No. 5 Michigan women's tennis team confident heading to NCAA Tournament

The Michigan women’s tennis team heads into the NCAA Tournament as the No. 5 seed and on an 11-game winning streak, bolstered by a deep roster and a lineup that, top to bottom, that makes them a serious championship contender.

Michigan (22-3) swept the Big Ten regular season and tournament titles, its second straight and fifth in the last eight years and has earned the program’s second-highest seed since 2010 when the Wolverines were No. 4.

Perhaps most important for the Wolverines is they’re hosting NCAA Tournament first- and second-round matches for the first time since 2019, ninth since 2010. Michigan faces Youngstown State (11-8), the Horizon League champion, in the NCAA first round on Friday at 2 p.m. at the Varsity Tennis Center. Admission is free. The Michigan men’s team also is hosting NCAA Tournament matches this weekend.

More:UM men's, women's tennis teams to host NCAA early-round matches

Notre Dame (15-10) plays Ball State (22-3) in the early match at 11 a.m. The winners advance to play Saturday at 4 p.m. Should Michigan win, it would host the Sweet 16 match the following weekend.

“We’re very deep,” said Michigan tennis coach Ronni Bernstein, in her 16^th season coaching the Wolverines. “It might be from top to bottom the strongest team we’ve had since I’ve been here. There’s not a ton of difference from our (No.) 6 (singles) to our 3 to our top kids. We can win everywhere. And our doubles is much better this year. It’s a fun group to be around.”

Matches kick off with three courts of doubles and the winning team earns a coveted first point. That takes some pressure off singles that then need to win three of six courts for the match win.

Michigan is led in doubles by Jaeden Brown and Kari Miller (Ann Arbor Pioneer) who have been ranked No. 2 nationally since the end of the fall season. They are 22-7 overall, including 8-5 at the top of the lineup in dual matches. Freshman Lily Jones (Grosse Pointe South) and sophomore Julia Fliegner (Detroit Country Day) also have been solid contributors.

Bernstein and associate head coach Teryn Ashley-Fitch coach an aggressive style of doubles and want the players to get to the net, something the players have consistently worked on and found successful.

“Lily has come in and done a great job at 2 doubles with Julia, and we have Kari and Jaden, who are No. 2 in the country, so that helps when you have one of the best teams in the country playing on top,” Bernstein said. “They all have confidence in (winning the doubles point), feel good about it, expecting to win it.”

Miller, Brown and Fliegner have all received berths to the NCAA Singles Championship as well as Brown and Miller earning the No. 2 seed for the NCAA Doubles Championship, the first time a Michigan doubles team has made the even since 2019. It’s also the second time in program history the Wolverines are sending three singles players to the championship, equaling the number sent in 2019.

The Wolverines’ three losses this season were to then-No. 2 North Carolina, now No. 1, at then-No. 25 Pepperdine and at then-No. 19 Florida on March 22. They have not lost since and in that 11-match winning streak had four wins against ranked opponents, twice against Wisconsin and Ohio State, beating both on their way to the Big Ten Tournament title.

“This group this year I couldn’t be prouder of,” Bernstein said. “Nonconference, we had a great start to the year, and we’ve just continued. They’re feeling confident. They’re working hard still, and they have big goals. You have to take it one match at a time, obviously, but it’s a great group and we’ll see what we can do here in the NCAA Tournament.”

Bernstein likes this draw and laughed that it’s better than last year when the Wolverines were sent to play at Texas in Austin when the temperature was above 100 degrees. There were EMT personnel waiting for them, Bernstein said, after each match, and the Wolverines did need treatment after the first match.

“It’s gonna be nicer to be home and cooler − about 40 degrees cooler,” she said, laughing. “Conditions will be perfect. It would be great if we could get a good crowd.

“I do like our draw. We have to be ready for Friday and we’re not looking past everybody, but I feel like our girls are very confident. They believe in themselves.”

achengelis@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @angelique