Michigan wins tense match characterized by extremes

The Michigan women’s tennis team’s match against Oklahoma was, in many ways, characterized by extremes. There were clashing play styles, sudden lead swings and the match came down to razor-thin margins, won at the death. 

The fourth-ranked Wolverines (1-1 overall) beat the 13-ranked Sooners (2-2), 4-3, claiming the final singles point on the last possible set to take home the road win on Sunday. 

Before the match reached peak intensity, Michigan’s doubles teams took care of business. The duo of sophomore Lily Jones and freshman Piper Charney recorded a 6-2 win, and the No. 8 duo of seniors Kari Miller and Jaedan Brown closed out a 7-5 victory. Although the Wolverines’ No. 2 doubles lineup, graduate student Anna Ross and freshman Reese Miller faltered, Michigan’s overall performance was still enough for a 2-1 doubles victory to take an early 1-0 lead.

Initially, the Wolverines looked to be enjoying similar comfort in singles play, as Kari dominated against Oklahoma’s Alina Shcherbinina, winning both sets 6-1. Kari prioritized efficiency and defense rather than power, consistently playing closer to the boundaries of the court. 

“We count on Kari a lot,” Michigan coach Ronni Bernstein said. “She’s a senior, she will compete until the end. So really excited that she got that second point on the board.” 

Kari’s win was the first singles point of the day for the Wolverines, putting them up 2-0. However, the Sooners immediately responded as Brown was defeated by Dana Guzman. Brown, in contrast to her doubles partner Kari, opted for a more aggressive style. Trying to steal points on the attack compromised her defensively in the process, and she fell 6-3, 6-1 to put Oklahoma on the board. It was an example of the extremes that led to such a close match, as two radically different play styles led to different outcomes for Michigan. 

Soon after, the Sooners tied it up in yet another case of the extremes that defined the Wolverines’ day: the swing from a comfortable lead to walking a thin line. 

In what could have been a disastrous turn of events for the Wolverines, senior Gala Mesochoritou and junior Julia Fliegener both stared down the barrel of defeat nearing the end of the second set. 

But the thing about walking a thin line is that eventually you end up on one side or the other. And Michigan ended up on the side it wanted to be on, as Mesochoritou and Fliegener both earned tie-break points to force a third set and keep the Wolverines from going under. Fliegener persevered for the point and gave the Wolverines a 3-2 advantage.

But this was proving to be a match with no room for moderation or comfort, and Julia Ruiz responded in kind for Oklahoma, beating Charney to bring the score to 3-3. That left Mesochoritou facing the Sooners’ Chlóe Noël to decide it. 

In a final tale of extremes, Mesochoritou and Noël represented opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of experience: Mesochoritou, a veteran, against Noël, a freshman. But they also shared one big thing in common: both were tasked with the same expectation of delivering their team an early season victory.

And ultimately, experience prevailed, as Mesochoritou delivered a powerful serve, forced an error from Noël and earned the point that clinched the set and the match for Michigan. A high-octane matchup marked by differences in play styles and wire-thin leads had ended fittingly: a breakthrough right at the end. 

“I think that we can get better as a team,” Bernstein said. “There’s a couple spots that for sure need to get better, but to come home with a win today can give us confidence going into the next weekend.”

The victory was by a razor-thin margin, and the match itself was volatile, but Michigan left Norman with satisfaction that it secured its first win against a talented Sooners team. In a matchup of extremes, the Wolverines did just enough to emerge on the side of the winners.

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