Women's Tennis Hosts No. 18 Michigan on Thursday
Feb. 25, 2009
Coral Gables, Fla. – The 10th-ranked Miami Hurricanes women’s tennis team returns home Thursday for a matchup with No. 18 Michigan at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center in Coral Gables, Fla. Match time is set for 2 p.m., and admission to the event is free.
Miami (9-2) returns to Coral Gables after playing five consecutive road matches, all against ranked opponents. Last weekend, UM traveled to Texas to face No. 7 Baylor (L, 2-4) and No. 21 TCU (W, 6-1). Prior to that, the `Canes were in Madison, Wisconsin as part of the ITA National Team Indoor Tournament–finishing with a 2-1 record with wins against No. 68 Wisconsin and No. 5 Stanford. Their only loss was a setback to undefeated and top-ranked Northwestern.
The Hurricanes stayed put at No. 10 this week in the Campbell’s/ITA National Rankings after collecting a 1-1 record last week. Their counterparts from Michigan (5-2) enter the match ranked No. 18.
Miami has four student-athletes ranked in the latest singles/doubles polls, led by Julia Cohen at No. 20. Cohen earned two valuable wins last week for the Hurricanes, with her biggest win being an upset (3-6, 6-1, 6-1) of No. 6 Nina Munch-Soegaard (TCU). Cohen has an overall record of 14-4 on the campaign.
Behind her is junior Laura Vallverdu (No. 34) who is 8-2 in her last 10 matches, and holds an overall record of 11-5 on the year. The two-time All-American has two victories over ranked opponents in her last four matches for the Orange and Green.
Sophomore Bianca Eichkorn (ranked No. 51) is having one of the best years a sophomore has enjoyed at Miami. She has a team-leading 24 wins on the campaign, and has won her last four matches. The Tengen, Germany native had a three-set win (6-3, 1-6, 6-4) over No. 75 Lenka Broosova of 7th-ranked Baylor last Saturday in Ennis, Texas.
Fellow sophomore Michaela Kissell, ranked No. 60 this week, is also enjoying a stellar year having won nine of her last 10 matches. Her only loss in the spring is to No. 40 Jelena Stanivuk (Baylor) in a three-set marathon on scores of 3-6, 7-5, 6-7(5-7). Kissell has a record of 20-6 on the year–the second Hurricane with at least 20 wins this year.
The doubles team of Kissell and Eichkorn is ranked No. 43 together, though not playing alongside each other in the last four matches.
Miami vs. Michigan Series…
Thursday’s match will serve as the 10th in this short series between two historic and landmark universities on the collegiate athletics scene. Two teams that can easily be, and often are, described with just colors, the Orange and Green of Miami leads the Maize and Blue of Michigan by the slimmest of margins, 5-4. That includes Miami claiming the last meeting, 6-1, back on Feb. 3, 2008 in Coral Gables. The `Canes have taken the last two meetings, consecutively, in the series. Meanwhile, Michigan has claimed three of the last five.
About Michigan…
Michigan, ranked No. 18 in the latest ITA polls, enters the match sporting a 5-2 record with their most recent win being a 7-0 sweep of in-state rival Michigan State on Feb. 18. The Wolverines have received solid play from Whitney Taney lately, as she has registered five straight victories and dropping just one match in the spring–seeing most of her time at the No. 3 and 4 positions, respectively.
Also playing well for Michigan is Chisako Sugiyama. The New Jersey native has 95 career victories in her Wolverines career–giving her a share of second-best on the all-time Michigan singles list.
Sugiyama is currently ranked No. 56 in the Campbell’s/ITA Singles Polls, while sophomores Rika Tatsuno (No. 73) and Taney (No. 109). Sugiyama and Tania Mahtani are ranked as a doubles pair at No. 21.
Family Ties with UM / U-M…
University of Michigan head coach Ronnie Bernstein returns to Coral Gables Thursday after spending four years as an All-America performer for the University of Miami from 1985-88. The former Ronnie Reis also spent 10 years coaching at cross-town rival FIU prior to taking her current stint in Ann Arbor, Mich. Bernstein picked up the NCAA Senior Player of the Year Award in 1988 after reaching the finals in doubles and semifinals in singles at the NCAA Tournament. As a sophomore (1985-86), she teamed with fellow UM All-American Lise Gregory (1984-87) to claim both the ITA National Indoor and NCAA doubles titles en route to finishing the year with an unblemished mark of 29-0. Bernstein compiled impressive career marks of 103-21 (.831) in singles (second all-time at UM) and 89-11 (.890) in doubles (seventh all-time for the `Canes), all the while helping Miami consistently finish among the top five of the national rankings collegiately. The Orange and Green posted a combined record of 85-23 during Bernstein’s four-year playing career in Coral Gables, earning a runner-up finish at the 1985 NCAA Championship before making a semifinal appearance at the national tournament in 1986.
For more information on University of Miami Women’s Tennis, please log on to www.hurricanesports.com. After browsing to the women’s tennis home page, you will find the latest news, stats and match notes pertaining to the Hurricanes Women’s Tennis program.
