as well. 

Ground balls turned into football-style runs, with bodies and sticks flying. Another Boehm goal led to him getting kneed in the head in front of the crease. The first and only penalty of the game, a holding by Michigan, was called. But neither team could seal the deal. The whistle blew for overtime just as the Wolverines managed to get the ball away from the Big Red. 

“They were dog tired,” Conry said. 

Thompson, living up to his “Energizer Bunny” persona, shocked Michigan back into rhythm with his fourth and final goal in overtime. The Wolverines stormed the field to the sound of The Victors echoing over Schoellkopf Field — their mythical season (and chance at a national championship) still alive. 

“I think the guys have so much belief this year that … the fruits of our labors are going to come to fruition,” Thompson said.

Any garden takes time to flourish, as long as one is willing to put in the work required. Last year, Michigan did a lot of the weeding. Sunday, it was Thompson’s turn to break through the ivy and bloom. And as the Wolverines use the victory to climb higher and higher up the trellis of the NCAA Tournament, facing No. 1 Duke next Sunday, they can only hope that the season they’ve been cultivating comes up roses.

The post Peter Thompson cuts through Cornell in Michigan’s overtime thriller win appeared first on The Michigan Daily.

The No. 4 Michigan men’s tennis team faced its biggest rival, No. 3 Ohio State, this Sunday, and the tension at the Varsity Tennis Center was palpable. The Wolverines had lost the doubles point for the third week in a row, and five out of six singles matches had dropped the first set. Fans in both blue and red swarmed the bleachers and the lawn opposite the courts, looking ready to rehash the Toledo War at any second. 

On the courts, fifth-year Andrew Fenty was ready to battle. After starting the first set strong by winning the first game in straight points, he quickly lost his momentum, allowing his opponent Justin Boulais to win the first set 6-3. Fenty looked off balance and had trouble controlling the ball, turning usual winners into misfires. 

“He came to play,” Fenty said about Boulais. “I think he kinda caught me off guard.”

Having faced Boulais just three weeks prior, and winning in a much easier three-set match, Fenty had an idea of what to expect from his opponent. In proving him wrong, Boulais provided Fenty the energy that he had been looking for all set long. 

“I just feel like if you’re gonna beat me, you’re gonna have to earn it,” Fenty said. “The match isn’t over until we shake hands and it’s my job to make it as hard as possible.”

The second set started slow, with both Boulais and Fenty missing easy shots, but then the tide began to turn. Boulais had been pushing up to the net all game, and Fenty hadn’t been responding well. It seemed too hard to get the ball around Boulais, leading many balls wide. But tied at two games apiece in the second set, Fenty made an adjustment. Lofting the ball over Boulais’ head, Fenty forced him off the net, controlling the longer rallies that ensued. He went on to break Boulais’ serve and then held his own, leading 4-2. 

Fenty continued his rampage after that, sending shots sailing into the backcourt when Boulais came to the net and running him off the baseline when the Buckeye dropped back. Stealing yet another game off of Boulais’ serve, Fenty looked poised to serve out the second set.

Boulais wasn’t willing to go away that easily, though, and capitalized on Fenty’s uncharacteristically poor placement to take the next two games. Fenty didn’t look as rattled as he had in the first set, however, and served up a few aces and a cross court winner to take the second set, 6-4.

At almost exactly the same moment, senior Ondrej Styler won a 17-point tiebreaker, giving Michigan a surge of life. Here was the opening it had been waiting for all match, the chance to take the reins in the latest edition of this age-old battle. Down 3-0, it would be a steep comeback, but Michigan looked reinvigorated.

The third set began with Fenty making yet another adjustment. Moving up to the net to take advantage of his height and wingspan, he broke Boulais yet again, and the crowd erupted. Boulais broke back, using Fenty’s own strategy against him and pushing him back toward the baseline. Going up 3-2 with multiple overhead slams at the net, Boulais looked to be in charge of the match, but Fenty was not to be discouraged.

“When I start to lose, I just make it harder for them,” Fenty said. 

The Wolverines’ tireless commander simply reset and held serve, tying the set up at three games apiece. Boulais attempted to resort to his early strategy of aggressive net play, but Fenty held him off, hitting two aces in a row. He slammed the ball behind Boulais’ shoulder to take a 4-3 lead, as the Michigan fans in attendance roared their approval. 

Fenty didn’t drop a game after that, coasting to a 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory over Boulais. Accentuated by a few more aces, his comeback victory allowed the Wolverines to begin their collective resurgence. Styler picked up a second singles point for Michigan in straight sets, riding the momentum Fenty had built. It still wasn’t enough though, and the Wolverines fell to the Buckeyes, 4-2.

“I was really proud,” Michigan coach Adam Steinberg said. “They fought unbelievably to get back in the match. They wouldn’t quit.”

Just a week before, Fenty led the charge from behind as Michigan rallied to beat Louisville. The same happened against Penn State on Friday, just two days before the showdown with the Buckeyes. Although his effort alone wasn’t quite enough to beat Ohio State, it appears that Fenty plays better on the comeback, leaving very little room for his opponents to maneuver. 

“If you’re gonna be up? Beat me,” Fenty challenged. “See how long you can win for. And this season? Not a lot of people can.”

Although Fenty may have won his individual skirmish, the Wolverines lost the war. Poor doubles performances and shot placement plagued them at every turn until they had to wave the white flag of surrender. If Michigan ever wants to rule the Toledo strip, and the university beneath it, it needs to have a more consistent attack formation, with help coming from all sides. With the biggest battle of the season, the Big Ten Tournament, still looming, the Wolverines still have another chance at victory. Down 2-0 to the Buckeyes, this is right where Fenty wants to be: on the cusp of a comeback, just like the one he pulled off on Sunday.

The post Andrew Fenty’s comeback dominance not enough against Ohio State appeared first on The Michigan Daily.

After losing the doubles point against Louisville on Sunday, the Michigan men’s tennis team headed into singles play with a deficit. As the Wolverines scrambled for an answer they turned to the No. 10 ranked player in the country and a former All-American, fifth-year Andrew Fenty who was the heavy favorite to beat the Cardinals’ No. 76 Natan Rodrigues and help Michigan regain control of the match. His hard-fought win was emblematic of the Wolverines’ showing Sunday, with the whole team battling from behind to pull off their seventh ranked win this season.

After winning the coin toss, Fenty elected to serve, retreating to the baseline to begin the match. Rodrigues came out hot, fighting Fenty’s normally solid service, and began to take control of the ball. He ran Fenty all over the floor, and eventually hit a winner to break Fenty’s serve. 

“I came out a little bit nervous,” Fenty admitted. 

Thankfully those nerves didn’t affect him for long. He broke Rodrigues back in straight points. Fenty then went on to win the next game quickly, capitalizing off of Rodrigues’ unforced errors and his own strong serving to put himself up 2-1. 

Fenty kept his foot on the gas for the rest of the set, taking every single game in quick succession, often breaking Rodrigues in straight points. Rodrigues began to look demoralized, no longer running after reachable balls, while Fenty jumped up and down on the baseline, fully energized. Fenty hit a powerful ace to close out the first set 6-1, yelling in celebration. 

“I felt like I was flowing,” Fenty said. “I was playing too good for him.”

However, Rodrigues seemed to find a second wind as he came out of the break looking rested and energized. Shots that had been going sideways now found their home just inside the baseline, making Fenty’s returns longer and tougher to finish.

Similarly to the first set, though, Fenty came roaring back. Hitting multiple impossible-looking shots in a row, including one behind the back, he took a 40-15 lead in game two. Smashing another ace into the wall of the Varsity Tennis Center, Fenty seemed poised to take the second set as easily as he had the last one. 

Unfortunately for Fenty, Rodrigues had other plans. Fenty was up 40-0 in game eight and serving to put Rodrigues away for good when Rodrigues began firing off his shots with a newfound vigor. Fenty seemed to stumble on the adjustment, hitting a couple into the net. Rodrigues broke Fenty, yelling as he finally tied up the second set.

On Rodrigues’ serve Fenty looked fired up, zeroing in on his returns to go up 30-0 in the ninth game, but Rodrigues continued to push Fenty off the baseline, making his returns harder and harder. Rodrigues was able to keep Fenty off kilter for long enough to take the game, taking control of the second set for the first time. 

Rodrigues took the next two points off of misplaced balls and missed first serves from Fenty, so Fenty buckled down once again. He brought the game to deuce and hit a winner down the line to tie up the set, prompting cheers from the crowd.

Locked in a back and forth battle, Fenty and Rodrigues each held onto their serves, sending the match into a tiebreaker. Fenty slammed a couple serves leaving Rodrigues scrambling, and Fenty leading 5-1. Rodrigues managed to scramble back to tie it up 5-5, but hit the ball into the net to give Fenty the edge he needed. 

“I made some mistakes,” Fenty said. “I kinda brought him back into the match.”

Trying to hold Fenty off the baseline, Rodrigues hit the ball long on his first serve and had to reel in his power for his second serve. Fenty capitalized on the weaker ball, slamming a cross court winner. After the ball bounced for a second time, Fenty threw his racquet in celebration and lifted his hands into the air. 

“I didn’t go away,” Fenty said. “I just told myself I’m not going away, and if he wins, I’m gonna make it as tough as possible.”

Fenty’s tough play and “never give up” attitude gave the Wolverines the stability they needed in a tough match against Louisville. Giving Michigan its first lead of the match and constantly keeping the energy up in the Varsity Tennis Center, Fenty’s stamina was put to the test, and found worthy.

The post Fenty leads comeback in No. 5 Michigan’s win over No. 35 Louisville appeared first on The Michigan Daily.

The Michigan women’s tennis team is undefeated this season when it wins the doubles point.

This is primarily due to the play of the No. 2 ranked doubles team in the country; juniors Kari Miller and Jaedan Brown, as well as the pairing of sophomore Julia Fliegner and freshman Lily Jones. Both doubles teams credit their success to their close relationships both on and off the court. 

Brown and Miller first met on opposite sides of the court when they were nine years old. Although Miller won that match, Brown didn’t hold it against her and they became fast friends, propelled by their participation in the same regional tournaments and their parents’ status as Michigan alumni. 

They grew up vacationing together and staying together in hotels for tournaments. They even went on their unofficial and official visit to Michigan together, Miller being one of Brown’s first calls after committing. 

“She was with her mom, and I told them, and she literally started crying,” Brown told The Daily, laughing. “She was like ‘I have to come, I have to come!’ And I was like ‘You are coming Kari, there’s no choice now!’ ”

Miller committed shortly after, and the rest is history. The two have been dominant all season, going 8-4 overall and 2-0 in Big Ten play.  

“When you live with someone and you’re so close to them – I just trust (Miller) so much on court,” Brown said. 

That trust is palpable, as they feed off the strongest parts of each others’ game to continue logging wins.

“I hit the basic shots really well,” Miller said. “Jaedan is the ‘flashy’ player, but … I set up points very well. I know I’m making this return, I’m hitting it here. I’m making the serve and hitting it here.”

Brown echoed that sentiment, crediting Miller’s shot placement as key to her fast-paced play.

“It’s perfect for me,” Brown said. “I wouldn’t be able to make those shots if she didn’t place it perfectly for me to move on it.” 

Miller excels at placing the ball precisely, running her opponents off the court with deep line drives. As the “flashy one,” Brown hits aggressively at the net, and can be counted on to deliver a couple powerful aces each game. The pair moves so smoothly on the court, almost appearing to read each other’s minds. 

“At this point, I feel like we know everything about each other,” Miller said.

And their time as Wolverines has only brought them closer.

“We spend so much time together,” Brown said. “When my parents come up for a match, anytime we go to dinner, I go to the hotel – Kari always comes with me. And I won’t even tell (my parents), Kari’s just there and it’s such a normal thing. We’ll just be sitting in my hotel, my mom’s doing my hair, and Kari is just sitting there with us.”

Similar to Brown and Miller, Fliegner and Jones met as opponents at a ten and under tournament at Fliegner’s club. Slotted to play against one another, they introduced themselves, and their friendship followed from there.

Both from Michigan, the duo grew up playing at the same regional tournaments, often playing head to head. Where their on-court relationship started, though, was as doubles partners in elementary school – often to the tune of mixed results.

“We were really bad,” Fliegner joked. 

Over the years, however, their friendship and deep knowledge of each other’s play has allowed them to evolve into a formidable team.

“We just know each others’ games perfectly,” Fliegner said. “So we’re able to manipulate formations … to adjust to however we’re playing that day.” 

Just like Brown and Miller, Jones and Fliegner meld seamlessly, even though their games couldn’t be more different.

“We’re kind of opposites on court,” Jones said. “We always joke about like, she’s kinda the fire and I’m the ice, and that’s why we’re so good.” 

Jones’ steady, consistent play provides opportunities for Fliegner to come in swinging, making for a wildly successful one-two punch; an act made possible by their close bond.

“To succeed you have to have someone you trust on your side of the net,” Jones said. “I know she has my back wherever she is, on the court and off the court.”  

The two are inseparable, and their play only benefits from their close relationship. Their connection allows for efficient communication, sometimes requiring nothing more than a glance.

“We’re best friends,” Jones said. “Sometimes no words even need to be spoken, I can just look at (Fliegner).”

The Michigan women’s tennis team is something of a dynasty as of late. The Wolverines have won nine Big Ten regular-season championships and four Big Ten Tournaments during Michigan coach Ronni Bernstein’s tenure. The doubles point has been essential so far this season, and these duos are only looking to continue that success. 

Trusting your partner and being able to make adjustments according to their game is essential to successful doubles tennis, and doing that becomes a lot easier when you’ve been playing together since elementary school. 

For both pairs, their friendships off the court provide them with the knowledge that they can adapt to whatever the other team throws at them. It makes them comfortable in unfamiliar gyms, and provides them with the stamina to get through tough matchups. 

In other sports, two or three years of playing together would be considered invaluable and almost impossible to achieve, but these duos have almost a decade of experience under their belts.

Together, like they always are, both pairs are building on their past success and adding to the dynasty already in progress.

The post Dynamic Duos: How two lifelong friendships are ushering in an era of doubles dominance appeared first on The Michigan Daily.

With three points on the board, Michigan junior Merri Kelly was serving for the match, 40-30. Everything seemed finalized, until Michigan State’s Issey Purser fought back to send the match to a tiebreaker. 

Kelly won that easily, 7-4, and the Wolverines (9-2 overall, 1-0 Big Ten) finished the match 4-0 over the Spartans (7-5, 0-1). Michigan battled for its victory, but was plagued throughout by unforced errors and inconsistent serving.

Michigan started strong in doubles play, with junior Kari Miller and senior Nicole Hammond making quick work of the Spartans’ Marley Lambert and Dagmar Zdrubecka in the No. 2 spot. The normally solid duo of sophomore Julia Fleigner and freshman Lily Jones were locked in a back and forth contest with Michigan State’s Ayeshe Can and Liisa Vehvilainen, leaving it up to Kelly and senior Andrea Cerdan to take the doubles point from the Spartans. 

Despite their hot start, the Wolverines began to lose steam going into their singles matches. 

“That’s the thing with tennis,” Michigan coach Ronni Bernstein said. “You let up a little bit and the thing can change on you.” 

While Miller won her first set handily, she struggled with her serve in the second, double faulting multiple times – including once on break point. She played Vehvilainen methodically, placing her balls well, but committed too many unforced errors and never truly pulled away.

“I don’t think we played our best necessarily, but I’m proud of … getting the win,” Bernstein said. “And we didn’t have (junior) Jaedan (Brown) in the lineup.”

Michigan’s top-ranked singles player, and one half of the No. 2 doubles partnership in the country, Brown’s absence was felt on the court. Her powerful and consistent serving was missed in a match filled with break points.

Fleigner, Michigans second-best singles player, stumbled early, dropping the first set to Can, 6-3, but got it together to finish the second set 6-2.

Jones also dropped a set, leaving the job to Cerdan, Kelly and junior Gala Mesochoritou to close it out. With only one point on the board, it could have gone either way.

Mesochoritou steamrolled Michigan State’s Nicole Conard early on, winning 6-1, 6-1 to give Michigan a 2-0 lead. Cerdan struggled slightly in the first set, but won her second in straight games, 6-3, 6-0. 

“In the second set, I stepped up, I played my game,” Cerdan said. “I wasn’t feeling nervous at all anymore. I was just like ‘I’m gonna roll through it.’ ”

When Merri Kelly sealed the deal with her low winner, the Varsity Tennis Center erupted. While it wasn’t the Wolverines’ most dominant win, shutting out a rival without their best player is still a significant feat. 

“We’ve had people that haven’t been playing as much getting in there,” Bernstein said. “So I’m excited that (Kelly) is the one that got to clinch it for us.”

Despite some minimal errors and serving inconsistencies, Michigan was able to coast past the Spartans. That depth and experience will surely be helpful down the line for the Wolverines, especially as Big Ten play kicks off.

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Down 0.150 going into the final rotation of the meet, the Michigan women’s gymnastics team needed a miracle.

Even though the Wolverines ended on floor, one of their strongest events, their usual excellence wouldn’t necessarily have been enough for them to win the meet. Their average floor score, 49.565, wouldn’t make up the difference if Oklahoma performed to their average on beam, 49.517 – meaning that Michigan needed to over perform, and the Sooners needed to falter.

It was a daunting task, the Wolverines coming off of a mixed beam rotation, and Oklahoma is the second ranked team nationally on the beam – they were unlikely to give Michigan the edge. And yet, it refused to give in.

“No one had the mindset that we had already lost the meet,” senior Sierra Brooks said.

Despite an unusually low beam performance earlier in the night from senior Nicoletta Koulos, she flew through her floor routine, scoring 9.925, significantly above her season average of 9.822. Conversely, Sooner Jenna Dunn scored a 9.000 on her beam routine, allowing the Wolverines to begin closing the gap.

Graduate students Abby Heiskell and Natalie Wojcik also scored 9.925 on their floor routines, further shrinking the deficit as Heiskell’s ABBA mashup brought Crisler Center to its feet.

Junior Naomi Morrison performed an explosive routine, getting major height on her tumbling passes, and scoring a 9.950 to bring Michigan even closer. However, Oklahoma responded, posting two scores of 9.950 to maintain the lead.

The Wolverines could have lost their composure and allowed the Sooners to walk away with the road win, but they fought to keep calm.

“It’s not over till its over,” senior Gabby Wilson said.

And indeed it wasn’t.

Oklahoma’s Faith Torrez stumbled multiple times in her beam routine, scoring only 9.750 and forcing the Sooners to keep a sub 9.900 score in their total. It gave Michigan the chance to take the lead for the first time all meet with their best floor performer, Brooks, slated to go next on the mat.

On Brooks’ first tumbling pass, however, she almost stepped out of bounds on her full tuck double backflip, incurring a penalty for a 9.900. The Wolverines needed either Oklahoma to under-perform or an almost perfect score from Wilson in order to close out the meet with a win.

They got both of their wishes.

Sooner Ragan Smith slipped and turned to the side on her back handspring, scoring a 9.800 – well under her season average of 9.897.

Wilson, simultaneously, delivered an almost flawless floor routine in her final routine at home, scoring a 9.975. Crisler Center erupted into cheers, and the Wolverines clinched a long sought-after win over Oklahoma.

“It’s really just about trusting that my teammates have my back,” Wilson said. “Then I’m able to just go out, breathe and relax, and just do my best gymnastics, so that’s … how I went into it today.”

Michigan desperately wanted to win, after stumbling early, a dominant floor routine made the comeback victory even sweeter.

Although they struggled early on, the Wolverines were able to find their footing on the floor, coming from behind to beat the No. 1 team in the country.

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With 1:31 left on the clock and the game tied at 10 points apiece, the Michigan men’s lacrosse team called timeout. Forty seconds later, senior midfielder Jacob Jackson drilled the ball into the net, leaving Hofstra scrambling.

The Pride (0-2) came up empty handed in the last 51 seconds, leaving the score 11-10 Michigan to hand the Wolverines (1-1) their first win of the season.

“I felt like (last game), we made too many mistakes and didn’t execute our game plan fully,” sophomore defenseman Kees van Wees said. “So I think we focused on executing our game plan and just minimizing mistakes defensively.”

Long before the game winner, Michigan jumped out to a hot start with sophomore attacker Ryan Cohen netting the first goal in 11 seconds – the fastest goal in program history. But the Wolverines didn’t hold onto their lead for long. Hofstra scored three goals in the next six minutes, capitalizing off of Michigan’s defensive breakdowns and offensive turnovers. The Wolverines fought back, though, scoring three goals of their own to finish out the quarter by slowing down their offense and getting better looks. 

Michigan started the second period man down, due to an illegal stick penalty on Michael Boehm, and the Pride took the opportunity to score their second man up goal of the game. While the second period started off strong for the Wolverines, with graduate attacker Bryce Clay and Jackson slinging another two goals into the net, Michigan devolved with multiple turnovers and a key faceoff violation. With Hofstra scoring three unanswered goals, the Wolverines and Pride went into halftime tied at seven.

The frustration was palpable. 

“I think we let the pressure get to us a little bit, it was a close game,” Jackson said. “We wanted to come out and bring it to them and that didn’t happen in the first half.” 

Looking to improve on its performance in the second half, Michigan started the third period with a quick goal from Jackson, capping off his hat trick. However, sloppy passing, another set of turnovers and issues clearing the ball left the Wolverines scoreless for the next fourteen minutes. Hofstra capitalized on those mistakes, scoring another two goals to retake the lead going into the fourth period. 

Michigan once again started the period strong as senior attacker Josh Zawada scored 31 seconds in. Sophomore midfielder Aidan Mulholland netted another goal off of a ground ball picked up by Zawada, and the Wolverines retook the lead with six minutes to go. Two minutes later, Hofstra midfielder Griffin Turner capitalized on a Michigan turnover, knotting the game up once more.

“Our defense really … clamped the doors in the second half,” Michigan coach Kevin Conry said. “I think our offense just took a look down at the other end and goes ‘they’re not gonna score, we’re going to have our chance to be in a really strong spot to win this game, we just got to settle in and play our game.’ ”

Key defensive plays by van Wees and senior defenseman Ryan Schrieber kept Michigan in the game, as well as graduate face off taker Nick Rowlett’s domination of 50/50 balls. 

This all led to Jackson’s fourth and final goal that sent the Wolverines to victory, although he acknowledged that a buzzer-beating win against an unranked team is not their end goal. 

“It’s one day at a time,” Jackson said. “We’re not where we want to be in May, right now.” 

“That’s February lacrosse,” Conry agreed. 

February lacrosse or not, it’s clear that Michigan has a long way to go in terms of consistency. Following a narrow loss to the number one team in the country last week, a last minute win against Hofstra does not show the depth of personnel that the Wolverines claim to have. 

Michigan is looking to build off of its first win of the season and its lock-down defense, and it hopes the offense will follow.

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