BY MATT KRASNOFF
Daily Sports Writer
Published October 26, 2010
For most parents, sending a child to college to be a Division-I athlete is a pretty big deal. But for Brooke Bolender’s parents, it’s all they know.
More like this
Bolender has seen three older brothers play Division-I football, so when she decided to take her talents from Delray Beach, Florida to Ann Arbor, no one in the family blinked an eye.
Now, as the fall season nears its end, Bolendar has gone from naïve freshman to seasoned varsity athlete on the Michigan women's tennis team. And Michigan coach Ronnie Bernstein isn’t the least bit surprised.
“She had a lot of experience coming in,” Bernstein said yesterday. “So the fall has been a really good time to see where she’ll fit in on the team.”
Playing on a team that graduated only one senior last year, the odds were against Bolender to make a name for herself as a freshman. But the former blue-chip recruit made it clear this fall that she is ready to compete, culminating with her competitive loss on Monday to Michigan’s top singles player and ITA Midwest Championship runner-up, senior Denise Muresan.
This past weekend the Wolverines hosted the USTA/ITA Midwest Championship where Bolender met Muresan — last year’s Big Ten Player of the Year and the No. 12 singles player in the country — in the quarterfinals. The freshman got off to a quick start, taking the first set 6-1. She then took a 3-0 lead in the second set, before the veteran Muresan made her comeback. The senior won nine consecutive games and 12 of the final 13, taking the match 1-6, 6-3 and 6-0.
“It’s hard playing against your teammate,” Bernstein said. “It was a difficult situation for both of them, but I think it was beneficial, too.”
Bolender hopes to finish out a successful fall season so that she is prepared to help the team in the spring. Michigan will be a top-10 team when the regular season comes around and Bernstein insists that the spots in the starting lineup are up for grabs.
“It’s really going to be whoever is playing the best,” Bernstein said. “We have some options, but Brooke is definitely in the mix.”
