| Women’s Tennis |
|---|
| UCLA — 3 |
| Michigan — 4 |
Michigan sophomore Emily Sartz-Lunde wills Michigan to victory in a close match on court five in a three-set comeback, showcasing Michigan’s resilience.
No. 10 UCLA women’s tennis (8-5, 2-3 Big Ten) was defeated by Michigan (7-5, 4-1 Big Ten) at Ann Arbor on Saturday, March 21 in a nail-biter.
UCLA took the early lead with the doubles win coming from court two and three.
On court two, the Bruin duo of senior Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer and freshman Mayu Crossley defeated the Wolverine duo of Reese Miller and Laura Rahnel in a quick 6-4 victory.
On court three, UCLA duo of freshman Kayla Chung and junior Ahmani Guichard took on the Michigan No. 86 duo of Emily Sartz-Lunde and Piper Charney. The match came down to the wire with a 6-6 tie, in need of a tie breaker in which the Bruins clinched 7-6.
With the two doubles victories, the Bruins earned the doubles point and took the early 1-0 lead.
The Bruins would extend their lead with a singles win by No. 46 Crossley over Wolverine No. 20 Lily Jones with 6-4 and 6-1 set wins. UCLA would now lead the match with a score of 2-0.
However, the tide would soon switch for Michigan in the singles with two wins on court 3 and court 6.
On court three Miller would defeat UCLA sophomore Kate Fakih with two decisive sets 7-5, 6-2.
On court six, Rahnel would defeat freshman Rona Rugara with a dominant first set 7-6 and a close second set won with a score of 6-1.
However, it was not all doom and gloom for the Bruins, with a bright spot coming from No. 119 junior Bianca Fernandez with her close win over Michigan’s Jessica Bernales.
Bernales did her best to put up a fight winning one set 6-4 and pushing the final set to extra games. However, Fernandez would get the best of her with a 7-6 victory to win the match in the fifth match point game.
Michigan would then win the remainder of the singles matches with No. 21 Charney defeating No. 11 Lutkemeyer in three sets (6-2, 4-6, 6-3).
Additionally, Lunde defeated Guichard in a close knit three set match which saw Lunde complete the comeback and get the last and final win for Michigan with the final score 6-7, 6-3, 6-3 and a 4-3 victory for the Wolverines.
With another tough fought loss on the road the Bruins drop under .500 on the road with a road record of 3-4 and will continue on their road trip to Michigan State on Sunday, March 22 at East Lansing, with an opportunity to improve their road record and reach that .500 mark.
