Miami Advances to NCAA Round of 16 with 4-0 Victory over FIU
May 13, 2006
CORAL GABLES, <?xml:namespace prefix=”st1″ ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags”?>Fla.– Seventh seeded Miami cruised to a 4-0 victory over cross-town rival Florida International in the Second Round Match of the 2006 NCAA Women’s Tennis Coral Gables Regional at the NeilSchiffTennisCenter Saturday afternoon. With the win, the Hurricanes (21-6) advance to the NCAA Championship Round of 16 that will be held May 18-22 in Stanford, Calif. The Golden Panthers, ranked 39th, close out their season with a 21-6 record. <?xml:namespace prefix=”o” ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office”?>
Miami will play the winner of today’s California/Fresno State match, May 18 at noon (PST) in Stanford’s Taube Tennis Stadium.
“I’m just really proud of how this team came out and how focused they were today,” said head coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews. “They showed an extreme amount of determination and poise.”
“FIU has the ability to try to lull you into their style of tennis and our girls just played aggressive tennis, which is what we’ve been trying to get through to them this entire season,” Yaroshuk-Tews said. “We’ve been trying to teach them to play aggressive tennis in pressure situations and that’s what they did today and hopefully they will be able to keep it up going into California.”
The Hurricanes are making their 21st NCAA Championship appearance and second Round of 16 appearance in five years. In 2004, Miami advanced to the NCAA Quarterfinals for the first time since 1986.
Miami opened the match by capturing the doubles point for the 23rd time in 28 matches this season. FIU’s 20th ranked duo of Paula Zabala and Nikkita Fountain was no match for the Miami’s second ranked tandem of Melissa Applebaum and Audra Cohen, who claimed an 8-3 win at the No. 1 slot. Miami clinched the point when Audrey Banada and Monika Dancevic defeated Egle Petraukaite and Shilla D’Armas 8-3 at the No. 1 position.
Cohen, ranked second nationally, gave up only one game en route to a 6-0, 6-1 straight-set victory over 79th ranked Zabala (Miami, Fla.). Cohen, a Plantation, Fla. native, improved to 29-1 overall and is now 17-1 against nationally ranked opponents.
Miami took a commanding 3-0 lead when sophomore Patricia Starzyk (Duetsch Wagram, Austria) defeated Fountain, a junior Nassau, Bahamas native, 6-1, 6-1 at the No. 5 slot.
Playing in the final home match of her career, 76th ranked Applebaum (Coral Gables, Fla.) clinched the win for Miami with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Petraukaite (Vilnius, Lithuania) at the No. 2 position.
