ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The 13th-ranked University of Michigan women's tennis team was unable to claim victory in a battle of top 15 squads, losing by a 4-3 score to 11th-ranked Texas A&M on Saturday (Feb. 16) at the Varsity Tennis Center. The Wolverines won three singles matches, including two in three sets, after dropping the doubles point to the Aggies.
Trailing 1-0 heading into singles action, the Wolverines started strong as sophomore Sarah Lee (Los Angeles, Calif./Campbell Hall HS) posted a dominating 6-1, 6-1 victory over 54th-ranked Nazari Urbina at No. 3, evening the overall score at one apiece.
Texas A&M regained the lead as fifth-ranked Cristina Sanchez-Quintanar defeated sophomore Emina Bektas (Indianapolis, Ind./New Braunfels HS) at the top spot in the lineup, 6-3, 6-3. The Aggies increased their advantage to 3-1 as Wen Sun claimed a 7-5, 7-5 victory over junior Brooke Bolender (Delray Beach, Fla./Kaplan HS) at No. 4.
U-M won two of the three three-set matches to close out the competition. Freshman Ronit Yurovsky (New Kensington, Pa./Plum HS) rallied from a first-set loss to post a three-set victory over 73rd-ranked Cristina Stancu at No. 2, winning 5-7, 6-2, 6-0. The Aggies proceeded to secure the dual match victory as Stefania Hristov defeated senior Mimi Nguyen (Long Beach, Calif./Millikan HS) in a three-set battle at No. 6, winning 6-2, 4-6, 7-5. Freshman Amy Zhu (Newark, Del./Laurel Springs HS) finished the scoring with a 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 win over Maria Paula Deheza at No. 5.
Michigan fell behind 1-0 in the match as Texas A&M claimed two of the three doubles matches. Bolender and Bektas, the sixth-ranked doubles team nationally, picked up a 8-4 victory over 11th-ranked Cristina Stancu and Stefania Hristov at No. 1. The Aggies managed to win the final two matches to secure the doubles point. Cristina Sanchez-Quintanar and Wen Sun posted an 8-5 victory over U-M's 34th-ranked doubles pairing of Yurovsky and Lee at No. 2. The match at No. 3 doubles decided the team point as Maria Paula Deheza and Maria Ines Deheza claimed a 9-7 victory over sophomore Kristen Dodge (Barrington, Ill./Barrington) and Nguyen.
Michigan is back in action next Sunday (Feb. 24), hosting Texas at the Varsity Tennis Center. Doubles are slated to begin at 11 a.m.
Following are match-by-match results:
Singles
No. 1 -- #5 Cristina Sanchez-Quintanar (TAMU) d. #48 Emina Bektas (U-M), 6-3, 6-3
No. 2 -- #32 Ronit Yurovsky (U-M) d. #73 Cristina Stancu (TAMU), 5-7, 6-2, 6-0
No. 3 -- Sarah Lee (U-M) d. #54 Nazari Urbina (TAMU), 6-1, 6-1
No. 4 -- Wen Sun (TAMU) d. Brooke Bolender (U-M), 7-5, 7-5
No. 5 -- Amy Zhu (U-M) d. Maria Paula Deheza (TAMU), 6-3, 5-7, 6-3
No. 6 -- Stefania Hristov (TAMU) d. Mimi Nguyen, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5
Doubles
No. 1 -- #6 Brooke Bolender/Emina Bektas (U-M) d. #11 Cristina Stancu/Stefania Hristov (TAMU), 8-4
No. 2 -- Cristina Sanchez-Quintanar/Wen Sun (TAMU) d. #34 Ronit Yurovsky/Sarah Lee (U-M), 8-5
No. 3 -- Maria Paula Deheza/Maria Ines Deheza (TAMU) d. Kristen Dodge/Mimi Nguyen (U-M), 9-7
Order of Completion: Doubles 1-2-3, Singles 3-1-4-2-6-5
