Things looked dreary for the Michigan women’s tennis team earlier this season.
The Wolverines, coming off the program’s first Final Four appearance and featuring several returning players, were ranked 76th after an early stretch of four straight losses to ranked teams.
But things changed after Oklahoma State, then ranked No. 12, had to cancel hosting a match with Michigan. Head coach Ronni Bernstein, in her 19th season, quickly scheduled Xavier in Cincinnati in late February, and it seemed going on the road was what the team needed.
Michigan (19-6, 12-1 Big Ten) is now ranked No. 12 nationally and coming off Big Ten regular-season and tournament titles. The Wolverines defeated No. 5 Ohio State for the first time this season, 4-2, for the league tournament championship held in Columbus last Sunday, and are now preparing to host NCAA Tournament first- and second-round matches Saturday and Sunday at the Varsity Tennis Center.
The Wolverines, hosting the first weekend for the 12th time since 2010 and the fourth straight season, face Illinois State (18-6) on Saturday, while Toledo (13-8) plays No. 17 Florida (16-7). The winners advance to the second round Sunday.
“We were struggling. The first month of the season was rough,” said Bernstein, who has led Michigan to 13 regular-season conference and seven tournament championships. “We scheduled tough early, and we just had kids that didn’t have confidence. A couple of them were close matches and we just weren’t pulling it out.”
Bernstein said she never expected that kind of start considering she had several returners from last year’s Final Four team. She thought maybe they were experiencing pressure because of the program’s performance the year before. When Oklahoma State had to cancel because of a number of injuries, Bernstein saw it as a “blessing in disguise.”
The Wolverines left for Cincinnati to play Xavier instead, and it became a bonding trip. They shut out the Musketeers and then defeated No. 20 Duke, 4-3.
“Then we kind of got rolling,” Bernstein said. “It was a good turnaround. To win the conference tournament last Sunday was pretty cool with this group after winning the regular season, too.”
Piper Charney, ranked No. 8 nationally in singles, and Lily Jones, No. 24, have both played the top court this season. Charney is 9-4 at No. 1 singles this season and Jones is 2-3 (10-3 on second court). Both made the Big Ten All-Tournament team and Jones was named Most Outstanding Player. Jones defeated No. 5 Teah Chavez 7-5, 6-4 win at No. 2 on the final day. Bernstein had to submit the lineup for the first round and Jones will be playing No. 1 singles on Saturday.
“I’ve been switching them all year,” Bernstein said. “They play a little different, so it’s good to be able to move that around.”
Reese Miller has a 15-4 record on the third court this season.
“She has had a fantastic year,” Bernstein said. “We’ve had different people step up, and that’s the sign of a good team. They’ve gotten better. You think when you lose kids (from previous teams), like we lost Kari Miller and Gala Mesochoritou and Jaedan Brown, who’s gonna replace them, and then there’s kids that always step up.”
Bernstein has enjoyed watching this team evolve from where the Wolverines started the season to now hosting the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament.
“They’ve shown toughness and the desire (after the losing streak), because we could have let it go. We were kind of rock bottom,” Bernstein said. “The expectation of playing for Michigan, Big Ten titles are what they play for. They have been on a mission every week of the Big Ten season, and then this past weekend, we went in as the 3 seed, and Ohio State’s had a great year, USC’s had great year and it was just determination and toughness and got us through this past weekend.
“But yeah, we’re excited to play at home. We were ranked 76 at one point, and we’ve gradually moved up. We’re just super pumped to host and play in front of our fans.”
achengelis@detroitnews.com
@chengelis
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Michigan women’s tennis emerges from ‘rock bottom’ to host NCAA Tournament rounds
Reporting by Angelique S. Chengelis, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
