Duke Edges Miami, 4-3, to Claim ACC Championship
April 19, 2009
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Cary, N.C. – Second-seed Duke (23-3) used a third-set tie-break victory at the No. 3 singles spot to defeat top-seeded Miami (23-4) and claim a 4-3 victory Sunday winning the 2009 Atlantic Coast Conference Women’s Tennis Championship at the Cary Tennis Park in Cary, N.C. For Miami, it was the fourth time in five years they’ve reached the ACC Championship match under Paige Yaroshuk-Tews.
Today’s match-up featured a clash of Top 10 teams, and it was the second classic between these two historically strong women’s tennis programs in the last month. Miami took the previous meeting in Coral Gables, 5-2, back on Mar. 22 in extraordinary fashion.
UM eighth-year head coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews was eyeing her first-ever ACC Championship on Sunday, and wanted to play the best in order to get the title. A day prior, she mentioned how the doubles point is huge for the Hurricanes against any opponent, and that fact was just as true Sunday as it was in Saturday’s victory over rival Florida State.
No. 6 Miami was unable to start the day with the ever-so-important doubles point as No. 3 Duke collected two-of-three matches right off the top.
The Blue Devils used their team of Mallory Cecil and Jessi Robinson, ranked No. 73 in the Campbell’s/ITA doubles poll, at the second doubles spot to defeat UM’s 52nd-ranked duo of Julia Cohen and Bianca Eichkorn, 8-5. It was the first loss since Mar. 7 for the `Canes at the No. 2 doubles slot, and just the second of the year for the Cohen/Eichkorn team.
Duke claimed the doubles point at the first position as their 16th-ranked team of Amanda Granson and Melissa Mang defeated Miami’s 13th-ranked pair of Michaela Kissell and Laura Vallverdu, 8-6.
In singles play, UM sophomore Michaela Kissell (No. 50) evened the match at 1-1 with a straight-set defeat of Amanda Granson (No. 74) at the fourth slot. Her 6-2, 6-0 line seemed to set the tone for what was to be an exciting singles round of competition. Kissell’s win brought her winning streak to 13 matches, and upped her season fare to 35-7–second-best on the team.
The `Canes edged in front, 2-1, with the help of 25th-ranked Laura Vallverdu at the second slot, as she took a convincing 6-2, 6-2 triumph over No. 33 Ellah Nze. Vallverdu was instrumental for the `Canes all weekend, claiming all three singles matches for which she stepped on the court in. She raised her record for the year to 25-7, while stretching her own winning streak to nine in a row.
Duke matched that with a shocking upset at the top singles slot. No. 16 Mallory Cecil downed Miami’s fourth-ranked Julia Cohen in straight sets (6-4, 6-1) to put the Blue Devils back even at 2-2.
For Cohen (27-5), it was just her third loss of the spring, and her second of the 2008-09 year against an ACC opponent. The loss snapped her 15-match winning streak, and was just the first loss of the spring for her against an ACC foe. She dropped a 6-3, 6-1 decision to Clemson’s Ani Mijacika in October during the All-America Championships in California.
With the momentum ready to swing either way, Duke’s Melissa Mang (No. 115) defeated Miami freshman Gabriela Mejia at the fifth spot (6-1, 7-5), nudging the Blue Devils back in front, 3-2.
UM junior Claudia Wasilewski (23-10) then claimed a huge victory over Jessi Robinson at the No. 6 singles position in a three-set thriller (7-6, 0-6, 6-3). That gave Wasilewski, a native of Boulogne, France, her fourth-straight win, and put the match squarely on the shoulders of two fierce competitors at the No. 3 singles slot.
That’s where UM sophomore Bianca Eichkorn (No. 30) met-up with Duke’s 39th-ranked Reka Zsilinszka. A month ago in Coral Gables, these two had a three-set thriller that seemed unmatchable … that is, until the ACC Championships rolled around. They were the last to finish in the first meeting, and it would be no different Sunday.
Unlike last time, Eichkorn opened up this match collecting the first set by a 6-2 count. Zilinszka rallied in the second to claim a come-from-behind 6-4 win, evening the match at one set apiece. In the third set, the score was exactly as the last time they met, only this time it was Zsilinszka edging the Tengen, Germany native [Eichkorn], earning the 7-6(5) decision, and giving her team the coveted ACC Championship.
Zilinszka’s winning effort ended a three hour and 38 minute battle with Eichkorn, and concluded a match between Top-10 programs that took more than five hours to complete.
For Eichkorn, the loss was her first in the last 10 matches, as she lowered her record for the year to 36-7 (21-4 in the spring). It was also her first loss since Miami’s last team loss at Georgia Tech (Mar. 7). The loss was her first against an ACC foe on the year as well.
Miami will now prepare for the NCAA Regionals, which they are expected to participate in as a Top 10 team leading into Tuesday’s voting period. The `Canes have hosted a Regional every year since 2005, and hope to do so this year when the tournament pairings are announced Apr. 28.
The NCAA Regionals begin May 8-10 at 16 campus sites determined by the NCAA Selection Committee. For more information on the 2009 NCAA Women’s Tennis Championships, please log on to www.NCAAsports.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.
