CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- The No. 8-ranked University of Michigan women's tennis team won the doubles point and five of six singles matches to record a 6-1 win over Illinois on Saturday afternoon (April 6) at the Atkins Tennis Center.
Site: Champaign, Ill. (Atkins Tennis Center)
Score: #8 Michigan 6, Illinois 1
Records: U-M (14-4, 5-1 Big Ten), UI (9-9, 2-4 Big Ten)
Next U-M Event: Sunday, April 7 -- at Northwestern (Evanston, Ill.), Noon CDT
After dropping both doubles points last weekend, U-M got back on the winning track by grabbing the first point of the match with wins at No. 1 and No. 2. On serve for the majority of the match, the Wolverine pair of sophomore Emina Bektas (Indianapolis, Ind./New Braunfels) and junior Brooke Bolender (Delray Beach, Fla./Kaplan) went up a break at 7-6 before serving out the match in the ensuing game for the 8-6 win.
At No. 2, sophomore Sarah Lee (Los Angeles, Calif./Campbell Hall) and freshman Ronit Yurovsky (New Kensington, Pa./Plum) jumped out to a 4-0 lead en route to an 8-4 win, wrapping up the doubles point for Michigan.
Michigan's next point came courtesy of a 6-1, 6-1 win at the No. 6 slot by sophomore Kristen Dodge (Barrington, Ill./Barrington). Dodge jumped out to early leads in both sets en route to putting Michigan's second point on the board.
Bektas followed Dodge with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Allison Falkin at No. 1 for her 10th consecutive win. The Michigan sophomore raced out to a 4-2 advantage in the first set before winning the final four games of the second set to seal the straight-set win at the top spot.
U-M's deciding point was scored by Bolender, who knocked off Breanne Smutko at the No. 3 spot (6-4, 6-2). With the team match in hand, Lee followed with a three-set win at No. 4. Lee dropped the first set, 7-5, to Rachael White before rebounding for a 6-1 second-set win. In the 10-point tiebreaker for the match, Lee took an early lead in the breaker en route to the win for the Maize and Blue's fifth tally of the afternoon.
Michigan's final point of the afternoon was provided by Yurovsky at No. 2, who bested Melissa Kopinski in three sets. The Wolverine freshman used a 5-2 lead in the first set for a 6-3 win. After dropping the second set, Yurovsky rebounded for a 6-4 third-set win after going up a break at 4-2.
Illinois recorded its lone point of the day with a win at No. 5 to conclude the match.
Michigan wraps up its road weekend tomorrow (Sunday, April 7) at Northwestern. Doubles are slated for a noon CDT start.
Following are match-by-match results:
Singles
No. 1 -- Emina Bektas (U-M) d. Allison Falkin (Ill), 6-3, 6-2
No. 2 -- No. 39 Ronit Yurovsky (U-M) d. Melissa Kopinski (Ill), 6-3, 2-6, 6-4
No. 3 -- Brooke Bolender (U-M) d. Breanne Smutko (Ill), 6-4, 6-2
No. 4 -- No. 76 Sarah Lee (U-M) vs. Rachael White (Ill), 5-7, 6-1, 1-0
No. 5 -- Misia Kedzierski (Ill) d. Amy Zhu (U-M), 7-6, 6-3
No. 6 -- Kristen Dodge (U-M) d. Audrey O'Connor (Ill), 6-1, 6-1
Doubles
No. 1 -- No. 2 Emina Bektas/Brooke Bolender (U-M) d. No. 21 Melissa Kopinski/Rachael White (Ill), 8-6
No. 2 -- No. 49 Sarah Lee/Ronit Yurovsky (U-M) d. Allison Falkin/Misia Kedzierski (Ill), 8-4
No. 3 -- Breanne Smutko/Audrey O'Connor (Ill) d. Kristen Dodge/Amy Zhu (U-M), 8-6
Order of Completion: Doubles 1-3-2, Singles 6-1-3-4-2-5
Contact: Sarah VanMetre (734) 763-4423
