Week #15: Wolverines to Host NCAA Regional
5/10/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
May 10, 2016
» U-M is looking to advance to the Sweet 16 for the sixth time in the last seven seasons.
» With one more singles win, senior Ronit Yurovsky will move into third place alone on Michigan's career singles list; she is currently tied with Brooke Bolender with 112.
• Social Media: Facebook | Twitter
THIS WEEK
NCAA Regional
Friday, May 13 -- vs. Ball State - NCAA First Round (Varsity Tennis Center), 1 p.m.
With a win ...
Saturday, May 14 -- vs. Kentucky/Xavier - NCAA Second Round (Varsity Tennis Center), 1 p.m.
• Tournament Central | Live Scoring/Live Video *
* no video if played outdoors // Tickets sold at VTC
The No. 10-ranked University of Michigan women's tennis team (20-6) will host the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament this weekend (May 13-14) at the Varsity Tennis Center. U-M will start Tournament action against Ball State on Friday (May 13) at 1 p.m. With a win, the Wolverines will face the winner of the Kentucky-Xavier match on Saturday (May 14) at 1 p.m. Tickets for the regional are $6 for adults and $4 for youth, senior and U-M faculty/staff with ID. Tickets will be sold at the Varsity Tennis Center.
NCAA RULES
The NCAA has adapted new rules this year for tennis, which will be in effect all year long. Doubles action will begin immediately with no warmup. In addition, each doubles match will be one set to six, with a tiebreaker occurring at 6-all. The team that wins two-of-three matches will secure the doubles point. Following a five-minute intermission, singles action will begin with each match worth one point towards the team score. Singles matches in progress when the dual match is clinched will be abandoned in postseason play. There will be no-ad scoring in both singles and doubles action.
WEATHER POLICY
Matches shall be played outdoors unless the projected weather forecast, for a minimum of two hours out of a four-hour time period from the start of the match, according to www.weather.com is: a high of less than 50 degrees or sustained winds (not including wind gusts) of more than 20 miles per hour.
WOLVERINE BITES
• Michigan is the No. 10 seed for the NCAA Tournament and will host the first and second rounds for the sixth time in the last seven seasons.
• Joining U-M at the VTC for this weekend's action are No. 22 Kentucky, Xavier and Ball State. Kentucky received an at-large bid out of the SEC, with Xavier (Big East) and Ball State (Mid-American) earning their conference's automatic bid. UK is making its second consecutive NCAA appearance at the VTC as the Wildcats lost to DePaul in first-round action in 2015.
• The Wolverines are making their 18th overall and 15th straight NCAA Tournament appearance. U-M is 21-17 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and has advanced to the Sweet 16 five times. Michigan's five Sweet 16 appearances have come in the last six seasons -- 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015 -- under ninth-year head coach Ronni Bernstein.
• U-M has advanced out of its home regional in each of the previous five years of hosting. The remainder of this year's tournament is being hosted by the University of Tulsa.
• Michigan and Ball State will face each other for the first time since a 7-0 U-M win on March 6, 2003. The Wolverines have never played Xavier and are 5-8 all-time against Kentucky. The Maize and Blue defeated UK earlier this season, 4-3, as part of the ITA Kick-Off at the VTC.
• Michigan comes in at No. 10 in this week's team rankings to enter the NCAA Tournament. New rankings will not be released until the conclusion of the tournament.
• Senior Ronit Yurovsky has moved into the top five of singles wins at Michigan. Yurovsky has 112 wins in her four years in the Maize and Blue, putting her in a tie for third place with Brooke Bolender. Emina Bektas (2012-15) holds the Michigan record with 129. All five of Michigan's top singles winners -- Bektas, Sarah Lee (125), Bolender (112), Denise Muresan (111) and Yurovsky -- have been four-year players for head coach Ronni Bernstein. Yurovsky was named the ITA Player of the Year and was a unanimous All-Big Ten selection.
• Sophomores Alex Najarian and Mira Ruder-Hook each went 3-0 at the Big Ten Tournament (April 29-May 1) to run their singles winning streak to four matches each. Freshman Brienne Minor has won three straight singles matches to enter the NCAA Tournament.
• Freshman Brienne Minor leads the Wolverines in wins this season with 33, as the freshman holds a 33-8 overall record. In dual matches, she is 1-0 at No. 1, 9-5 at No. 2 and 7-0 at No. 3. Her 33 wins are a new freshman record, and she ranks seventh on the single-season list. Classmate Kate Fahey is one win away from 30 with a 29-7 record. With one more victory, Fahey and Minor will be the second pair of freshman teammates to record 30 wins (Emina Bektas, Sarah Lee -- 2012).
• Michigan is 17-0 this season when winning the doubles point. In each of its six losses, Michigan has lost the doubles point. U-M has rallied three times for the win after dropping the match's first point -- Purdue, Duke and Nebraska.
• Michigan features three ranked singles players. Senior Ronit Yurovsky comes in at No. 15, freshman Brienne Minor is No. 19, and freshman Kate Fahey is No. 68 in the latest rankings released on May 5. Yurovsky and Minor will each participate in the NCAA Singles Championship.
• U-M has a pair of ranked doubles teams in No. 11-ranked Brienne Minor and Mira Ruder-Hook and No. 50 Minor and Kate Fahey. The pair of Ruder-Hook and Minor has defeated the No. 1-ranked doubles team twice, coming against No. 22 Kentucky and No. 2 North Carolina. Ruder-Hook and Minor will represent Michigan in the NCAA Doubles Championship.
UP NEXT
Thu-Tue., May 19-24 -- at NCAA Team Championship (Tulsa, Okla.)
Communications Contact: Sarah VanMetre
Players Mentioned
