No. 6 Miami Tops Maryland, 7-0, to Conclude Regular Season

April 10, 2009

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College Park, Md. – The No. 6 Miami Hurricanes (21-3, 10-1 ACC) topped the homestanding Maryland Terrapins (4-16, 1-9 ACC) by a score of 7-0 Friday afternoon at the Tennis Center at College Park in College Park, Md. The Hurricanes end the regular season with a 10-match winning streak, and finish with no-less than a share of first place in the final ACC standings.

Miami was looking to lay claim to the top seed in next weekend’s Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Championships on Friday if UM could pull together a win over the Terrapins. What the `Canes pulled together was their third consecutive 7-0 sweep, and the ninth shutout overall for the season.

The day started with UM claiming two-of-three doubles matches, earning the early 1-0 lead heading into singles play.

The 15th-ranked doubles pair of Michaela Kissell and Laura Vallverdu downed Maryland’s Lisa Miller and Michal Amir at the top flight, 8-5. The UM duo earned their 10th win of the spring, catapulting their season record to 13-5, while finishing the year 9-2 in the ACC. They also hold a six-match winning streak heading into next week’s league tournament.

In No. 2 doubles, the 47th-ranked squad of Julia Cohen and Bianca Eichkorn captured their 10th-straight win courtesy an 8-2 victory over the Terps’ Julia Huschke and Karin Lundmark. Cohen and Eichkorn are now 10-1 on the year after dropping their very first match together, and have not fallen since.

Maryland’s lone win of the day came at the third spot in doubles as the team of Eleanor Peters and Jordan Hansbrough downed Miami’s team of Gabriela Mejia and Claudia Wasilewksi, 8-5.

In singles play, it was Miami’s two-time All-American and 22nd-ranked Laura Vallverdu claiming the first win as she triumphed over Maryland’s Michael Amir at the second slot (6-0, 6-0). That was followed by fourth-ranked Julia Cohen (27-4) blowing through Eleanor Peters at the top singles position (6-4, 6-0).

Vallverdu (22-7) has now claimed six-straight singles wins, while Cohen is riding a team-best 15-match winning streak into the ACC Championships. Cohen finishes her first ACC slate a perfect 11-0, while seeking to become the third Hurricane on this year’s roster with at least 30 singles victories on the campaign.

Bianca Eichkorn and Michaela Kissell have already achieved that honor.

Singles play continued with freshman Gabriela Mejia (19-12) earning a 6-1, 6-1 decision over the Terps’ Jordan Hansbrough at the fifth slot, clinching the match for the Hurricanes in the process. Behind Mejia was 27th-ranked Bianca Eichkorn with a 6-1, 6-2 triumph over Maryland’s Karin Lundmark at the No. 3 spot.

Eichkorn continues her impressive performance for the 2008-09 campaign, laying claim to her 35th win of the year, and improving to 9-1 in the conference. She ends the regular season riding a 10-match winning streak.

UM junior Claudia Wasilewski recorded her third-straight win at the sixth spot downing Oksana Krutiyenko (6-1, 6-0). Wasilewski ups her record to 22-10 on the campaign after picking up back-to-back 20-win seasons last weekend with wins over NC State and Wake Forest.

The final match and the sweep was secured by Miami’s Michaela Kissell, ranked No. 51 in the nation, as she collected a 6-1, 6-2 win at the fourth position over Lisa Miller. Kissell is now 32-7 for the season, and runs her winning streak to 10 matches as well–matching that of Eichkorn.

Miami will enter next weekend’s ACC Championships looking to hold the top seed after laying claim to no-less than a share of the regular season crown. Georgia Tech and Clemson each have one loss as well on the year, but have two matches remaining on their schedule. UM defeated Clemson last month, but fell to Georgia Tech–with both matches coming on the road.

The ACC Championships are slated for Apr. 16-19 in Cary, N.C. For more information, please log on to www.TheACC.com.

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.