Ann Arbor — The 12th-ranked Michigan women’s tennis team had to dig deep and used a gritty third-set win on the top court from Lily Jones to advance to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament.
Michigan (21-6), coming off Big Ten regular-season and tournament titles, defeated No. 17 Florida, 4-2, on Sunday in brisk conditions with wind gusts of nearly 25 mph at the Varsity Tennis Courts and will play in the Sweet 16 at North Carolina next weekend.
This is the third straight season the Wolverines have hosted first- and second-round matches. Last year, they reached the Final Four for the first time in program history.
The Wolverines led 1-0 after doubles and dropped the first court but won the next two in tiebreaks. They built a 2-0 lead after Reese Miller won in straight sets 6-2, 6-0 at No. 3 singles. Jessica Bernales won 6-4, 6-3 on Court 5 to give Michigan a 3-0 lead. But Michigan lost on Courts 2 and 6 as Florida (17-8) pulled within 3-2.
Jones, named the Most Outstanding Player of the Big Ten tournament, lost the first set, 6-3, and trailed 0-2 in the second set before she came back to win 6-2 and force a third set. With all the momentum, she clinched the match win for Wolverines with a 6-1 third set.
“Just fighting as hard as I can,” Jones said when asked what turned her match. “I was down a set and 2-0 (in the second) and doing it for my team and staying out there trying to turn it.”
This was Jones’ final match at home for the Wolverines.
“It was amazing,” she said of earning the clinching victory in her final home match. “That’s kind of what I wanted. I cannot lose my last one here.”
After a tough start the season when Michigan was 1-4, including four straight losses to ranked teams, it has won 20 of its last 22 matches. This is the 16th time in program history Michigan has won 20 or more games in a season.
Michigan head coach Ronni Bernstein said Jones adjusted her court positioning and moved in to reduce her opponent’s ability to take the ball early and push her around.
“It’s cool for her as a senior,” Bernstein said of Jones’ victory. “It’s the last time she’s going to play here (and) to come through for us was big. She was a little stressed. It was hard playing today. Conditions were tough.”
Bernstein, tied for first in Big Ten women’s tennis history with 13 Big Ten championships — she has a combined 20 Big Ten titles at Michigan, including seven Big Ten tournament titles since 2015 — spoke this week about how the Wolverines were at “rock bottom” after their losing streak. They dug their way back and are now headed to the Sweet 16 for the fourth straight year.
“This year is really special just because of what we’ve been through,” Bernstein said. “For us to be in the Sweet 16 again with an opportunity to go further — at the beginning of the year, it’s like, are we going to get in the (NCAA) Tournament? We compete, and that gets you far in college tennis. This was a good team we played today.”
Jones laughed and said this match mirrored in many ways Michigan’s season.
“It was definitely up and down,” Jones said. “We came through in the end, so I hope that we’ll mimic that at the end of the season.”
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This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Michigan women’s tennis tops Florida, advances to fourth straight Sweet 16
Reporting by Angelique S. Chengelis, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
