Michigan women’s tennis rallies to defeat Virginia, punching ticket to Elite Eight

Resiliency in sports is often referred to as an intangible — you either have it, or you don’t. 

And on Saturday, the No. 5 Michigan women’s tennis team (25-3 overall) showed it had just that in a gritty win over No. 12 Virginia (20-7), 4-3.

With just 16 teams remaining in the NCAA Women’s Tennis Tournament, it was a win-or-go-home situation for both squads. Facing the possibility of an abrupt end to their season, the Wolverines were certainly shouldering some added pressure.

The Cavaliers seemed to be handling the pressure better than Michigan early on, as Virginia’s doubles pairs got off to a dominant start. 

The Wolverines’ double of junior Jaedan Brown and senior Andrea Cerdan couldn’t seem to get anything going against their opponents — as unforced errors and defensive play proved costly, dropping the set 6-1.

In a more tightly contested matchup, Michigan sophomore Julia Fliegner and freshman Lily Jones battled their Cavalier counterparts in yet another mistake-ridden set. After Fliegner and Jones took the 4-3 game lead, Virginia broke the Wolverines’ next two serves, taking the set 6-4 and giving the Cavaliers the early 1-0 lead.

Despite the early deficit, Michigan coach Ronni Bernstein remained confident that the Wolverines could claw their way back and secure the match back from Virginia. And that confidence stems from a simple belief: they are going to win.

“These matches are never over,” Bernstein said. “These matches are never over; you could see that today. But that grit and that belief is what has gotten us here.”

In order to secure the victory, Michigan needed to win four of the six singles matchups. But the Wolverines’ struggles on the court continued.

While Jones and junior Kari Miller both appeared in control of their opening sets, Brown and Cerdan’s rough days carried into their singles matchups. Brown, however, stormed back to win the first set 6-4 after digging herself into a 4-1 hole.

With Fliegner, Cerdan and junior Gala Mesochoritou all dropping their first sets, Michigan had its back up against the wall.

But, both Jones and Miller closed out their matchers to give the Wolverines their first two points of the day. Cerdan, however, never found her footing and lost her second set leaving the match tied at two apiece.

Despite Brown’s dominating finish to the first set, she found herself in a hole once again; this time, she was down 0-3. Through pure power and electric play, she regained her previous dominance to take the second set 6-4.

With Brown’s win, Michigan led 3-2 and just needed either Fliegner or Mesochoritou to pull out a comeback win.

And it was Mesochoritou who answered the call. After dropping her first set, she quickly found her groove. With the home crowd supporting her, she clawed back to defeat her opponent, ultimately securing the Wolverines a spot in the elite eight.

“We’re not going to do anything different at practice,” Bernstein said. “I feel like we can beat (Georgia). I feel like the pressure is going to be on them.”

With the confidence gained from Saturday’s win, the Wolverines believe they are a championship caliber team. Now, they just have to prove it.