No. 11 Miami Women Take Down Virginia Tech, 5-1
March 26, 2010
Results | Complete Results (PDF) 
Coral Gables, Fla. – The 11th-ranked University of Miami women’s tennis team collected a 5-1 victory on Friday, taking down Virginia Tech in an Atlantic Coast Conference match played at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center in Coral Gables, Fla.
With the skies threatening for rain, and inclement weather looming in the Coral Gables area all afternoon, the match was delayed for an hour and a half from its original start time of 2 p.m. The match was also forced to start with singles play, and ultimately, not playing doubles at all.
Miami (11-3, 5-0 ACC) collected five-of-six singles positions en route to the victory over the Hokies (9-5, 2-2 ACC).
Miami’s three-time All-American senior Laura Vallverdu (Valencia, Venezuela), currently ranked No. 7 in the Campbell/ITA singles poll, walked off the courts first as she turned in a 6-1, 6-1 defeat of the Hokies’ Martha Blakely at the top singles spot. For Vallverdu, the win was her eighth in her last 10 matches, raising her record for the year at 23-9 – sitting as the team leader in wins.
The `Canes jumped to a 2-0 advantage in the match when All-American junior Bianca Eichkorn (Tengen, Germany), ranked No. 33 nationally, continued her perfect spring performance by posting a 6-1, 6-3 triumph over Virginia Tech’s Shannon Betts at the No. 3 singles position. For Eichkorn, she improved to 14-0 in the spring, and ran her record for the year out to 19-4 overall. She also remains perfect in ACC play, upping her mark to 5-0, while also running her winning streak to 15 matches, dating back to the conclusion of the fall season.
It was freshman Danielle Mills (Bradenton, Fla.) next off the courts for the `Canes, registering a 6-2, 6-1 defeat of the Hokies’ Emily Lauten at the No. 4 singles spot. The win for Mills snapped a two-match losing skid against tough ACC competition, and allowed her to move to 14-10 in her rookie season. She goes to 9-4 in the spring, and 3-2 in the league.
UM picked up the match victory on court two (No. 2 singles) when sophomore Anna Bartenstein (Graz, Austria), ranked No. 62 in this week’s Campbell/ITA singles poll, laid claim to her 22nd win of the year courtesy a 6-0, 6-4 victory from Virginia Tech’s Yasmin Hamza. Bartenstein goes to 22-4 overall (12-2 dual), and ups her ACC record to 10-2 during her first year in the league.
“I think we cleaned up some things in certain areas that we needed to address leading up to our match on Sunday against a good Virginia team,” stated UM ninth-year women’s tennis head coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews. “We needed to tweak certain things at some positions, and I think we did a good job of that today. Our goal going into today’s match was to get off the courts feeling great heading into Sunday.”
Virginia Tech got on the board at the No. 6 singles spot. That’s where the Hokies’ Holly Johnson recorded a 7-6(1), 6-4 win over Miami’s senior Claudia Wasilewski (Boulogne, France). Wasilewski drops to 15-10 on the year (8-5 dual), and falls to 3-2 in ACC matches.
The final singles victory was claimed by the `Canes Gabriela Mejia (Cali, Colombia), a sophomore ranked No. 107 in the singles poll, as she took down Virginia Tech’s Courtney Rauscher at the No. 5 position in straight sets – 7-5, 6-3. Mejia runs her record for the year out to 19-3 overall (13-1 dual), while staying perfect in the ACC at 5-0.
Miami gets back to the courts on Sun., Mar. 28, as the `Canes host ACC opponent University of Virginia to the Neil Schiff Tennis Center at 10 a.m. UM will then turn around and host Brown University in the final match of a four-match homestand on Tues., Mar. 30, at 2 p.m. Admission to both matches is free.
“We’re expecting a tough team and a tough match from Virginia,” said Yaroshuk-Tews. “I think they’re a pretty comparable team to Florida State [whom they’re playing today], and they’re underrated in terms of rankings. They’re a very good and talented team. We need to come out there and finish off this stretch of matches the same way we’ve started it – with a positive manner and attitude.”
No. 11 Miami 5, Virginia Tech 1
Singles
1. #7 Laura Vallverdu (UM) def. Martha Blakely (VT) 6-1, 6-1
2. #62 Anna Bartenstein (UM) def. Yasmin Hamza (VT) 6-0, 6-4
3. #33 Bianca Eichkorn (UM) def. Shannon Betts (VT) 6-1, 6-3
4. Danielle Mills (UM) def. Emily Lauten (VT) 6-2, 6-1
5. #107 Gabriela Mejia (UM) def. Courtney Rauscher (VT) 7-5, 6-3
6. Holly Johnson (VT) def. Claudia Wasilewski (UM) 7-6 (7-1), 6-4
Order of Finish: (1, 3, 4, 2*, 6, 5)
