Brooke Bolender, above, tied the Michigan single-season record with her 34th singles victory during Friday's Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal win over Minnesota at the Varsity Tennis Center.

Angela J. Cesere | AnnArbor.com

The Michigan women’s tennis team has a chance to dethrone Big Ten tennis royalty this weekend as it seeks to end Northwestern’s 12-year reign as Big Ten Tournament champs.

The top-seeded Wolverines moved one step closer to a potential showdown with second seeded Northwestern after crushing Minnesota 5-0 in a quarterfinal match on Friday at the Varsity Tennis Center.

Last year Michigan snapped the Wildcats 11-year streak as regular season champs, a feat the Wolverines repeated this year when they defeated Northwestern 6-1 last Saturday.

Michigan plays Ohio State in a 10 a.m. semifinal on Saturday, followed by Northwestern's semifinal match against Illinois. The two winners play for the title at noon Sunday.

Despite their recent regular season success, the Wolverines have yet to crack the code when it comes to beating the Wildcats in the Big Ten tournament. They've lost to the Wildcats 4-0 in the tournament final in each of the last three years.

This fact is not lost on the four seniors that have acted as the foundation of Michigan’s now nationally-relevant program. The Wolverines are ranked No. 10 in the country.

Beating Northwestern (or whoever stands in their way) to capture the tournament championship would be an exclamation point for this already decorated group, one made even sweeter by the opportunity to do it in front of a home crowd at the Varsity Tennis Center.

Michigan senior Whitney Taney returns a shot during her 6-1, 6-1 win at No. 3 singles on Friday.

Angela J. Cesere | AnnArbor.com

“They decide the locations pretty far in advance and when we found out the tournament was going to be in Michigan our senior year, we were pretty excited.” said senior Whitney Taney, who won her No. 3 singles match 6-1, 6-1 over Alessandra Ferrazz on Friday.

Big Ten Player of the Year and No. 1 singles player Denise Muresan added that the prospect of facing Northwestern in the final “would be huge and really exciting.”

The architect of the Wolverine’s recent success, head coach Ronnie Bernstein, seems excited at the prospect of facing Northwestern in the final.

“We would love to play them (Northwestern) again," said Bernstein, who in her fourth season at Michigan has a record of 61-18 including a 28-2 mark in the Big Ten. "They are a top quality team and it would be a great match. Either way, our goal is to win his tournament.”

Bernstein added that being in Ann Arbor has its advantages.

“Its great to be at home, we’re comfortable here," she said. "We get great support and I’m hoping for a good crowd this weekend.”

All portions of the tournament are free to attend.

Local note: Pioneer High School graduate Jessica Seyferth, a senior captain for Wisconsin, lost her No. 5 singles match to Ohio State's Fidan Manashirova.