No. 9 Miami Tennis Defeats No. 25 Michigan 6-1
March 2, 2007
Coral Gables, Fla. – The ninth ranked University of Miami women’s tennis hosted No. 25 University of Michigan, and defeated the Wolverines 6-1 today at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center.
With the win, the Hurricanes improve 6-2 overall, while Michigan falls (3-4, 0-1 Big Ten).
Miami jumped on the board early claiming the doubles point, as Audra Cohen and Caren Seenauth claimed an 8-3 win over Chisako Sugiyama and Lindsey Howard. Gina Sabatino and freshman Claudia Wasilewski downed Elizabeth Exon and Allie Shafner 8-3, followed by No. 8 ranked duo Audrey Banada and Romy Farah registering an 8-5 win over Kara Delicata and Jenny Kuehn to give Miami the doubles victory.
In singles, Cohen, Farah and Banada captured the first three singles points for the Hurricanes. Cohen and Farah also swept their individual opponents in the second set respectively.
With a 9-0 singles record so far on the dual season and an 18-1 record overall, Cohen sealed the deal after she defeated No. 65 Jenny Kuehn 6-2, 6-0 at the No. 1 spot.
At the No. 3 singles position, junior Romy Farah claimed a 6-2, 6-0 win over Elizabeth Exon.
With a 6-3 advantage in the first set, No. 26 ranked Banada posted an early 5-2 mark in the second set, and needed one point to clinch the match for Miami at 4-0. The senior from North Miami Beach, Fla. downed her opponent No. 41 Chisako Sugiyama, 6-3, 6-4.
Over on court No. 6, junior Emily Mowery was also up in her second set 5-2 with hopes of clinching the match. Mowery finished 6-4, 6-2 at the No. 6 position over Allie Shafner, to put Miami up 5-0.
Caren Seenauth faced Kara Delicata in the No. 4 position. Delicata went up one in the first set 4-6. Seenauth, in the second set posted a 6-1 mark, but retired in the third set, giving Michigan their only point of the match.
The final singles match of the day saw junior Gina Sabatino taking on Tania Mahtani in the No. 5 spot. Sabatino went down in her first set 6-7 and answered with a 6-1 mark in the second going into a 10-point third set tie-breaker showdown. Both players when at it back and forth out on court No. 5. But it was Sabatino who came out on top to defeat Mahtani 1-0 (5).
The Hurricanes are back in action at home Sunday, March 4 to take on No. 74 Western Michigan. The match is set to begin at 10 a.m. and admission is free to the public.
Scouting the Opponents:
The Broncos (10-4) will head to Miami after winning four matches in a row and eight of the last nine to improve to 10-4 on the season.
Western Michigan is led by sophomore Kerstin Pahl with 36 overall victories this season. She is 17-7 in singles and 19-8 in doubles, including being ranked 56th in the country with partner Priyanka Parekh who are an undefeated 7-0.
Junior Noriko Saruta leads the Broncos with a 12-2 singles record in dual matches, mostly at the No. 3 and No. 4 position.
Senior Carrie Jeanmaire became the second player in WMU history to win 100 doubles matches and is sixth all-time with 180 total victories.
Miami vs. Michigan Tennis Match Results
Singles Competition:
1. #1 Audra Cohen (UM) def. #65 Jenny Kuehn (MICH) 6-2, 6-0
2. #26 Audrey Banada (UM) def. #41 Chisako Sugiyama (MICH) 6-3, 6-4
3. Romy Farah (UM) def. Elizabeth Exon (MICH) 6-2, 6-0
4. Kara Delicata (MICH) def. Caren Seenauth (UM) 4-6, 6-1, 2-1 (Ret.)
5. Gina Sabatino (UM) def. Tania Mahtani (MICH) 6-7, 6-1, 1-0 (5)
6. Emily Mowery (UM) def. Allie Shafner (MICH) 6-4, 6-2
Doubles Competition:
1. #8 Audrey Banada/Romy Farah (UM) def. Kara Delicata/Jenny Kuehn (MICH) 8-5
2. Audra Cohen/Caren Seenauth (UM) def. Chisako Sugiyama/Lindsey Howard (MICH) 8-3
3. Gina Sabatino/Claudia Wasilewski (UM) def. Elizabeth Exon/Allie Shafner (MICH) 8-3
