Michigan
Virginia
Michigan Advances to Quarterfinals at ITA Indoors
2/10/2023 10:15:00 PM | Women's Tennis
Site: Seattle, Wash. (Seattle Tennis Club)
Event: ITA National Team Indoor Championship
Score: #12 Michigan 4, #7 Virginia 2
Records: U-M (5-0), UVA (5-1)
Next U-M Event: Saturday, Feb. 11 -- vs. North Carolina - ITA National Team Indoor Championship quarterfinals (Seattle, Wash.), 6:30 p.m. PST
SEATTLE, Wash. -- Julia Fliegner put the deciding point on the board behind a three-set win at No. 3, pushing the No. 12-ranked University of Michigan women's tennis team past No. 7 Virginia 4-2 in the opening round of the ITA National Team Indoor Championship on Friday (Feb. 10) at the Seattle Tennis Club.
Michigan won the race to four points over the Cavaliers behind the doubles point, along with singles wins from Jaedan Brown, Kari Miller and Fliegner.
The Wolverines grabbed the early lead by taking the doubles point behind wins at Nos. 1 and 3.
The first two doubles matches to finish featured little drama, as Virginia took a 6-0 win at No. 2 and Michigan quickly followed with a 6-1 win at No. 1 to set up No. 3 as the deciding court.
Michigan's No. 3 duo of Andrea Cerdan and Nicole Hammond were playing together for the first time in dual-match action and found themselves in a 3-1 hole. The pair went to work after that, winning four straight games for a 5-3 lead. After Virginia held in its ensuing service game, Cerdan served out the match for the Wolverines to secure a 6-4 win.
Michigan and Virginia split all six first sets, with U-M winning at the top of the lineup and the Hoos winning at the bottom.
Brown came through with a surgical 6-2, 6-2 win over No. 101-ranked Natasha Subhash, a three-time All-American. Brown raced out to early leads in both sets to account for Michigan's second point of the evening.
Miller was right behind her doubles partner for Michigan's third point, getting a 6-2, 6-3 win at No. 2 over No. 79-ranked Elaine Chervinsky. Much like Brown, Miller took advantage of fast starts in each set for the win.
After that, Fliegner dropped her second set at No. 3, meaning Michigan's path to four points had to include a three-set win.
Virginia won the next two matches off court to trim Michigan's lead to 3-2 as matches entered third sets at No. 3 and No. 5.
Fliegner was broken early in her third set at No. 3, with Gala Mesochoritou grabbing a 2-1 break at No. 5. Mesochoritou dropped the next four games to fall behind 5-2 at No. 5, with Fliegner getting back on serve in her third set.
Fliegner held on a crucial deuce point to stay on serve at 4-3 in the final set and followed that up by winning on the next deuce point for a 5-3 lead and a chance to serve out the match.
At the same time, Mesochoritou was fighting off match points to stay on court at No. 5, eventually tying her final set at 5-5 after falling behind early.
Fliegner was broken when she went back to serve out the match after she was unable to convert on three match points. She was able to grab multiple match points in the next game, cashing in on her fourth match point to clinch Michigan's win.
Michigan will play in the quarterfinals Saturday (Feb. 11) against North Carolina at 6:30 p.m. PST.
Following are match-by-match results
Singles
No. 1 -- No. 36 Jaedan Brown (U-M) d. No. 101 Natasha Subhash (Virginia), 6-2, 6-2
No. 2 -- No. 79 Kari Miller (U-M) d. No. 79 Elaine Chervinsky (Virginia), 6-2, 6-3
No. 3 -- No. 33 Julia Fliegner (U-M) d. Sara Ziodato (Virginia), 6-2, 4-6, 6-4
No. 4 -- No. 94 Annabelle Xi (Virginia) d. No. 49 Lily Jones (U-M), 6-4, 7-5
No. 5 -- No. 98 Gala Mesochoritou (U-M) vs. No. 80 Hibah Shaikh (Virginia), 3-6, 6-3, 5-5 abandoned
No. 6 -- Melodie Collard (Virginia) d. Andrea Cerdan (U-M), 6-3, 6-3
Doubles
No. 1 -- No. 3 Jaedan Brown/Kari Miller (U-M) d. Julia Adams/Melodie Collard (Virginia), 6-1
No. 2 -- Natasha Subhash/Annabelle Xu (Virginia) d. Julia Fliegner/Lily Jones (U-M), 6-0
No. 3 -- Andrea Cerdan/Nicole Hammond (U-M) d. Elaine Chervinsky/Sara Ziodato (Virginia), 6-4
Order of Completion: Doubles 2-1-3, Singles 1-2-6-4-3
Players Mentioned
