Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Varsity Tennis Center)
Event: NCAA Tournament (Second Round)
Score: #3 Michigan 4, Notre Dame 2
Records: U-M (28-3), ND (18-10)
Next U-M Event: Saturday, May 11 -- vs. Miami - NCAA Tournament Round of 16 (Varsity Tennis Center), 1 p.m.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 3-ranked University of Michigan women's tennis team rallied twice after falling behind to Notre Dame, with Piper Charney clinching the 4-2 win over the Fighting Irish with a three-set win at No. 6 on Sunday afternoon (May 5) to advance to the third round of the NCAA Tournament at the Varsity Tennis Center.

Notre Dame took the early lead by winning the doubles point and again at 2-1 before U-M won the final three singles matches off court to record its 28th win of the season. The win also pushed Michigan's winning streak to 20, tying a program record.

Notre Dame struck first, winning the doubles point behind victories at No. 1 and No. 3. Michigan fought off set points and rallied from a 5-2 deficit to tie the deciding match at 5-5. Notre Dame answered by winning the next two games to take the first point of the match with a 7-5 win.

Julia Fliegner pulled the Wolverines level at 1-1 in the team match with a 6-1, 6-3 win at No. 3 over Bojana Pozder. After breezing to the first-set win, Fliegner won the first three games and eventually held a 4-1 lead. Pozder answered with two straight games to bring the set back on serve, but Fliegner came through with another break to go up 5-3 for a chance to serve out the match. She converted on her second match point, tying the team match.

At No. 2, Gala Mesochoritou fought off three match points to stay on court and extend her match by two games before falling in straight sets for a 2-1 Notre Dame lead.

The lead was short-lived as Kari Miller won her 30th match of the season in a 6-3, 6-1 win over No. 23-ranked Julia Andreach at the top of the lineup. With the first set tied at 3-3, Miller broke at love to ignite a three-game run for the 6-3 win. She won the first five games of the second set to take control, making good on her third match point for a 2-2 team score. The win marked her 95th career victory, moving her into the top 10 in Michigan program history.

With three matches remaining on court, Michigan was going to have to win at least one of them in a third set to get the win as only Lily Jones at No. 5 won her first set.

Jones, who fought off set points in her first set, delivered a 7-6 (3), 6-4 win to give Michigan its first lead of the day at 3-2. In the first set, Jones was down 4-1 before winning three straight games for a 4-4 score. Each player held serve over the next four games, sending the first set to a breaker. Jones led 4-2 at the changeover and kept her lead by two the rest of the way in a 7-3 win. Jones jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the second set, but Yashna Yellayi won the next three games to go up a break at 4-3. Jones immediately answered by breaking back to tie the set at 4-4 before holding at love for a 5-4 lead. Jones grabbed three match points in the next game, winning on a double fault for a 3-2 Michigan lead.

With Michigan needing just one of the remaining matches to wrap up the win, Charney was in a third set and Jaedan Brown was trying to close out a second-set win to force a third at No. 4. Brown, who held a 5-1 lead in the second set, gave up a pair of games before closing it out at 6-3 to stay on court.

Charney did the honors for Michigan, rallying after dropping her first set to record a 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 win at No. 6 for U-M's fourth point. She got the break she needed at 4-2 in the second set and kept it over the next two games to force a deciding third set.

In the third, Charney was broken at love as Akari Matsuno took a 2-1 lead. Charney immediately broke back to tie the set at 2-2. After Charney held at 3-2, she grabbed two break points in the next game en route to a 4-2 lead. She consolidated the break in the next game for a 5-2 lead. Matsuno held in the eighth game, forcing Charney to have to serve out the match.

Charney fell in a 30-40 hole, fighting off one break point to get to the deuce point. Matsuno's service return went wide, sealing the match for Charney and the Wolverines.

With the win, Michigan will host Miami in the round of 16 next Saturday (May 11) at 1 p.m. at the Varsity Tennis Center.

Following are match-by-match results

Singles
No. 1 -- No. 5 Kari Miller (U-M) d. No. 23 Julia Andreach (ND), 6-3, 6-1
No. 2 -- Page Freeman (ND) d. No. 57 Gala Mesochoritou (U-M), 6-3, 6-4
No. 3 -- No. 28 Julia Fliegner (U-M) d. Bojana Pozder (ND), 6-1, 6-3
No. 4 -- Jaedan Brown (U-M) vs. Nibi Ghosh (ND), 5-7, 6-3, 1-0 abandoned
No. 5 -- No. 78 Lily Jones (U-M) d. Yashna Yellayi (ND), 7-6 (3), 6-4
No. 6 -- No. 113 Piper Charney (U-M) d. Akari Matsuno (ND), 2-6, 6-2, 6-3

Doubles
No. 1 -- No. 61 Julia Andreach/Carrie Beckman (ND) d. No. 9 Kari Miller/Jaedan Brown (U-M), 6-3
No. 2 -- Piper Charney/Reese Miller (U-M) d. Page Freeman/Akari Matsuno (ND), 6-4
No. 3 -- Nibi Ghosh/Yashna Yellayi (ND) d. Julia Fliegner/Lily Jones (U-M), 7-5

Order of Completion: Doubles 2-1-3, Singles 3-2-1-5-6