No. 13 Women's Tennis Topples UCF, 6-1
Feb. 8, 2009
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Coral Gables, Fla. – No. 13 Miami Hurricanes (6-0) earned their ninth-straight home victory on Sunday, collecting the doubles point and dropping just one singles match en route to a 6-1 win over UCF (2-2) at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center in Coral Gables, Fla. This is just the second-ever 6-0 start for eighth-year head coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews–her first since 2002 (her first year at the helm in Coral Gables).
The Hurricanes opened up the day securing the doubles point and a 1-0 lead in the match on the strength of an impressive showing from all three positions, especially at the No. 1 and No. 2 spots.
The No. 1 doubles team of Miami’s Laura Vallverdu and Julia Cohen motored to an 8-0 decision over UCF’s team of Elvira Serrot and Andrea Yacaman. The Miami duo earned three points in the match by never allowing UCF a point, including the deciding game. With the duo up 2-0 in the match, they battled with UCF through three deuce points, before eventually collecting the win. They also had deuce game-point decisions for points four and six, respectively.
Cohen and Vallverdu improved to 6-0 on the year together.
At the No. 2 doubles position, the Hurricanes team of Bianca Eichkorn and Michaela Kissell–ranked No. 14 nationally, took an 8-1 decision over UCF’s Alexis Rodriguez and Jenny Frisell. The UM team started the match 6-0 before allowing UCF to scratch the board, 6-1. The Orange and Green combo took the last two points in the match with Game-15 mirror scores to end it, keeping their record together in the spring clean at 6-0.
In No. 3 doubles play, freshmen Gabriela Mejia and Alessa Waibel followed suit by teaming up for an 8-4 win over the Knights’ Kenza Belbacha and Katie Orletsky. After leading 6-2 in the match, UCF climbed back to within 6-4 before the Mejia/Waibel combination clamped down to take the win.
“I’m really happy with the progress we are making in doubles play,” expressed head coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews afterwards. “We are implementing some new formations, and the girls are getting adjusted and playing really well. I’m especially excited about the progress of our No. 1 and No. 2 doubles teams. The No. 3 spot still needs some work, and we are still looking to put together a solid team, but [No.] 1 and [No.] 2 are looking good.”
At the No. 1 singles position, junior Laura Vallverdu (No. 114) stepped into the position for the first time this year, looking ever-so impressive with a dominant straight-set 6-0, 6-0 win over UCF’s Elvira Serrot. Bianca Eichkorn (No. 20) was equally impressive at the No. 3 spot for the Orange and Green, not allowing her opponent (Alexis Rodriguez) a single game-point, sweeping the Boca Raton native, 6-0, 6-0.
Freshman Gabriela Mejia picked up her first win of the spring to put the Hurricanes up 3-0 in the match as she collected a 6-1, 6-0 win over UCF’s Christy Core. Sophomore Michaela Kissell (No. 50) continued her dominant play in the spring as she improved to 6-0, while upping her record to 16-5 overall. Kissell used a 6-1, 6-0 line to defeat Andrea Yacaman at the No. 2 position–her first time seeing play at that position in the spring, with sophomore Julia Cohen out of the lineup today for the Hurricanes–moving Vallverdu and Kissell up a spot each, respectively.
“Our No. 1 through No. 4 singles positions are looking really good right now, and I’m proud of the way they stayed focused today and kept playing to the level I know they can play at,” expressed Yaroshuk-Tews. “Heading into Wisconsin for the National Indoor Tournament later this week, we needed to stay focused as a team today, and make sure to keep playing at a high level.”
UM junior Claudia Wasilewski made it 6-0 in the match in favor of the `Canes following her 7-5, 6-1 defeat of Kenza Belbacha at the No. 5 spot. Wasilewski improved to 5-1 in the spring–all at the No. 5 position, while collecting her 10th win of the 2008-09 campaign.
Overall, Miami now has four players with at least 10 wins on the 2008-09 season, led by Eichkorn with a team-leading record of 20-4.
UCF refused to be shutout on the day as junior Katie Orletsky of Titusville (Fla.) took an exciting 7-6 (7-2), 6-2 win over Miami freshman Alessa Waibel, who dropped her first match of the spring and now sits at 2-1 (5-9 overall).
Miami will next be in action when they travel to Madison, Wisconsin for the upcoming ITA National Team Indoor Tournament–of which the `Canes earned the bid by winning last weekend’s Coral Gables Qualifier, set to begin on Thursday, Feb. 12. The brackets will be disclosed on Feb. 10, and the event will take place at the Nielsen Tennis Stadium on the campus of the University of Wisconsin.
For up-to-date UM Women’s Tennis information, live stats, box scores and recaps, please log on to www.hurricanesports.com, and simply navigate to the women’s tennis home page.
