Michigan women's tennis emerges from 'rock bottom' to host NCAA Tournament rounds

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 hosting first two rounds of NCAA Tournament