Even though the NCAA Individual Championships have yet to begin, the Michigan women’s tennis team has already cracked the record books.

History was made when both sophomore Emina Bektas and freshman Ronit Yurovsky were selected to play in the NCAA Singles Individuals Tournament. Their participation marks the first time in program history that two Wolverines will play in the singles draw.

Yurovsky is slated to play Nini Lagvilava of Stony Brook in the first round. Lagvilava is a left-handed player who also named the America East Player of the Year for the second-straight year.

But that doesn't undermine Yurovsky’s accomplishments. The freshman sensation holds the most singles victories on the team, which led her to be named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year.

“Ronit can handle herself well,” Betkas said of her teammate. “She is really mature for how well she has done this year. She just has to come out doing what she has all year. She can definitely do well in this tournament.”

On Wednesday, No. 30 Bektas will make her second-straight appearance in the NCAA Singles. Bektas was the lone Michigan singles qualifier last year, but was ousted in two sets in the first round.

The sophomore will face off against No. 26 Katie Le of Santa Clara. Bektas thrives off of high first-serve percentage and put-away volleys. When consistently making first-serves, Bektas becomes difficult to break. But at the same time, it’s a strategy that can be easily exploited when not executed to near perfection.

“Last year I wasn’t very mature as an on-court player, and that was a big part as to why I lost that match,” Bektas said. “But I think from that point on to where I’m at this year, I’ve matured a lot.

“If I’m going to lose, it will be because my opponent is playing better than me, not because of a mental collapse.”

This was evident in Bektas’s recent match against UCLA’s No. 3 Robin Anderson who passed Bektas quite a bit at the net en route to a 6-3, 6-4 win over Bektas.

If she wins her first round match, her likely opponent will once again be Anderson.

“It would definitely be nice to have a rematch with Robin, but I can’t think about that yet,” Betkas said.

However, the season doesn’t end in singles play for Betkas.

For a second-straight year, Bektas and junior Brooke Bolender are set to compete in the NCAA Doubles Individual Championshps. The duo was ousted by Georgia in three sets in the round of 16 last year.

Despite the loss, the pair has worked together to form one of the most aggressive doubles pairings in the country. The duo thrives on net play, while most other teams like to use baseline strokes to win points. Their aggressive strategy has led to success this year, and has earned the pair a 5-8 seed.

“We’re always aggressive,” Bektas said. “Last year we made too many unforced errors when it came to first serves, first returns and first volleys. But I think we’ve cleaned that up this year and we’re a much better team.”

This time around, Bektas and Bolender will have a familiar opponent. The pair is slated to play UCLA’s Robin Anderson and Skylar Morton. The two teams recently played each other May 18 in the NCAA Dual Match Tournament, in which Bektas and Bolender prevailed 8-6.

“They’re a great team,” Bektas said. “We know how they play with one of them being better at the baseline and one better at the night. We know them well and they know us well, so it will come down to whoever does the little things well, and hopefully we can do it.”

Fortunately for Michigan, the only other ranked pair in its region is Nebraska’s third-ranked Mary Weatherholt and Patrcia Veresova — another team that Bektas and Bolender are familiar with. The two teams faced off April 19, when the Cornhuskers prevailed 8-4.

And if Betkas, Bolender and Yurovsky learn from the past, they could make history again.