Wolverines Rally for Win at Illinois

Wolverines Rally for Win at Illinois

Site: Champaign, Ill. (Atkins Tennis Center)

Score: #5 Michigan 4, Illinois 2

Records: U-M (15-3, 7-0 B1G), UI (12-6, 4-1 B1G)

Next U-M Event: Saturday, April 8 — at Purdue (West Lafayette, Ind.), Noon

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Lily Jones rallied from down a set and 5-2 to put the deciding point on the board as the No. 5-ranked University of Michigan women’s basketball team rallied for a 4-2 win at Illinois on Sunday afternoon (April 2) at the Atkins Tennis Center. With the win, U-M remained unbeaten in Big Ten action at 7-0.

Michigan looked poised to take the doubles point after grabbing big leads on all three courts before Illinois mounted a rally to grab the match’s first point.

U-M’s No. 2 duo of Julia Fliegner and Jones breezed to a 6-1 win at No. 2 as the first match off court. Illinois erased a 4-1 Michigan lead at No. 1 and a 5-2 lead at No. 3, winning both matches to take the doubles point and the 1-0 lead.

U-M won three first sets in singles action, meaning the Wolverines were going to need at least one three-set win to get the team victory.

Kari Miller pulled Michigan even in the team match with a 6-3, 6-3 win at the top spot. She jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first set, which was all she needed to get the win. Miller went up a break at 4-2 but that ignited a run of three straight breaks of serve between the opponents. When Miller went up 5-3, she did not give the break back and cashed in on her second match point to get the Wolverines on the board.

At the same time, Illinois looked poised to regain the lead with a straight-set win at No. 5. Jones had other ideas as she stormed back from being down a set and 5-2 to win 7-2 in the second-set tiebreaker to send her match to a third set.

Andrea Cerdan pushed the Wolverines ahead for the first time all afternoon with a 6-2, 6-4 win at No. 4. Cerdan broke midway through the first set at 4-2 and did not look back in the win. She stayed patient in the second set, which remained on serve through the first nine games. With her opponent back to serve and Cerdan holding a 5-4 lead, the Wolverine grabbed two match points. She made good on the first one, giving…