Women's Tennis Falls to North Carolina On the Road, 5-2
April 7, 2007
Chapel Hill, N.C. – The ninth-ranked University of Miami women’s tennis team ended their Atlantic Coast Conference road swing with a 5-2 loss to fourteenth-ranked University of North Carolina this afternoon at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center. The Hurricanes fall to 15-5 overall, and 6-3 in conference play, while the Tar Heels improve 18-7 on the season, and 6-3 in the league.
Miami could not capture the doubles point as North Carolina jumped on the board first with wins in all three doubles positions that handed No. 30- tandem Audra Cohen and Caren Seenauth their first loss of the season. The duo fell to No. 28 Caitlin Collins Sanaz Marand 8-6, finishing the day with a 13-1 overall record.
Once singles got underway, the Tar Heels went up 2-0 over the Hurricanes capturing the singles win at the No. 4 spot, with junior Gina Sabatino falling to Sara Anundsen, 6-0, 6-1.
In return, No. 14 freshman Laura Vallverdu was unstoppable at the No. 3 slot. The rookie held senior Caitlin Collins to four games total in two sets. Collins was no match to Vallverdu’s game, posting just one game in the first set as she fell 6-1. The last set ended with Vallverdu capturing the first singles point for Miami, as she finished with the win at 6-3, that put the match score at 2-1 with UNC in advantage.
North Carolina captured the next two points at the No. 2 position, as No. 44 Audrey Banada fell to No. 62 Katrina Tsang, 6-4, 6-0, and the No. 6 slot with freshman Claudia Wasilewski losing to No. 64 Sanaz Marand to clinch the match.
At the No. 5 position, junior Caren Seenauth fell to No. 90 Austin Smith, 6-4, 6-1.
It was down to the final singles match, at the No. 1 slot, where Miami captured their final point of the day with No. 1-ranked junior Audra Cohen and sixth-ranked senior Jenna Long battling it out in a true stretch of competition. Cohen jumped on the board first with a 6-4 win until long answered with six games of her own, holding Cohen to just three with the score 3-6. The third set featured a 10-point tie-breaker, as it came down to a close finish with Long unable to defeat Cohen, and the lady-Hurricane moves on to remain unbeaten with the score at 10-8. Cohen is one win shy of 30 total victories on the season with a record of 29-1 overall.
Miami will be back in action next weekend as they close out their regular season at home against Maryland Friday, April 13 at 2p.m., and Boston College on Sunday, April 15 at 12 p.m. at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center.
Miami vs. North Carolina Match Results:
Doubles
1. No. 3 Anundsen/Long (NC) def. No. 15 Banada/ Romy Farah (M), 8-5
2. No. 28 Collins/Marand (NC) def. No. 30 Cohen/Seenauth (M), 8-6
3. Smith/Meg Fanjoy (NC) def. Sabatino/Vallverdu (M), 8-6
Singles
1. No. 1 Audra Cohen (M) def. No. 6 Jenna Long, 6-4, 3-6, (10-8)
2. No. 62 Katrina Tsang (NC) def. No. 44 Audrey Banada (M), 6-4, 6-0
3. No. 14 Laura Vallverdu (M) def. Caitlin Collins (NC), 6-1, 6-3
4. Sara Anundsen (NC) def. Gina Sabatino (M), 6-0, 6-1
5. No. 90 Austin Smith (NC) def. Caren Seenauth (M), 6-4, 6-1
6. No. 64 Sanaz Marand (NC) def. Claudia Wasilewski (M), 6-1, 6-2
