Miami Advances to ACC Championship Final With Win Over Duke
April 22, 2006
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – After enduring a nearly five hour rain delay, the third seed Miami women’s tennis team claimed a 4-2 victory over second seeded Duke (17-7, 9-2 ACC) in the semifinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship Saturday evening at the University of Carolina’s Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center in Chapel Hill. The Hurricanes (19-5, 9-2 ACC) advance to the final where they will face first seeded Georgia Tech in a rematch of last year’s ACC Championship match at 12:30 p.m. Sunday, April 23 in the Cary Tennis Center. <?xml:namespace prefix=”o” ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office”?>
Saturday’s semifinal match, originally scheduled to be played at 12:30 p.m., was moved from the <?xml:namespace prefix=”st1″ ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags”?>CaryTennisCenter to North Carolina’s indoor facility because of rainstorms in area.
The match opened up with down-to-the-wire doubles matches where both courts No. 2 and No. 3 came down to tiebreakers. Miami’s third ranked doubles tandem of Melissa Applebaum and Audra Cohen cruised to an 8-1 victory over Duke’s No. 29 Jennifer Zika/Daniel Bercek pair at the No. 1 slot. 45 minutes later, Miami’s Caren Seenauth and Patricia Starzyk dropped a 9-8 (7-5) decision to Jessi Robinson and Tara Iyer at the No. 3 slot.
The doubles point came down to court No. 2 where UM’s 48th ranked Monika Dancevic and Audrey Banada pair were engaged in a close battle with Duke’s Jackie Carlton and Melissa Mang. The Hurricanes were able to hold of the Blue Devils winning the match in the tie-breaker, 9-8 (7-4), to clinch the point.
Seenauth gave Miami a 2-0 match lead with a 6-0, 6-4 straight-set victory over Jessi Robinson at the No. 6 slot.
Banada likewise claimed a straight-set win after defeating Iyer, ranked 77th, 6-0, 6-3 at the No. 4 position.
Duke battled back with wins at the No. 3 and No. 5 positions. Mang, the ACC’s Freshman of the Year, picked up a 6-1, 7-5 win over Dancevic at the No. 3 slot before Starzyk fell to No. 93 Clelia Deltour 7-5, 6-0 at the No. 5 position.
With Miami up 3-2, the Hurricanes looked to courts No. 1 and No. 2 where doubles partners Cohen and Applebaum where fighting in the third set of their respective matches. Cohen, the nation’s second ranked player and the ACC Player of the Year, dropped the first set 6-3 to Bercek, ranked fourth in the country. Cohen would bounce back, however, winning the final two sets 6-3, 6-2 to clinch Miami’s 4-2 victory.
Applebaum, ranked 83rd, had a 6-4, 3-6, 3-2 lead over 29th ranked Carleton at the No. 2 slot but the match was suspended after Miami clinched the win.
Miami and Georgia Tech will meet in the championship match for the second year in a row, after both reaching its first final last season. The Yellow Jackets came away with a 4-3 win for their first-ever ACC title.
The match will feature an impressive clash at No. 1 singles, where Miller and Cohen will square off in a battle of the top two players in the nation.
Stay tuned to Hurricanesports.com for up-to-date Miami women’s tennis results, news and recaps.
