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
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