Women’s tennis upended by UCLA in Sweet 16

By Jason Rubinstein
Daily Sports Writer  On  May 18th, 2013

If you were to ask any of the No. 10 Michigan women’s tennis players what they would be doing Saturday morning at 1:30 am, the answer would be unanimous: sleeping.

Instead, the Wolverines were playing the No. 7 UCLA women’s tennis team in their Sweet 16 matchup — a match that started around four hours late. And the delay ultimately proved too much to overcome, as Michigan fell 4-0 on Friday night and Saturday morning.

The Wolverines started the highly anticipated match at 11:00 pm central time in Urbana, Ill. and did not finish until the wee hours of the morning. After giving up a tightly contested doubles point, UCLA (19-5) cruised behind its strong singles play.

“It was a very difficult day,” said Michigan coach Ronni Bernstein. “You have to figure out when to eat and hit, and we started over four hours late. I didn’t want them sitting around the hotel all day, and we tried to get them moving, while making sure they had enough food in them. It was just unusual circumstances. It was tough for us, but for UCLA as well.”

For Michigan (10-1 Big Ten, 23-6 overall), winning the doubles point has been the key to success. Entering Friday’s dual, the Wolverines were undefeated when winning the point, and just 3-5 without it. The point becomes even more crucial when an opposing team boasts a strong singles lineup — something that has carried UCLA all season. The Bruins have five nationally ranked singles players — two in the Top 20.

Michigan got down early at the third spot, putting more pressure on the first and second pairs. After eventually losing at No. 3, the Wolverines looked to their top-pair of sophomore Emina Bektas and junior Brooke Bolender. The nation’s sixth-ranked duo has been a force to be reckoned with.

Bektas and Bolender, perhaps the most aggressive team in the nation, served and volleyed their way to a 8-6 victory, evening up the doubles score and putting the doubles point in the second match’s hands.

Sophomore Sarah Lee and senior Mimi Nguyen have found success as an unconventional pair, with Lee hitting a big ball, while Nguyen is more of a crafty player. The duo jumped out to a 5-2 lead, but went on to give up two breaks. All tied up at 6-6, with Lee serving, the pair couldn’t close out the game after going to three deuce points. Down 7-6, the Michigan pair broke back, but couldn't hold serve once again. UCLA served out the match, giving the Bruins the highly coveted doubles point.

“We had a good start at number two, and I thought the UCLA was struggling big time,” Bernstein said. “When you have a UCLA team down, you have to close them out. Getting that doubles point would have been huge momentum wise and we let it get away from us. We had chances, but couldn’t do it.”

The Wolverines entered singles play well aware of the singles lineup the Bruins boasted. But no one knew better than Bektas, set to play No. 3 Robin Anderson. Bektas knew in order to be successful she would have to exploit Anderson by strong first serves, and put away volleys, but against Anderson, it’s much easier said than done.

Anderson’s shots were falling, often times passing Bektas at the net, ultimately winning, 6-3, 6-4.

“I don’t think she made enough first serves, and that’s huge for her game, especially against a kid like Robin, who makes good returns and is quick,” Bernstein said. “Emina needed to have a better first serve percentage, and she couldn’t do it. She almost had an easier time breaking, which is unusual.”

The Wolverines also lost at the sixth and second spots to give UCLA the match victory.

Despite the loss, Coach Bernstein made it clear that she is proud of this team and that the future remains bright.

“It’s obviously disappointing losing in the Sweet 16, but we had another great season,” Bernstein said. “There is a lot of success to be seen. We have a great base returning, with three new kids coming next year. We just have to stay healthy and improve our doubles. Overall it was a great year, and we have to look into the positives of that.”

But for three Wolverines, the season is not yet over. Bektas and Bolender earned a 5-8 seed in the NCAA doubles Championships, while Bektas and freshman Ronit Yurovsky earned invites to the NCAA singles Championships.

Printed from www.michigandaily.com on Tue, 28 May 2013 08:46:33 -0400