University of Michigan Team Page
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 12-ranked University of Michigan women's tennis team claimed the doubles point and four singles matches to knock off No. 14 Texas, 5-2, on Sunday afternoon (Feb. 24) at the Varsity Tennis.
The Wolverines began the dual by taking the doubles point for the fifth time this season, earning victories at the No. 1 and No. 2 positions. In the first match off the court, the sixth-ranked tandem of sophomore Emina Bektas (Indianapolis, Ind./New Braunfels) and junior Brooke Bolender (Delray Beach, Fla./Kaplan) improved to 5-1 in dual action with a quick 8-2 decision over the Longhorns' 24th-ranked team of Breaunna Addison and Noel Scott at the top of the lineup.
The U-M pairing of freshman Ronit Yurovsky (New Kensington, Pa./Plum) and sophomore Sarah Lee (Los Angeles, Calif./Campbell Hall) clinched the point for the Wolverines with a 9-7 victory over Elizabeth Begley and Aeriel Ellis at No. 2. With the initial point already decided, senior Mimi Nguyen (Long Beach, Calif./Millikan) and sophomore Kristen Dodge (Barrington, Ill./Barrington) defeated the Texas duo of Lina Padegimaite and Annat Rabinovich in a tiebreaker, 8-7(5), at No. 3.
Yurovsky increased U-M's lead to 2-0 to begin singles play, notching a 6-4, 6-0 victory over Scott at the No. 2 position. Yurovsky, who comes in at No. 32 in the latest ITA rankings, has won 13 consecutive matches and is a perfect 5-0 at the No. 2 spot this season.
After the Longhorns knotted up the match with wins at the No. 5 and 6 positions, respectively, Bolender and Bektas earned back-to-back victories in straight sets to seal the Wolverine win. Bolender defeated Begley, 7-5, 6-2, at No. 4, while Bektas clinched the dual with a 6-1, 7-5 decision over 29th-ranked Ellis at No. 1. With the match tied, 4-4, in the second set, Bektas won three of the final four games to secure the dual in U-M's favor.
In the final match on the court, Lee rallied to defeat Addison, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, at the third singles position.
Michigan is back in action on Wednesday (Feb. 27), hosting Michigan State in the team's Big Ten opener at the Varsity Tennis Center. Doubles are slated to begin at 3:30 p.m.
Following are match-by-match results:
Singles
No. 1 -- No. 48 Emina Bektas (U-M) d. No. 29 Aeriel Ellis (Texas), 6-1, 7-5
No. 2 -- No. 32 Ronit Yurovsky (U-M) d. Noel Scott (Texas), 6-4, 6-0
No. 3 -- Sarah Lee (U-M) d. No. 39 Breaunna Addison (Texas), 3-6, 6-3, 6-3
No. 4 -- Brooke Bolender (U-M) d. Elizabeth Begley (Texas), 7-5, 6-2
No. 5 -- Lina Padegimaite (Texas) d. Amy Zhu (U-M), 6-3, 6-1
No. 6 -- Juliana Gajic (Texas) d. Kristen Dodge (U-M), 7-5, 6-2
Doubles
No. 1 -- No. 6 Brooke Bolender/Emina Bektas (U-M) d. No. 24 Breaunna Addison/Noel Scott (Texas), 8-2
No. 2 -- No. 34 Ronit Yurovsky/Sarah Lee (U-M) d. Elizabeth Begley/Aeriel Ellis (Texas), 9-7
No. 3 -- Mimi Nguyen/Kristen Dodge (U-M) d. Lina Padegimaite/Annat Rabinovich (Texas), 8-7 (5)
Order of Completion: Doubles 1-2-3, Singles 2-5-6-1-3
