Michigan
Ohio State
Wolverines Win Final Four Singles Matches to Rally Past Ohio State
3/15/2025 4:25:00 PM | Women's Tennis
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Varsity Tennis Center)
Score: No. 6 Michigan 4, No. 10 Ohio State 3
Records: U-M (10-3, 3-0 Big Ten), OSU (8-2, 2-1 Big Ten)
Next U-M Event: Sunday, March 16 -- vs. Penn State (Varsity Tennis Center), Noon
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Down 3-0, the No. 6-ranked University of Michigan women's tennis team won the final four singles matches to rally for a 4-3 victory over No. 10-ranked Ohio State on Saturday afternoon (March 15) at the Varsity Tennis Center. It is the first time that U-M has rallied from a 3-0 deficit since doing so at Duke on April 6, 2016.
Ohio State won the doubles point and took straight-set victories at No. 2 and No. 5 singles to build a 3-0 team lead.
Moments after the Buckeyes secured their third point, freshman Jessica Bernales got the Wolverines on the board with a 6-2, 6-4 win at No. 6. She raced out to a 3-0 lead in the first set and never looked back in the 6-2 victory. In the second set, Bernales fell into a 2-0 hole before ripping off four straight games to take a 4-2 lead. She maintained her advantage the rest of the way, putting Michigan on the scoreboard.
With the Wolverines needing to win the three remaining matches on court, Emily Sartz-Lunde kept the rally alive with a straight-set win at No. 4 over No. 87-ranked Shelly Bereznyak. Sartz-Lunde jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the first set before Bereznyak tied it at 4-4. The Wolverine freshman capitalized on a late break to secure the first-set win. In the second set, she went up a break at 4-3 but was unable to consolidate it in the following game. She broke Bereznyak again and served out the match, sealing the victory with an ace out wide for Michigan's second point.
Attention shifted to the south side of the building where Lily Jones and Julia Fliegner were the remaining Wolverines on court. Jones was in a third set when the match moved to that side of the building, while Fliegner was trying to force a third set and serving at 5-6.
Jones secured a break at 2-1 in the third, while Fliegner forced a tiebreaker. She never trailed in the second-set tiebreak, winning two straight points to take a 4-2 lead and eventually closing it out 7-4.
With Fliegner heading to a third set, Jones consolidated her break and added another to take a 4-1 lead. She was broken in the next game but responded by winning the final two games to claim a 7-5, 2-6, 6-2 win, pulling Michigan level at 3-3 in the team match.
Fliegner held serve to start the third set and broke Luciana Perry in her first service game to go up 2-0. Perry immediately broke back to make it 2-1, but Fliegner erased a 40-0 deficit in Perry's next service game to regain a 3-1 lead. From there, Fliegner won the next three games, clinching the match for Michigan with a 5-7, 7-6 (4), 6-1 victory over No. 7-ranked Perry.
Michigan wraps up a two-match homestand tomorrow (Sunday, March 16) against Penn State at noon.
Following are match-by-match results
Singles
No. 1 -- No. 2 Julia Fliegner (U-M) d. No. 7 Luciana Perry (OSU), 5-7, 7-6 (4), 6-1
No. 2 -- No. 43 Teah Chavez (OSU) d. No. 25 Piper Charney (U-M), 7-5, 6-1
No. 3 -- No. 31 Lily Jones (U-M) d. Nao Nishino (OSU), 7-5, 2-6, 6-2
No. 4 -- No. 96 Emily Sartz-Lunde (U-M) d. No. 87 Shelly Bereznyak (OSU), 7-5, 6-4
No. 5 -- Sydni Ratliff (OSU) d. No. 80 Reese Miller (U-M), 6-4, 6-2
No. 6 --Â Jessica Bernales (U-M) d. No. 72 Audrey Spencer (OSU), 6-2, 6-4
Doubles
No. 1 -- No. 32 Luciana Perry/Teah Chavez (OSU) d. No. 27 Jessica Bernales/Piper Charney (U-M), 6-4
No. 2 -- No. 48 Julia Fliegner/Reese Miller (U-M) d. Sydni Ratliff/Dani Schoenly (OSU), 6-4
No. 3 -- Audrey Spencer/Nao Nishino (OSU) d. Lily Jones/Ava Bruno (U-M), 6-1
Order of Completion: Doubles 3-2-1; Singles 2-5-6-4-3-1
Players Mentioned
