BASEBALL
‘M’ earns NCAA berth
JACOB SHAMES
Summer Managing Sports Editor
The Michigan baseball team is
going dancing.
After the Wolverines went 42-15
during the regular season — their
most successful regular season
since 2008 — they were selected for
the NCAA Tournament, receiving
a No. 3 seed in the Chapel Hill
regional, hosted by No. 2 national
seed North Carolina.
Despite a top-20 ranking for
most of the season, Michigan’s
relatively
low
RPI
(35)
and
strength of schedule (138), as well
as the two losses it suffered in
last week’s Big Ten Tournament
caused it to remain on the bubble,
and contributed to the Wolverines’
fairly low seeding relative to their
win total — in fact, Michigan was
the last team in the tournament,
according to the NCAA.
Including
the
Wolverines,
five Big Ten teams qualified for
the tournament, tying a record
set two years ago. Iowa won the
conference’s automatic bid by
winning the Big Ten Tournament
Sunday, while Indiana, Nebraska
and Maryland received at-large
nods.
The Chapel Hill regional,
which
features
a
double-
elimination
format,
includes
Michigan,
No.
1-seed
North
Carolina, No. 2-seed Florida Gulf
Coast and No. 4-seed Davidson.
The Wolverines will open play
against the Eagles at 1 p.m.
Friday.
Nationally,
Oregon
State,
which held the No. 1 ranking
for much of the season in the
D1baseball.com poll, among other
polls, was named the top overall
seed. Other nationally seeded
teams include North Carolina,
Florida, LSU, Texas Tech, TCU,
Louisville and Stanford.
The
NCAA
Tournament
Regional round begins Thursday,
and the regional round runs
through
Monday.
Following
regionals are the super regionals,
hosted by the regional winners.
The
eight
Super
Regional
champions
advance
to
the
College World Series in Omaha,
Neb. starting June 17.
Minor wins National Championship
After sending a backhand
crosscourt,
Brienne
Minor
watched her opponent’s return
sail long and she threw up her
racket in celebration.
It had been a whirlwind week
for the sophomore on her way
to becoming the NCAA tennis
singles champion.
“It feels amazing, I’m still
soaking it all in,” Minor said in
a press conference
after
the
match.
“When I threw my
racket at the end of
the match I just felt
this wave of relief
because I was just
so happy I could
get that win. I was
super tired, so I was
excited to let that
racket go and just
be done with the
match.”
Entering
the
tournament
unseeded didn’t seem to phase
Minor.
Once
the
Michigan
women’s
team
had
been
eliminated
from
the
team
competition, Minor and her
teammate
sophomore
Kate
Fahey both entered the singles
tournament. While they both
made historic runs — both being
the first Wolverines to make it to
the quarterfinals — it was Minor
who walked away with the title.
Her
path
to
a
national
championship wasn’t easy. The
24th-ranked
sophomore
had
to battle passed six opponents
— including three in the top 15
— on her way to the title. After
winning her first round match
in three sets, Minor seemed
to breeze through the rest of
the tournament. She won four
of the preceding five matches
all in two sets, including the
championship.
The
semifinal
matchup
against
Vanderbilt’s No. 15
Sydney Campbell
didn’t initially go
Minor’s way. She
dropped the first
set in a tiebreaker
after rallying back
from a 4-1 deficit,
but stormed back
and
took
the
second set, 7-5, on
a double fault from Campbell.
From then on it was Minor’s
match to win and she dominated
the third set, 6-0.
With a national championship
on the line, Minor was set to
face Florida’s No. 6 Belinda
Woolcock. It was a surprise to
many, herself included, that
Minor had made it this far in the
tournament.
The
Gators
had
already
claimed the team title and
Woolcock seemed poised to take
the singles crown as well.
That’s until Minor opened the
championship match by winning
the first four games.
Braced with a lead, Minor
cruised to a 6-3 win in the first
set, and the second set wasn’t
much different. Woolcock kept
the score closer in the second
set, but Minor won a crucial
game when she was up 4-3 to put
her within one game of winning
the set, as opposed to being tied
at four.
With Minor one game away
from clinching the second set,
she broke Woolcock’s serve and
clinched a 6-3 win.
It
was
a
record-breaking
season for Minor. Not only is
she the first player in program
history
to
win
a
national
championship,
but
she
also
garnered
her
second
All-
American honor and she joins
just six other Wolverines to
have a 30-win season.
Minor
finished
the
season
with a 32-6 record, and with a
national championship under her
belt and still two years remaining
at Michigan, the future appears
bright for the sophomore.
“I just feel so honored to
represent such a great school,”
Minor said. “I love Michigan and
I’m so glad I committed here. I
wouldn’t want to be anywhere
else.”
PAIGE VOEFFRAY
Daily Sports Writer
“It feels
amazing. I’m
still soaking it
all in.”
KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
Sophomore Brienne Minor became the first individual national champion in Michigan women’s tennis history.
12
Thursday, June 1, 2017
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SPORTS