Sabatino Comes up Huge to Help Miami Knock down Texas' Win Streak
Feb. 16, 2007
Coral Gables, Fla. – The eighth ranked University of Miami women’s tennis team edged the 22nd ranked University of Texas 4-3, as the Hurricanes ended the Longhorns’ four-game winning streak Friday afternoon at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center. With the win, Miami advances 5-1 overall (0-0 ACC), while Texas falls 4-1.
Miami struck first in doubles, as the No. 6 ranked doubles duo of Audrey Banada and Romy Farah defeated Sarah Lancaster and Courtney Zauft 8-5 in the No. 1 spot. Junior Audra Cohen and Caren Seenauth teamed up in doubles play for the first time this season in the No. 2 position, coming up with an 8-3 win over Petra Dizdar and Ristine Olsen.
Gina Sabatino played an impressive set of singles in the No. 5 position. The junior from Waltham, Mass. squared off with Texas’ Stephanie Davison defeating the Longhorn 7-5, 7-5.
“Sabatino showed great strength and was really instrumental for our program today”, head coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews commented. “It just showed that all of the hard work she’s put in over the last couple of months has really paid off.”
No. 1 ranked Audra Cohen notched her second consecutive defeat over senior Petra Dizdar in the No. 1 spot, 6-3, 6-1. Last season Cohen posted a 7-6, 6-2 win over Dizdar in Austin, TX.
Banada claimed a 6-4, 7-5 victory over Courtney Zauft. It was a sweet defeat for the No. 56 senior over her Texas opponent, as the two also faced each other last season with Zauft defeating Banada 6-3, 6-3 in the No. 4 position.
The Hurricanes will face No. 4 Florida Sunday, February 18. The match is set to begin at 1 p.m. at the Linder Stadium in the Ring Tennis Complex.
Scouting the Gators:
The Hurricanes head to Gainesville to face what will be one of their toughest and highly ranked opponents of the season. Both squads field a 32-21 series, with the Gators in the lead.
Last year, the two squads faced each other early in the regular season, as the Gators paid a visit to Coral Gables and posted a 4-3 defeat over Miami.
One of Miami’s greatest defeats in the women’s tennis program came in the second round of the 2004 NCAA Championship. The Miami Hurricanes stunned the Florida Gators with a 4-3 match victory to snap UF’s 23-game win streak on May 15 at Linder Stadium. The match was played in Gainesville and marked the last time Florida lost a home-match. They currently have 46 consecutive wins at home in the regular season under their belt, not including SEC or NCAA Championship matches.
This season, Florida fields three players in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) singles rankings, including No. 11 Diana Srebrovic, No. 78 Whitney Benik, and No. 95 Megan Alexander. In doubles Benik is partnered with Nina Suvak as the duo is ranked No. 14, while Srebrovic and Lolita Frangulyan are ranked No. 32.
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