Wolverines to Host NCAA Regional This Week at VTC
5/4/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
May 4, 2015
THIS WEEK
NCAA First and Second Rounds
Varsity Tennis Center • Ann Arbor, Mich.
Friday, May 8
Match 1 -- Kentucky (15-12) vs. DePaul (21-4), 10 a.m.
Match 2 -- Michigan (24-3) vs. Miami (Ohio) (19-6), 1 p.m.
Saturday, May 9
Match 3 -- Match 1 winner vs. Match 2 winner, 1 p.m.
• | NCAA Bracket | Ann Arbor Regional Central
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• Game Day Information: Varsity Tennis Center Information
The No. 11-seeded University of Michigan women's tennis team (24-3) will host the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament this weekend (Fri-Sat., May 8-9) at the Varsity Tennis Center. Kentucky (15-12), DePaul (21-4) and Miami (Ohio) (19-6) will join Michigan at the VTC. The Wolverines most recently won the Big Ten Tournament for the first time since 1997. U-M enters the NCAA tournament on a program-record 18-match win streak.
Tickets ($6 adults; $4 for youth, senior and U-M faculty and staff with ID) will be sold at the Varsity Tennis Center. Tickets for Friday allow entry to both matches that day.
Dual-Match Format
This weekend's dual matches will be a contest for the best-of-seven team points. The dual will begin with three doubles matches consisting of eight-game pro sets. The team that wins two of these three matches will enter the singles competition with one of seven points. After a brief intermission, six singles matches will be played. Each singles match will be the best of three tie-break sets and worth one point towards the team competition. The overall dual match will be decided when one team secures four total points. Singles matches in progress when the dual match is clinched will be abandoned in postseason action.
WOLVERINE BITES
• Michigan is making its 14th straight NCAA Tournament appearance this weekend and is hosting an NCAA Regional for the fifth time in six seasons. The Wolverines last hosted a regional during the 2013 season when they shut out IPFW and Notre Dame to advance to the Sweet 16.
• Michigan moved up to No. 11 in the last ITA rankings until the conclusion of the NCAA Tournament after wrapping up the Big Ten Tournament title. Kentucky comes in at No. 25, while DePaul is ranked No. 37.
• U-M is on a program-best 18-match winning streak entering the NCAA Tournament. The Wolverines feature 24 wins on the season, equaling a program record. With one more victory, U-M will reach 25 wins for the first time in program history. Michigan's next win will also be its 600th victory as a varsity program at U-M.
• The Maize and Blue is coming off winning the Big Ten Tournament (April 24-26), knocking off Minnesota (4-0), Penn State (4-1) and Ohio State (4-0) en route to the championship. Michigan captured both the regular-season and tournament titles for the first time in program history.
• U-M is 19-16 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and has advanced to the finals site in four of the last five seasons. Michigan made its last Sweet 16 appearance in 2013.
• The winner of this weekend's NCAA Regional will advance to the finals site of Waco, Texas, as the remainder of the tournament will be hosted by Baylor. Michigan has advanced to the finals site five times in program history (1997, 2010-13).
About the Opponents
Miami (Ohio) -- The RedHawks (19-6) captured the Mid-American Conference's automatic bid with a 4-0 win over Ball State in the MAC Tournament. Miami is making its third straight NCAA Tournament appearance. Head coach Yana S. Carollo is in her first season as head coach. MU does not have any ranked singles players or doubles teams. U-M leads the all-time series, 10-7.
No. 25 Kentucky -- The Wildcats (15-12) come to Ann Arbor as the only other top-25 team despite dropping their last six matches to SEC opponents. UK features two ranked singles players in No. 69 Nadia Ravita and No. 117 Aldila Sutjiadi, along with the No. 25-ranked doubles team of Aldila Sutjiadi and Mami Adachi. Head coach Carlose Drada is in his 10th season at Kentucky. UK leads the all-time series against U-M, 8-4, but the teams have not met since the 2010-11 season.
DePaul -- The Blue Demons (21-4) come to Ann Arbor on an eight-match win streak after running through the BIG EAST Championship to earn the automatic bid. DePaul features the No. 87-ranked doubles team of Zaina Sufi and Rebeca Mitrea. Head coach Mark Ardizzone is in his 19th year at DePaul. This is DePaul's second time in Ann Arbor for the NCAA Regional (2010). U-M is 7-0 all-time against the Blue Demons.
• Senior Emina Bektas was a unanimous choice for Big Ten Athlete of the Year, highlighting Michigan's Big Ten award winners. Bektas, along with freshman Alex Najarian, senior Sarah Lee and junior Ronit Yurovsky, also garnered All-Big Ten honors. [ Release ]
• U-M is on an 18-match winning streak, its longest in program history. During that span, Michigan has outscored its opponents, 105-10. The Maize and Blue has won 17 of the 18 doubles points and has never surrendered more than two points to a foe during the winning streak. Michigan's previous longest win streak in program history is 16 matches, which came during the 2008 and 2010 seasons.
• For the second straight season, Michigan has a trio of 30-match winners. Senior Sarah Lee leads Michigan with a career-best 33 wins for her third 30-win season of her career. Junior Ronit Yurovsky boast 32 wins, tying her mark from her freshman campaign, and senior Emina Bektas has 31 victories for the third 30-win campaign of her career. There have been 17 30-win seasons in school history.
• Senior Emina Bektas is two doubles wins away from tying Brooke Bolender's school record of 121 wins on the doubles court. Bektas is 119-36 all-time in doubles and is 127-35 in singles as Michigan's career leader in combined wins. Bolender is second on the combined wins list (233), while senior Sarah Lee comes in at third on the combined wins list with a total of 226 wins (123 singles wins, 103 doubles wins).
• Michigan enters the NCAA Tournament with a 113-26 mark (.813) in singles action and 45-13 record (.776) in doubles play in dual matches. U-M has surrendered just 31 points on the year, 26 coming in singles and five coming via the doubles point.
• Michigan completed its second straight 11-0 Big Ten season with a 6-1 win at Ohio State (April 17) and a 4-0 victory at Penn State (April 19). It was the fifth perfect conference season for U-M in program history -- 1997, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2015. Since the Big Ten expanded to an 11-match season in 2012, Michigan is the only team to go 11-0.
• Senior Sarah Lee is the owner of Michigan's longest singles winning streak as she enters the NCAA Tournament on a 17-match win streak. Senior Emina Bektas has won 15 in a row, while sophomore Sara Remynse holds 12-match win streaks, and junior Ronit Yurovsky is at 11 straight wins.
• Michigan is 13-1 at the Varsity Tennis Center this season and has outscored its opponents, 78-14. U-M's only home loss was a 5-2 decision to No. 2 North Carolina (Feb 22). Under head coach Ronni Bernstein, Michigan is 90-9 at the VTC.
• Michigan reached the 20-win plateau for the sixth straight season and the eighth time in program history with a pair of wins this past weekend to get to 21-3. The program record for wins in a season is 24, which came during the 2010 and 2011 seasons.
• The senior class of Emina Bektas, Kristen Dodge and Sarah Lee has combined to go 90-22 the past four seasons, including a 42-2 mark in Big Ten action. The class has the third-most wins all-time for a class at Michigan. Mimi Nguyen (2010-13) holds the distinction as the winningest class with 92 wins over four seasons.
• Emina Bektas and Sarah Lee are at the top of Michigan's singles wins list, becoming the first teammates to each win at least 100 singles matches. Bektas is at the top of U-M's list with 127 singles wins, with Lee right behind her in second with 123 wins.
• In the individual rankings, senior Emina Bektas comes in at No. 27 this week, while junior Ronit Yurovsky is right behind her at No. 31. Senior Sarah Lee is back in the rankings for the fourth straight week, coming in at No. 111. In doubles, Bektas and freshman Alex Najarian are ranked No. 15 as Michigan's lone ranked doubles team.
• After dropping the doubles point to Northwestern (March 28), head coach Ronni Bernstein made a change at No. 3. She inserted sophomore Sara Remynse into the doubles lineup for the first time during the dual-match season. The move paid off as Remynse and freshman Mira Ruder-Hook clinched the doubles point for U-M against Illinois (March 29) with an 8-1 win. Remynse and Ruder-Hook are 5-1 at the No. 3 spot as Michigan has won 22 doubles points this season.
• Every Wolverine who has played a singles match during the dual-match portion of the season has won at least one match. All eight Wolverines who have seen dual-match action have at least a .500 record.
• The senior class of Emina Bektas, Sarah Lee and Kristen Dodge will each serve as captains during the 2014-15 season.
• Head coach Ronni Bernstein is in her eighth season as Michigan's head coach. U-M is 175-45 under Bernstein, including an 80-4 mark in Big Ten play. Bernstein has been named the Big Ten Coach of the Year five times as Michigan has won six conference championships under the eighth-year head coach.
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