Michigan
Northwestern
Michigan Uses Stellar Singles Play to Tame Wildcats
3/28/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
March 28, 2015
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Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Varsity Tennis Center)
Score: #12 Michigan 6, Northwestern 1
Records: U-M (14-3, 5-0 B1G), NU (7-5, 2-2 B1G)
Attendance: 293
Next U-M Event: Sunday, March 29 -- vs. Illinois (Varsity Tennis Center), Noon
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Despite dropping the doubles point, the No. 12-ranked University of Michigan women's tennis team cleaned up in singles play and defeated Northwestern, 6-1, to stay undefeated in Big Ten play on Saturday afternoon (March 28) at the Varsity Tennis Center.
Michigan fell into an early 1-0 hole after Northwestern secured the match's first point.
At No. 1, Michigan's pair of senior Emina Bektas and freshman Alex Najarian jumped out to a 6-3 lead but dropped four straight to fall into a 7-6 hole with Northwestern serving. U-M saved two match points, but a Northwestern overhand ended the match, 8-6.
At No. 2, senior Sarah Lee and junior Ronit Yurovsky battled back from a 7-4 deficit to force a tiebreaker at 7-7. The Michigan pair fell behind 6-3 in the breaker after being tied at 3-3. U-M saved one match point, but Northwestern came through on the next point for a 7-4 tiebreaker win for the doubles point.
At No. 3, Michigan's pair of senior Kristen Dodge and freshman Mira Ruder-Hook saved a match point at 7-5 on Dodge's serve, eventually winning the game. With NU on serve at 7-6, the match was abandoned in the ensuing game as the Wildcats clinched the point at No. 2.
Yurovsky was the first Wolverine off the court in singles play, as she cruised to a 6-2, 6-1 victory in the No. 2 position and tied the match score at 1-1.
Then Najarian won in similar fashion in the No. 3 spot, defeating her opponent in straight sets. She won the first set by the score of 6-1 but then lost her serve in the first game of the second set and went down 3-2. Najarian proceeded to win the next four games, winning her match 6-1, 6-3, and giving U-M the 2-1 lead.
Minutes later, Lee triumphed over Lok Sze Leung, 6-4, 6-3, to put the Wolverines ahead, 3-1. Lee closed out the first set with back-to-back winners at the net and then took advantage of an early break in the second set to win in the No. 4 position.
Ruder-Hook then clinched the contest for Michigan with her 6-4, 6-3 victory in the No. 5 position. She trailed 4-1 in the first frame but rallied and won the next five games to take the set. She carried that momentum over to the second set and broke her opponent in the final game of the match.
Bektas extended the U-M lead to 5-1 with her 3-6, 6-3, 6-0 win at No. 1. She was broken early and lost the first set but came back strong in the second to force a third set. She was dominant in the final frame, hitting an ace to go up 4-0, and then holding serve to close out the match.
Sophomore Sara Remynse won the first set of her match in a tiebreaker and was leading in the second, before Northwestern withdrew to complete the U-M singles sweep.
Michigan returns to home action tomorrow (Sunday, March 29), hosting Illinois at noon. Admission is free.
Following are match-by-match results
Singles
No. 1 -- No. 23 Emina Bektas (U-M) d. Alicia Barnett (NU), 3-6, 6-3, 6-0
No. 2 -- No. 26 Ronit Yurovsky (U-M) d. Erin Larner (NU), 6-2, 6-1
No. 3 -- Alex Najarian (U-M) d. Alex Chatt (NU), 6-1, 6-3
No. 4 -- Sarah Lee (U-M) d. Lok Sze Leung (NU), 6-4, 6-3
No. 5 -- Mira Ruder-Hook (U-M) d. Rheeya Doshi (NU), 6-4, 6-3
No. 6 -- Sara Remynse (U-M) d. Brooke Rischbieth 7-6 (3), 4-3 defaulted
Doubles
No. 1 -- Alicia Barnett/ Erin Larner (NU) d. No. 12 Alex Najarian/Emina Bektas (U-M), 8-6
No. 2 -- Rheeya Doshi/ Brooke Rischbieth (NU) d. No. 58 Sarah Lee/Ronit Yurovsky (U-M), 8-7 (4)
No. 3 -- Kristen Dodge/Mira Ruder-Hook (U-M) vs. Alex Chatt/ Lok Sze Leung (NU), 6-7 abandoned
Order of Completion: Doubles 1-2, Singles 2-3-4-5-1-6
N O T E S
• Michigan has won eight straight matches with today's win, including 22 straight Big Ten regular-season matches.
• U-M is now 10-1 at the Varsity Tennis Center this season.
• Michigan has won three consecutive regular-season matches against Northwestern.
• Alex Najarian won her eighth consecutive singles match.
• The Wolverines improve their record to 13-49 all-time against Northwestern.
