Michigan
Oklahoma State
Michigan's Comeback Falls Just Short in ITA Indoors Championship
2/12/2024 6:32:00 PM | Women's Tennis
Site: Seattle, Wash. (Nordstrom Tennis Center)
Event: ITA National Team Indoor Championship
Score: #3 Oklahoma State 4, #5 Michigan 3
Records: U-M (8-2), OSU (9-0)
Next U-M Event: Sunday, Feb. 18 -- vs. USC (Varsity Tennis Center), Noon
SEATTLE, Wash. -- The No. 5-ranked University of Michigan women's tennis team battled back from a 3-0 deficit to tie the team match at 3-3 but could not get the final point on the board, falling 4-3 to No. 3 Oklahoma State in the championship match of the ITA National Team Indoor Championship on Monday afternoon (Feb. 12) at the Nordstrom Tennis Center. It marked Michigan's best showing at the national tournament, advancing to the championship match for the first time ever.
With Oklahoma State taking a 3-0 lead behind the doubles point and straight-set wins at No. 2 and No. 6, Michigan began to slowly chip away at the lead.
Freshman Piper Charney put Michigan on the board behind a 6-3, 6-2 win over No. 46 Ayumi Miyamota at the No. 5 spot for her third singles win of the weekend. Charney used fast starts in both sets and never let Miyamota back in, cruising to the straight-set win for Michigan's first point.
From there, Michigan needed to win all three remaining matches on court, and U-M's senior trio of Kari Miller, Jaedan Brown and Gala Mesochoritou were the ones left for the Maize and Blue. Miller and Brown each had first sets in hand, with Mesochoritou in an early hole after a 6-1 first-set loss.
Mesochoritou rebounded from that first-set loss in a 6-3 second-set win over No. 54 Lucia Peyre to force a third set, keeping Michigan's hopes alive in the match. Mesochoritou was up 5-0 before dropping three straight games. She was able to break Peyre on the deuce point to set up her deciding set at No. 3.
Brown won a back-and-forth first set when her shot found the net cord and fell over for the winner on the deuce point, getting a 6-4 win over Safiya Carrington. Brown had four match points at various points in the second set after jumping out to a 5-1 lead, but Carrington fought them all off to keep Michigan from putting a second point up.
Miller was broken midway through her second set and could not get it back, sending her match at the top spot against No. 17 Ansastasiya Komar to a third set.
Brown came through in a second-set tiebreak, keeping some pressure on Oklahoma State, winning 7-4 to trim the OSU lead to 3-2. Down 2-0, Brown ripped off six straight points for more match points. Carrington fought off two but Brown cashed in on the next point, turning attention to the matches at No. 1 and No. 3.
Mesochoritou fell behind 2-0 in the third set but won the next two games to tie the deciding set at 2-2. The two players exchanged two more breaks, with Mesochoritou finally holding at 4-3. She again got the break and headed back to serve for the match. Much like the rest of the set, she was broken to get back on serve at 5-4. In fitting fashion, Mesochoritou returned the favor in the final game, breaking Peyre for a 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 win to tie the team match at 3-3.
With the deciding match coming at No. 1, Miller was down two breaks at 5-2 in the final set. She won two straight games, getting one of the breaks back at 5-4. She fought off two match points on her serve in that ninth game, making Komar have to serve again for the match.
Komar started the game with an ace and won the first two points. Miller won the next point, but Komar took the next two to clinch the 4-3 win for the Cowgirls.
Michigan returns home on Sunday (Feb. 18) to host USC at the Varsity Tennis Center at noon.
Following are match-by-match results
 Singles
No. 1 -- No. 17 Ansastasiya Komar (OSU) d. No. 9 Kari Miller (U-M), 4-6, 6-4, 6-4
No. 2 -- No. 5 Ange Oby Kajuru (OSU) d. No. 18 Julia Fliegner (U-M), 6-0, 6-1
No. 3 -- No. 124 Gala Mesochoritou (U-M) d. No. 54 Lucia Peyre (OSU), 1-6, 6-3, 6-4
No. 4 -- Jaedan Brown (U-M) d. No. 122 Safiya Carrington (OSU), 6-4, 7-6 (4)
No. 5 -- Piper Charney (U-M) d. No. 46 Ayumi Miyamota (OSU), 6-3, 6-2
No. 6 -- Kristina Novak (OSU) d. No. 57 Lily Jones (U-M), 6-2, 6-4
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Doubles
No. 1 -- No. 13 Ansastasiya Komar/Ange Oby Kajuru (OSU) d. No. 5 Jaedan Brown/Kari Miller (U-M), 6-2
No. 2 -- Ayumi Miyamota/Raquel Gonzalez (OSU) d. Anna Ross/Lily Jones (U-M), 6-3
No. 3 -- Reese Miller/Piper Charney (U-M) vs. Safiya Carrington/Kristina Novak (OSU), 5-5 abandoned
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Order of Completion: Doubles 1-2; Singles 2-6-5-4-3-1
Players Mentioned
