Site: Lake Nona, Fla. (USTA National Campus)
Event: NCAA Singles Championship (Day 2 of 6)
Result: No Team Scoring
Next U-M Event: Thursday, Nov. 20 — at NCAA Singles Championship (Lake Nona, Fla.), TBD
LAKE NONA, Fla. — Lily Jones and Piper Charney each wrapped up All-America honors in singles by reaching the Round of 16 with wins on the second day of action at the NCAA Singles Championship on Wednesday (Nov. 19) at the USTA National Campus.
Jones earned the honor for the first time in her career, fighting off five match points throughout the 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (6) win over Harvard’s Stephanie Yakoff. After dropping the first set, Jones took advantage of a late break in the second to force the final set.
Jones broke at 3-2 in the final set, but Yakoff answered with three straight games for a 5-3 lead. Jones fought off three match points in the ensuing game, including an overrule, to stay in the match to eventually force the tiebreaker.
In the breaker, the two were tied at 3-3 at the first changeover. Jones dropped three of the next four points to go down 6-4 as Yakoff grabbed another pair of match points. The Wolverine went to work from there, fighting off the second when she stepped into return the underhand serve from Yakoff to tie at 6-6. She won the final two points, wrapping up All-America honors and picking up the 100th singles win of her career to become the 12th Wolverine to hit the century mark.
Charney, the No. 3 seed, earned singles All-America honors for the second straight season after a 6-4, 7-6 (5) win over Baylor’s Zuzanna Kubacha. After taking the first set, Charney found herself in a 5-3 hole in the second set. She responded by winning the next two games to get back on serve. Following a hold from Kubacha, she returned the favor to force the breaker.
Tied at 5-5 in the second-set tiebreaker, Charney won the next two points to become the sixth Wolverine in school history to win multiple singles All-America citations in a career.
Charney and Jones are back in action Thursday (Nov. 20) in the Round of 16 at the NCAA Singles Championship.
