The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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26 THE WOLVERINE ❱ AUGUST 2024 2023-24 YEAR IN REVIEW BY JOHN BORTON T he balance between school and sport looms large for every Michigan athlete. Senior ten- nis All-American Kari Miller serves it up in overpowering fashion. On the court, she earned Big Ten Ath- lete of the Year distinction in her sport, along with a host of other plaudits. Off it, she's the first in program history to garner Academic All-America honors, netting a bachelor's degree in business administration from U-M's prestigious Ross School of Business. She's The Wolverine magazine Female Athlete of the Year at Michigan, an honor also given her by the U-M athletics de- partment. In short, she battled her way to the top in four years at Michigan. "I was pretty surprised, and also really honored," Miller said, regarding the Ath- lete of the Year award. "There are a ton of other great female athletes at Michigan. I definitely was surprised, but super ex- cited when I found out I got it. I'm ob- viously proud of what I accomplished, but I know there are other people very deserving of the award. "It was the icing on the cake. It wasn't necessarily a goal of mine to end on top [individually]. For my team, and effort- wise, I wanted to make sure I gave this year my all and did the best I could for my team. In that way, that's how I wanted to end the year, but I wasn't thinking of it in terms of awards or honors." The hardware followed naturally, af- ter she spearheaded Michigan's surge to the Big Ten regular-season champion- ship and the Big Ten Tournament title. She enjoyed her second straight season of competing in the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships, while becom- ing only the third Wolverine in history to notch four straight NCAA Singles Championships appearances. Miller posted a 15-5 singles record, 5-0 in Big Ten play, as the Wolverines' No. 1 performer in her final season. She went 30-9 overall in singles, capturing singles and doubles titles at the 2023 ITA Midwest Regional Championships. She finished the year ranked No. 5 in singles, No. 12 in doubles with a 24-16 record. In her singles career at Michi- gan, Miller went 95-37, finishing No. 10 in all-time singles wins for Michigan women's tennis and No. 8 in winning percentage (.720). "Her numbers speak for themselves," head coach Ronni Bernstein said. "I've known Kari since she was a little girl. She lived a couple of blocks from me. She's made a huge impact on our program, both on and off the court. When you have someone like that, who comes in and plays really high in your lineup … she just won a ton, and gave everybody her confi- dence that she was going to win the match and put a point on the board. She was just someone we could count on, that takes pressure off everybody on down the line." Despite all the individual accomplish- ments, Miller speaks first of The Team, The Team, The Team. "That was super fun, in my senior year, to win both the regular-season and the tournament championships," she said. "Obviously, getting the win over Ohio State [4-2, to win the Big Ten Tourna- ment championship] is always huge for us. It ended up, for me, winning at least one of the Big Ten titles in each of my four years. That was a big goal of mine, and our other seniors, to cap off our ca- reers with another Big Ten title." The Big Ten Tournament took place in FEMALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR KARI MILLER SMASHING SMASHING SUCCESS SUCCESS It's Advantage Kari Miller In Athletics And Academics Miller, a senior All-American in tennis, earned Big Ten Athlete of the Year distinc- tion in her sport, while becoming only the third Wolverine in history to notch four straight NCAA Singles Championships appearances. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN ATHLETICS