University of Michigan Team Page
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- The No. 16-ranked University of Michigan women's team dropped the doubles point after losing a tiebreaker at the No. 2 slot and lost the first four singles matches off court in a 5-2 loss to No. 8-ranked North Carolina on Sunday (Feb. 3) at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center.
Playing together for the first time in dual-match play, sophomore Emina Bektas (Indianapolis, Ind./New Braunfels) and junior Brooke Bolender (Delray Beach, Fla./Kaplan) teamed up to win the first doubles match off court at No. 1. The Wolverine duo got an early break, coasting to an 8-2 win over the No. 8-ranked UNC pair of Ashley Dai and Whitney Kay.
Michigan dropped the No. 3 match, 8-4, as the match at No. 2 became the deciding factor for the doubles point. Tied at 5-5, North Carolina won the next two games to go on top, 7-5. Michigan's pair of senior Mimi Nguyen (Long Beach, Calif./Millikan) and sophomore Sarah Lee (Los Angeles, Calif./Campbell Hall) answered, tying the match at 7-7 by winning the following two games to send the match to a tiebreaker. The Michigan duo fell, 10-8, in the breaker after holding four match points as UNC wrapped up the doubles point for the early 1-0 lead.
North Carolina won the first four singles matches to conclude, clinching the match at 5-0. With the team match decided, both of Michigan's freshmen won their matches to give the Wolverines two points. Freshman Ronit Yurovsky (New Kensington, Pa./Plum) knocked off No. 28 Zoe De Bruycker in three sets (6-1, 3-6, 1-0) at No. 2 for the Wolverines' first point of the day.
Fellow freshman Amy Zhu (Newark, Del./Laurel Springs) provided Michigan's final point of the day, winning 7-5, 6-2 over No. 101 Tessa Lyons at No. 6.
Michigan will make its fourth consecutive trip to the ITA National Team Indoor Championships this weekend (Feb. 8-11) in Charlottesville, Va.
Following are match-by-match results:
Singles
No. 1 -- No. 11 Gina Suarez-Malaguti (UNC) d. Emina Bektas (U-M), 6-2, 6-2
No. 2 -- No. 61 Ronit Yurovsky (U-M) d. No. 28 Zoe De Bruycker (UNC), 6-1, 3-6, 1-0 (6)
No. 3 -- No. 21 Whitney Kay (UNC) d. Brooke Bolender (U-M) , 6-3, 6-4
No. 4 -- No. 36 Carolina Price (UNC) d. Sarah Lee (U-M), 6-1, 7-6 (3)
No. 5 -- No. 65 Ashley Dai (UNC) d. Mimi Nguyen (U-M), 6-1, 6-1
No. 6 -- No. 94 Amy Zhu (U-M) d. No. 101 Tessa Lyons (UNC), 7-5, 6-3
Doubles
No. 1 --No. 21 Emina Bektas/Brooke Bolender (U-M) d. No. 8 Ashley Dai/Whitney Kay (UNC), 8-2
No. 2 -- Zoe De Bruycker/Gina Suarez-Malaguti (UNC) d. Sarah Lee/Mimi Nguyen (U-M), 8-7 (8)
No. 3 -- No. 51 Tessa Lyons/Lauren McHale (UNC) d. Ronit Yurovsky/Kristen Dodge (U-M), 8-4
Order of Finish: Singles 5-1-4-3-2-6, Doubles 1-3-2
