No. 9 Miami Set to Open ITA Indoor Play Against No. 2 Florida
Feb. 17, 2011
Live Results for Friday’s Match
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The ninth-ranked University of Miami women’s tennis team is set to face second-ranked Florida in the first round of the 2011 ITA National Team Indoor Championships set to begin Friday in Virginia. The tournament – which features the nation’s top 16 teams — will be held from Feb. 18-21 at the Boars Head Sports Club.
“We are really fired up for this match tomorrow,” head coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews said. “We’re facing one of the best teams in the country and its going to be important that we dictate play. That will be our main focus going in.”
The match-up between the `Canes (5-0) and the Gators (7-0) is one of two matches that open tournament play Friday morning at 9 a.m. The winner of the match will then take on the winner of Clemson-UCLA on Saturday.
The Hurricanes have four wins over ranked opponents this season – including victories over No. 15 Florida State and No. 21 Arizona State – while the Gators recently beat No. 4 North Carolina and No. 2 Duke.
Miami will be led by their top player in senior Bianca Eichkorn, who moved up six spots to No. 10 in the latest ITA national singles rankings. Eichkorn, who is 16-4 this season with a perfect 5-0 mark in dual match play in the Hurricanes’ No. 1 position, was named ACC Player of the Week on Tuesday.
She is joined in the top of the lineup by Anna Bartenstein, who is 3-2 at the No. 2 position, and Danielle Mills, who is 2-3 at No. 3. The bottom half of UM’s lineup has been a bright spot in the season’s first month, as freshmen Melissa Bolivar and Brittany Dubins and junior Gabriela Mejia have gone a combined 15-0 this spring. Bolivar and Mejia have split time at No. 4 and No. 5, while Dubins is 5-for-5 at No. 6.
“Our upperclassmen are ready to step up to the challenge this week,” Yaroshuk-Tews said. “And at the same time, our freshmen are looking forward to this opportunity. They are excited for this match and that is important for our team.”
In doubles, the 42nd-ranked team of Eichkorn and Bartenstein are 5-0 at No. 1, while Mejia and Bolivar are 3-2 at No. 2. The `Canes have used three different pairings at No. 3 doubles this spring, with Dubins and Bistra Otashliyska most recently going 2-0 last weekend against opponents from FIU and FSU.
Florida is led at the top by Allie Will, who is 6-0 at No. 1. Lauren Embree is 5-0 at No. 2 and Sofie Oyen is 5-1 at No. 3. Oyen and Will are 4-1 as the Gator’s No. 1 doubles pair.
The seeded teams in this year’s ITA Women’s Indoor tournament are as follows: Stanford (1), Florida (2), Baylor (3), North Carolina (4), California (5), Duke (6), UCLA (7) and Michigan (8).
Last season at the ITA National Team Indoors, the sixth-ranked `Canes fell to No. 12 UCLA, 4-3, in the first round of play at the A.C. Nielsen Tennis Stadium in Madison, Wis.
For live results for Friday morning’s match between the `Canes and the Gators, click here. For more information regarding the 2011 ITA National Women’s Team Indoor Championship, visit www.ITATennis.com. For additional coverage of UM’s women’s tennis team, visit TheUTennis.com.
