W. Tennis Falls to No. 3 Michigan in NCAA Sweet 16

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The No. 22 University of Miami women’s tennis team fell, 4-0, on Saturday afternoon to No. 3 Michigan in the NCAA Sweet 16 at the Varsity Tennis Center.

Miami (13-8, 8-4 ACC) narrowly dropped the doubles point to Michigan (29-3, 11-0 Big Ten) before falling on three straight courts to end its incredible NCAA tournament run.

Michigan was first to strike in doubles, with the No. 9 duo of Jaedan Brown and Kari Miller taking down No. 27 Isabella Pfennig and Xinyi Nong, 6-1, at the top court. Alexa Noel and Audrey Boch-Collins persevered and helped Miami with a doubles win on court two, defeating Reese Miller and Piper Charney, 6-3.

Down to court three, Leonie Schuknecht and Maria Paula Vargas fought to give the Hurricanes the advantage going into singles, but ultimately fell, 6-4, to Julia Fliegner and Lily Jones.

The Wolverines notched three consecutive courts to take the win. On court six, No. 113 Piper Charney took down Maria Paula Vargas, 6-1, 6-0, to give Michigan another point on the board. No. 28 Julia Fliegner then claimed court two, 6-1, 6-0, over No. 47 Isabella Pfennig to put the Wolverines in arm’s length to the Elite Eight. After forcing a third set, Leonie Schuknecht battled hard but fell 6-1, 2-6, 6-1 to No. 57 Gala Mesochoritou at the No. 3 court for Michigan to advance.

At the top court, No. 10 Alexa Noel fought hard to take the first set 7-6 (11-9) against No. 5 Kari Miller, Xinyi Nong was tied 6-4, 3-6, 1-1 with No. 78 Lily Jones on court five and No. 115 Audrey Boch-Collins was nearing a set-two win, 4-6, 5-3, against Jaedan Brown on court four.

Noel, Pfennig and Nong will now compete in the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships, slated for May 20-25 in Stillwater, Okla.