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Thursday, May 14, 2015
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com SPORTS
T
ennis topples
Redhawks and Blue
Demons, wins Region
By BEN KIM
Daily Sports Writer
Tensions were high at the Varsity
Tennis Center as the No. 11 Michigan
women’s tennis team needed a victory
in one of the remaining two matches
in order to earn a spot in the Sweet 16.
Michigan was up 3-2, with junior
Ronit Yurovsky down 3-1 in a tie-
breaking third set and freshman Mira
Ruder-Hook’s set tied at 4-4. Hook
was in danger of extending her match
to a third set after winning the first.
With all eyes on her, the freshman
was able to win the next two games
and punch the Wolverines’ ticket to
the Sweet 16.
Michigan (11-0 Big Ten, 26-3 over-
all) took the weekend, rolling through
Miami (Ohio), 4-0, and grinding out a
4-2 win against DePaul.
“We’re happy to get through,” said
Michigan coach Ronni Bernstein.
“We’re relieved and excited. The girls
did a good job.”
In years past, the Wolverines had
entered the NCAA Championships
following a loss at the Big Ten Tourna-
ment. Things were different for Mich-
igan this time, having claimed its first
Big Ten Tournament Championship
in program history. The Wolverines
fed off the success they found in the
conference tournament.
“We have a lot of confidence com-
ing from the Big Ten Tournament,”
said senior Emina Bektas. “We’ve had
some really good practices. Not being
able to come through (in past Big Ten
Tournaments) has put our confidence
lower than it usually is. Finally being
able to come through has been really
good for us.”
Michigan rode that confidence to
a swift win over the Redhawks (8-0
Mid-American, 17-6 overall).
The Wolverines quickly clinched the
doubles point, never giving up a lead
in either of the completed matches.
Sophomore Sara Remynse and Ruder-
Hook took the first doubles match, 8-0.
Yurovsky and senior Sarah Lee ended
doubles competition with an 8-4 win of
their own.
Michigan continued its dominance
in the singles matches. Bektas was the
first off the court with a 6-1, 6-1 victory.
“I just wanted to set a tone,” Bek-
tas said. “I wanted to get off the court
quick, get a point up and not let things
get away from me.”
Yurovsky and freshman Alex Najar-
ian would follow Bektas’s lead with tri-
umphs of their own. Yurovsky cruised
to 6-1 and 6-3 victories, while Najarian
took her match with 7-6 and 6-1 wins.
The duo clinched the match for the
Wolverines and earned them a sec-
ond round matchup against the 37th-
ranked Blue Demons (5-0 Big East,
22-5 overall).
Michigan’s solid play continued into
the doubles matches against DePaul.
Lee and Yurovsky were conceded a
lead, as they came off the floor with an
8-4 victory. Remynse and Ruder-Hook
ended the doubles competition for the
weekend with an 8-4 win of their own.
The similarities between the first
and second rounds ended after dou-
bles play. The Wolverines struggled
in singles matches against the Blue
Demons, though Lee gave Michigan
the 2-0 lead with her 6-0, 6-3 victory.
DePaul roared back, winning the
next two matches to even up the score.
Remynse and Najarian couldn’t find
their rhythm on their way to 3-6, 4-6
and 2-6, 3-6 victories. The pair, along
with Yurovsky, had a hard time on the
floor as the Blue Demons gave them all
they could handle.
“They just didn’t play that well and
their energy wasn’t great,” Bernstein
said. “They competed hard, but I don’t
know if their body language and energy
wasn’t as good as it needs to be. It was a
bit of a struggle, but a lot of it was DePaul
and how well they played them.”
Bektas gave the Wolverines the
advantage with her 6-3, 6-4 win, giv-
ing them a 3-2 lead. In the end, Rud-
er-Hook won her match, 6-4, 6-4,
and made a place for Michigan in the
Sweet 16 for the fifth time in six years.
“I think those are the most fun
moments,” Ruder-Hook said. “When
everyone’s watching, you can just feel
the energy. I’ve never had the oppor-
tunity to clinch a match and that’s
exactly what I came here for.”
The Wolverines will face off against
No. 6 Georgia in the next round of the
tournament with a chance to advance
to the Elite Eight for the first time in
program history. After another strong
weekend, it’s rinse and repeat for
Michigan.
“There’s nothing to change, tennis-
wise,” Bernstein said. “I think we’re
there now, we just got to relax.”
Countess, Norfleet leaving
Michigan football program
By MAX COHEN
Managing Sports Editor
The Michigan football team’s
secondary will have a new
look next season. Fans already
received a glimpse of redshirt
freshman Jabrill Peppers play-
ing safety in the Spring Game,
but additional changes are on the
way.
Fifth-year
senior
cor-
nerback
Blake
Countess
announced
on
his
Instagram
on
Wednesday
afternoon
that
he will not be
returning
to
Michigan for his
final season of
eligibility.
“My past four years here at the
University of Michigan have been
great!” Countess wrote. “Noth-
ing but love and appreciation
for Ann Arbor, the faculty, the
coaches, the support staff and the
great fans but after many sleep-
less nights and much prayer I
have decided to play my final year
of eligibility elsewhere. I truly
thank those that have been there
for me and hope you would con-
tinue to do so. #ForeverGoBlue.”
Countess started 30 games for
the Wolverines during his career.
He recorded six interceptions in
2013, a season in which he earned
first team All-Big Ten honors
from the media and second team
All-Big Ten honors from the
league’s coaches. Countess start-
ed 10 of Michigan’s 12 games last
season.
One
day
before Count-
ess
posted
about
his
transfer, the
Wolverines
officially
announced
the
transfer
of
fifth-year
senior corner-
back
Wayne
Lyons from Stanford. Lyons will
be immediately eligible because
of his status as a graduate trans-
fer. His arrival had been rumored
for months and was confirmed by
Michigan secondary coach Mike
Zordich during spring practice.
Lyons recorded 128 tackles,
three interceptions and three
forced fumbles for the Cardi-
nal, playing in 43 games. Lyons’
mother,
Gwendolyn
Bush,
works for the football program
as the director of player devel-
opment.
“He brings great experi-
ence and ability to our second-
ary and special teams unit,”
Zordich said in a statement. “In
addition, Wayne is a super indi-
vidual who will achieve great
things both on the field and in
his future career.”
***
As first reported by MLive.
com Tuesday afternoon, rising
senior receiver and kick returner
Dennis Norfleet has been dis-
missed from the Michigan foot-
ball team.
No formal announcement has
been made by the program, but
according to Dale Harvel, Nor-
fleet’s coach at Detroit’s Mar-
tin Luther King High School,
the decision to remove Norfleet
from the team was a disciplinary
one.
“Evidently he was dismissed
from the team, Dennis informed
us he was no longer on the team,”
Harvel told MLive Tuesday
afternoon. “Something about a
disciplinary thing between him
and (Michigan coach Jim) Har-
baugh. Whether it was academ-
ics or something internal, I’m
not sure. He just said they had a
disagreement and he was let go.”
TERESA MATHEW/Daily
Seniors Blake Countess and Dennis Norfleet will leave the Michigan football team before its 2015 season begins
“I truly thank
those that have
been there for
me.”